Internet Librarian 2008 Who Moved My Ultrafiche & 8-Tracks?: Insights For The Future
Dan Lester of the Boise State University Libraries gave a talk called “Who Moved My Ultrafiche & 8-Tracks: Insights For The Future:”
Dan, who’s retiring on October 31, after 43 years in the library field, gave a slideshow of the changes in technology over the years:
Picture showing Videodisc player and OCLC Catalog Card Printers.
Technology failures: Never widely adopted.
Technology successes: Widely adopted. Lasted for a decade
Transitional technology: Widely adopted, but replacable
Failures:
8 track tapes
12″ Videodiscs
Ultrafiche
Zip drives
HD DVD
IBM PS/2
Token ring networks
Successes:
Digital photography
VHS
CD-ROM
DVD
Blu-Ray
Catalog Cards
Flash drives
Internet
Google
Transitional:
Film photography
VHS
Audio cassettes
Floppy disks
Why change:
Improve speed of service
Quality of service
Reliability of service
Lower costs
Free trials (free?)
Impress clients/patrons
Clients are doing it
Competitors are doing it
Everybody else doing it
Success through transitions:
ILL requests:
Mail requests to libraries
Then faxed ILL requests
Then email them
Now automatic electronically forwarding ILL requests ito other libraries
ILL article delivery:
Mailed individual issue or bindered volume
Then photostat (wet)
Then xeroxed (dry)
Then as an email attachment
Now electronically delivered
Reasons not to change:
Cost of change
Time of rate of return of item
Staff resistance
Fears of clients
Will technology last?
Strength of backing from developers: HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray DVD Blu-Ray won
Alternative: Fit facts or is replaced quickly
New isn’t always the best
Sony Betamax– 1 hr tape limit Failed to be adopted in the marketplace
Many of your bets will be wrong: accept it
Environment for change:
Must be willing to fail
Acceptable risk of failure depends on:
Management style of your boss
Risk to your career
Cost of project or system
Staff commitment or non commitment
Being first or last:
Being first has increased risk of failure Product would be bad
Being last has increased risk of failure People could pass you by using newer technology
Where are we going?
Smaller devices
More wireless
Devices more integrated, multipurpose
Battery life will improved
Amazon, Google and others will inspire, lead and threaten us
Does this mean end of the library as a place?
Changes none of us can predict
Things to think about:
Everything is temporary
Never buy the first type of product
Most of us don’t have the resources to buy new
Leading edge but not bleeding edge
Even sacred cows can be tendered filet mignon
Saving money as a reason for trying something new is always bogus
Do bad decisions really matter—Doesn’t matter–People don’t care–Nobody died
Posted by Rich
IL2008
