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Change and Technology:Morphing the Information Professions: 

Change and Technology: Morphing the Information Professions Hope N. Tillman, Babson College NELINET: Great Expectations for IT College of the Holy Cross Worcester MA September 12, 2003

Technology is a tool: 

Technology is a tool Technology has shaped our field throughout its history

Full text on cartridge: 

Full text on cartridge

Paul Saffo: 

Paul Saffo Every 30 years a new scientific or technological development emerges to transform the economy and society. The twentieth century moved from chemistry (medicines, plastics) physics (atom bomb and integrated circuit) information technology In the twenty-first century the next revolution will be in biology.

Technology is a tool: 

Technology is a tool Technology has shaped our field throughout its history Shift from local to global influences

from the Long Now web site:: 

from the Long Now web site: Computer scientist Danny Hillis: “We have good raw data from previous ages written on clay, on stone, on parchment and paper, but from the 1950s to the present, recorded information increasingly disappears into a digital gap. Historians will consider this a dark age.” http://www.longnow.org/10klibrary/library.htm

Long Now Projects: 

Long Now Projects Long Server Project All Species Project Long Bets Foundation Digital Dark Age Project Rosetta Disk Project

Long Now Guidelines: 

Long Now Guidelines Serve the long view (and the long viewer) Foster responsibility Reward patience Mind mythic depth Ally with competition Take no sides Leverage longevity

Technology is a tool: 

Technology is a tool Technology has shaped our field throughout its history Shift from local to global influences Focus technology on your customer: What will make their life better, easier?

Peter Drucker’s questions for us as librarians:: 

Peter Drucker’s questions for us as librarians: What information do I owe to the people with whom I work and on whom I depend? In what form? And In what time frame? Peter Drucker. Management Challenges for the 21st Century. 1999.

Technology is our friend: 

Technology is our friend

Beloit Mindset – Class of 2007: 

Beloit Mindset – Class of 2007 Stores have always had scanners at the checkout. They have always had a pin number. Computers have always fit in their backpacks. “Ctrl + Alt + Del” is as basic as “ABC.”

Where Were We 18 years ago?: 

Where Were We 18 years ago? Libraries had been using AACR2 for cataloging since 1981. OCLC – online shared catalog goes back to 1971 and OCLC ILL since 1979 Nelinet was 10 years old in 1985 The Five Colleges began using LS/2000 online catalog and circulation system in 1985.

Early Email/Internet: 

Early Email/Internet BITNET was being used for email (since 1981) in a few places. CompuServe and the Source for early adopters (since the late 1970’s) In 1986, the National Science Foundation funded NSFNet as a cross country 56 Kbps backbone for the Internet

Today: 

Today

Looking at the Future: 

Looking at the Future Today’s barriers will go away or change, replaced by new barriers Look at trends in electronic gaming and global cultures for clues Expect not to be asking the right questions

Expect technology to morph: 

Expect technology to morph For a good picture of the morphing of technology see Avatars of the Word, by James O’Donnell.

Expect Convergence: 

Expect Convergence Bandwidth Wireless Appliances/devices Telephony Entertainment Things we don’t expect

Expect automatic features: 

Expect automatic features Automatic software updates (without asking) Automatic maintenance Cleaning out temporary Internet files Defragging Spelling Voice recognition Automatic maintenance of authority control, of meta information

Expect expansion of connectivity, collaboration, integration: 

Expect expansion of connectivity, collaboration, integration How do you make library services add value in such a setting. Today’s example of incorporating electronic reserves into Blackboard course sites Office 2003

Broader Definition of Content: 

Broader Definition of Content “Everything is becoming electronically connected to everything else: products, people, companies, countries, everything.” (Davis and Meyer, p. 5) Don’t limit yourselves to providing content through books, multimedia, or electronic resources. Think in terms of people as content

Connecting People: 

Connecting People Coordinators or connectors Boundary-spanners Mavens Evangelists Gatekeepers Cohen and Prusak, In Good Company (2001)

Look at Content as a continuum: 

Look at Content as a continuum Books, articles, or CDs inside books are static artifacts. When the product comes with a dedicated web site or even email for feedback, then you are moving toward content that keeps changing.

Tension between standards and progress: 

Tension between standards and progress Continuing battle between proprietary and standards–driven solutions.

Tension between standards and progress: 

Tension between standards and progress Continuing battle between proprietary and standards–driven solutions. Pros and cons of being standards-driven

Change is the norm: 

Change is the norm Information professionals need to "become the change [they] wish to see in the world." (with apologies to Mahatma Gandhi)

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Broaden our world view

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Broaden our world view Expand our knowledge base Content Multicultural

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Broaden our world view Expand our knowledge base Interpret, analyze, evaluate retrieved information no matter what the source

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Broaden our world view Expand our knowledge base Interpret, analyze, evaluate retrieved information no matter what the source Provide answers that are appropriate for the setting, where the setting may a changing one

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Customer focus

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Customer focus Less tied to location

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Customer focus Less tied to location Keep a positive attitude

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Customer focus Less tied to location Keep a positive attitude Embrace change with resiliency

How are our competencies changing?: 

How are our competencies changing? Customer focus Less tied to location Keep a positive attitude Embrace change with resiliency Comfort with technology

Technology Drivers: 

Technology Drivers 1. applied nature of our field 2. convergence 3. collaboration 4. connectivity 5. content as continuum 6. natural tension between progress/standards 7. change as norm

Reading List: 

Reading List Brand, Stewart. (1999). Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility. Basic Books. Buchen, Irving H. (2003). Education in America: The Next 25 Years. Futurist 37(Issue 1): 44. Cohen, Don and Laurence Prusak. (2001). In Good Company: How Social Capital Makes Organizations Work. Harvard University Press. Davis, Stan and Christopher Meyer. (1998). Blur: The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy. Addison-Wesley. Drucker, Peter. (1999). Management Challenges for the 21st Century. HarperBusiness.

Reading List (2): 

Reading List (2) Hage, C. and L. Neal. (Summer 2003) Customer Service, One Technology at a Time. Library Journal p. 18-19 Howe, Walt. Internet Glossary. (2 April 2003). http://www.walthowe.com/glossary/ Kartoo Technologies. http://www.kartoo.com Kenney, A. R., et al. (2003). Google Meets eBay: What Academic Librarians Can Learn from Alternative Information Providers. D-Lib Magazine 9(6): 1-15. http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june03/kenney/06kenney.html Lancaster, F. Wilfrid, A. J. Warner, et al. (2001). Intelligent technologies in library and information service applications. Medford, N.J., Published for the American Society for Information Science and Technology by Information Today.

Reading List (3): 

Reading List (3) Library of Congress. Preserving Our Digital Heritage. http://www.digitalpreservation.gov Long Now Foundation. http://www.longnow.org Meyer, Christopher and Stanley M. Davis (2003). It's alive : the coming convergence of information, biology, and business. New York, Crown Business. O’Donnell, James. (1998). Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace. Harvard University Press. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/avatars/

Reading List (4): 

Reading List (4) Saffo, Paul. (1997). InfoWorld Futures Project Interview. InfoWorld. http://www.saffo.com/infoworld_interview.html Saffo, Paul. (April 15, 2002). Smart Sensors Focus on the Future. CIO Insight. http://www.saffo.org/smartsensors.html Semantic Web Community Portal. http://www.semanticweb.org Staley, David J. (2003). The Future of the Book in a Digital Age. Futurist 37(5): 18. Stephenson, Neal. (2000) The Diamond Age. Bantam Spectra Books.

Contact Info: 

Contact Info Hope Tillman Babson College Horn Library Babson Park MA 02457 tillman@babson.edu 781-239-4259 http://www.hopetillman.com

You will find this presentation at:: 

You will find this presentation at: http://www.hopetillman.com/nelinet03/index.html Reading List: http://www.hopetillman.com/nelinet03/readinglist.html