Week 1 Readings

“OCLC Report”

The first thing that strikes me about this report is the date—it’s six years old.  Still, it was interesting to compare where the “information landscape” stands today.  For example, the report states that “e-books have entered the adoption phase”; in July 2010, Amazon reported having 630,000 Kindle books, and that it sold 180 digital books for every 100 hard copy books (Claire Cain Miller, “E-Books Top Hardcovers at Amazon,” New York Times, July 19, 2010, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/technology/20kindle.html?_r=1&ref=e-book-readers).  The OCLC Report accurately predicted the “convergence of technologies” that mobile communication devices have brought to the technology playing field.  In fact, a recent Pew Internet & American Life Project report found that “cell phone and wireless laptop internet use have each grown more prevalent over the last year” and cites astonishing statistics of Internet use via Wi-Fi connections, email and instant messaging use via mobile phones among adults, etc.  And they’re not just using cell phones to make emergency calls!  They’re taking pictures, playing games, accessing the Internet, sending email, texting.  Pew reports that in the U.S. today, “cell phone ownership is higher among African Americans and Latinos than among whites (87% vs. 80%) and minority cell phone owners take advantage of a much greater range of their phones’ features compared with white mobile phone users” (Aaron Smith, “Mobile Access 2010,” Pew Internet & American Life Project, available at http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile-Access-2010.aspx), indicating the even greater-than-expected reach of technology.  So I think this report, despite its 2004 date, is interesting because it seems to have accurately predicted what was coming down the pike in technology and how that technology would be affecting libraries and their users.  I also enjoyed “the new vocabulary” section.  I’d not heard of many of these words—some of my favorites were “digital swarming,” “fleshmet,” and “snam and spim.” 

Lynch, “ Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy”

This article was very helpful for the distinction it makes between “information technology literacy” (technology infrastructure) and “information literacy” (content and communication).  I recognize that I lack skills in many IT literacy areas, particularly when it comes to understanding technology infrastructure.  But I agree with Lynch when he says that information technology literacy will be “critical for people to succeed in all walks of life, to function as informed citizens, and to continue to learn and grow in an evolving technological society.”

Vaughan, “Lied Library @ Four Years”

This article highlights the experiences and challenges faced by the Lied Library of UNLV as it maintained and upgraded its information technology resources.  Kudos to the library staff, who seemed remarkably cooperative, coming in early and doing a lot of physical labor to replace PCs and trouble-shoot.  Those in charge of the project were logical, well organized, and had good strategies for reducing negative impact on users.  There were lots of things mentioned here that I’d not considered before, mainly with regard to the physical plant.  Well, of course there'd be a need for a central uninterrupted power supply unit and for a central tape backup unit!  And of course one would need to understand the floor plan and building to make such upgrades as "hot jacks"--even just to add desks!  Don't even get started on the security and space issues!  I find that I take a lot of these types of things for granted.  Little did I know how much planning and work goes into providing computer services in a library!  It's an enormous task that requires cooperation, flexibility, and clear thinking from all involved.  The bottom line of this article, for me, anyway, is that staff really have to be adaptable to changing technology and changing environment, because “technology never stands still.”