Don’t miss Jason Griffey’s new Library Technology Report. Covering all types of gadgets and devices, Griffey offers an concise, useful overview of all of the choices. Most importantly, he emphasizes the need to keep up with emerging tech and understand how it might fit into the information ecology of our users. From the closing chapter:
Gadgets give you the opportunity to show off new and exciting technologies to those who may never own one for themselves, in much the same way that libraries have found that providing computers and Internet access was an important function of the late twentieth-century library. They allow you to extend your services and do more with less. If you haven’t tried out an e-reader or an iPod Touch, or if you just think the idea of a talking elec- tronic rabbit is odd enough to be interesting, try some gadgets out in your library. You might be surprised how much you, and your patrons, like them.
We’re moving into the period of time when, as I said in my introduction, content and container are distinct. Librarians are very good at dealing with content . . . it’s what we are trained for. I hope that this gave you an intro- duction to the containers of our content in the new digi- tal world.
Now get out there and play with stuff!
Nice!