Friday, July 17, 2009

Technology, Globalization and Libraries

It's possible that today a librarian in Newberry, Michigan may have instantaneously shared information with a librarian in Moshi, Tanzania. Here we are are in the information age, where librarians in rural Michigan can share information with just a few clicks of a mouse with a librarian in rural Africa. Is this a good reality, a bad one, or possibly even a largely irrelevant reality for the majority of the residents of these respective communities?

This post will look briefly at three issues as they relate to technology, globalization and libraries: 1. library to library- information and resource exchanges internationally, 2. library services made available to patrons due to globalization and technology, 3. individuals ability to access information from libraries as as result of globalization and technology.

Libraries Learn to Share and Play Together
Globalization and technological advances are leading to greater international interaction and cooperation amongst librarians on a worldwide scale. Through email, the Internet, large file sharing abilities, VOIP, open source software, and other almost immediate sources of information exchange, librarians are truly able to collaborate and have worldwide colleagues and partnerships not imaginable thirty years ago. There is of course still proprietary and legal restraints as to what databases, journals, and other materials can be exchanged between libraries, but ever increasingly these barriers are being reduced or redefined. Some libraries even in this globalized context may feel a need to still hold onto or protect their "turf", while many other libraries are coming more and more to see the valuable of shared resources. International in person librarian conferences such as the series hosted by Globenet, have proved extremely popular with librarians from international locales. These international conferences have provided important opportunities for librarians from around the world to get together and share ideas, views and information in a face to face context. As such these are all positive indicators of closer and increased relationships of librarians and libraries on a global scale.

Libraries Makes Materials Easy To Access For Patrons
Now more than ever, thanks to capabilities made available by the web and Internet, libraries are making materials available to patrons on an almost immediate basis provided those patrons have Internet access. Many journal articles are now made available online by libraries, provided patrons have the right entry id or password, these articles can now be accessed without any need to go to a physical library. The OCLC's Open Worldcat Libraries, Google Scholar, Google Book Search and Yahoo Subscriptions have also greatly expanded patrons abilities to look up books and articles they may want to have sent to their local library from another library. These sorts of globalized innovations have made it possible for students to live in one country while actually being the student of a school in another country. Many libraries are still suspicious and reluctant to offer their materials in such an open context, while other libraries feel this sort of instant patron service is a must in order to stay relevant and viable in the face of real threats such as Amazon and Google.

Hurrah for Us!
One can conclude, that we are in the golden age of easily accessible library information thanks to technology and globalization. In as much as a resident of a given community has a computer and Internet access, it can be argued that there is some legitimacy to this position. However one is remiss if they don't also consider the harsh realities of the digital divide. It is true that a large percentage of people in the Developed World have easy access to computers and the Internet. These people therefore have the ability to harvest the bounty of information now available from libraries on the Internet.

What About Everbody Else?
Unfortunately, there is a much different picture to be brought into focus in the rest of the developing world. It is remotely possible that there is librarian in Moshi, Tanzanina as speculated above, and if one exists, she most certainly has access to the Internet and the globalized nature of library services mentioned within this post. However, herein lies a sobering issue, except for a few Western expatriates and a few elites, the great majority of residents of the Moshi area have no computer access.

So while advances in technology and a more globalized library network has no doubt benefited millions and and millions of people, there will continue to be billions of others who are oblivious to these advances of the past thirty years. While no easy answers are at the ready, this situation, at the very least, deserves serious consideration from people who would like libraries to be accessible for people all over the world.





REFERENCES



Agee, Jim. (2007). Sofia 2006: Globalization, Digitization, Access, and Preservation of Cultural Heritage. New Library World. London. Vol. 108, Iss. 5/6; pg.289. Retrieved July 17, 2009 from http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=07

Hutchinson, Eric. Sofia 2006: Globalization, Digitization, Access, and Preservation of Cultural Heritage; Report on Student Poster Session. New World Library. London. Vol. 108, Iss. 5/6; pg.292. Retrieved July 17,2009 from http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=07

Mutula, Stephen (2007). Paradigms shifts in information environment: prospects and challenges African libraries. Library Hi tech. Bradford. Vol 25, Iss. 3; pg. 396. Retrieved July 17, 2009 from http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/pdqweb?index+0&did=133759221

Tonta, Yasar (2008). Libraries and museums in the flat world: Are they becoming virtual destinations? Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services. Vol. 32, Iss. 1; pgs. 1-9. Retrieved July 17, 2009 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VSH

8 comments:

Unknown said...

You make an excellent point that while we enjoy the use of the World Wide Web and other new technologies, there is a bit of a global divide with those places in which Internet is not so readily available. Sometimes I believe we forget how lucky we are in this regards. But overall, we are able to share and learn from the global technologies that exist today.

Holly said...

Thank you for a very informative post! I really liked the section about libraries learning to share and play together. With great power comes great responsibility- Does increasing technology make developed nations' libraries feel the need to help underdeveloped libraries? I'm aware of a few Peace Corps projects that deal with literacy and libraries, but I'm not sure that it's really a wide field. With all the other issues we face as a world (hunger, lack of clean water, AIDS...), maybe libraries aren't the most pressing matter but I wonder if any libraries or schools have stepped up into a leadership role in this arena. What does the ALA do with international issues?

HeidiJoGustad said...

My primary reaction to this blog is that it's not just developing countries who are affected by the digital divide. Our own country's divide will be absolutely devastating for some people in the relatively near future. That being said, the international digi-divide will be no small beans either. Nice work.

Greta Grond said...

We become so accustomed to our information-everywhere-all-the-time society that it's easy to forget how most people in the world have few opportunities to access information. Good reminder. I agree with Holly; with our abundance of resources, we have responsibilities to others around the world. Now, how to make that happen?

L.M.Martin said...

"Many libraries are still suspicious and reluctant to offer their materials in such an open context, while other libraries feel this sort of instant patron service is a must in order to stay relevant and viable in the face of real threats such as Amazon and Google."

I wonder how libraries that don't embrace this accessibility rationalize their argument of reluctancy? How are we too provide information in a "fast-food" culture without this? Patrons want what they need "now!" and we should be able to provide services and information within the context of the culture that requires it. Global technologies will assuredly aid in our ability to meet the needs of our patrons.

Kate Van Auken said...

I agree with Heidi that not only in our own country but in some of our own communities this digital divide exists and seems to get bigger the more technology explodes. I find it sad when some folks come into the library and say they need to access a medical website their doctor told them about. In some cases they actually look frightened because they have no idea how to even turn on a computer. What is sadder yet are people who ask if we can fax a document. They ask us all kinds of questions once the fax is sent like "Have they gotten it yet?", "When will they fax me back?" Some technology concepts are hard for people to wrap their head around...and this can be true for all ages!

Joseph Miller said...

Heidi,

You bring up a great point about our own nation's digital divide. It might not be as bad as with other developing countries, but its there nonetheless. I worked for the Irving Public library for over a year and the number of patrons, especially poor, who came in and used the library's computers because they were the only access point for them was staggering. The irony is that as the economy gets worse more people depend upon the library fro their internet access and other services, and yet because many library budgets are tax-based... they have less money when funding is most needed. Hopefully, we will shrink the digital divide in the coming years, but there will probably be a new technology that comes along and another divide will occur. Progress waits for no man, even though we might want it to.

Brad Allen said...

Thanks all for your comments on the Digital Divide here in the United States. I want to be clear that I also consider this a very serious issue.Howver since my post was about technology and the globalized context of libraries, I focused on the Digital Divide in other countries. When I was reading on of my books for our book review I read a very sobering statstic from a survey done within the last five years. According that survey 75% of Americans have "reasonable" access to the internet, while only 1.4% people on the African contient have "reasonable" access to the internet! Unfortuantley I can't remember which book I read that in so I couldn't cite that in my post. I do realize that Internet access is only one aspect of the Digital Divide but that number has really stuck with me. But once again I do want to empahsize that I also find the digital divide in our own communities here in the United States to be of great concern.