Comments on: Libraries & The Cloud

By: Weekly Digest: April 16-April 22 « Agnostic, Maybe

Weekly Digest: April 16-April 22 « Agnostic, Maybe — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:34:23 +0000

[...] Libraries & The Cloud (My thoughts on cloud content and ownership as it relates to the PC Magazine article that thinks about the implications of subscription services and the cloud.) [...]

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:36:42 +0000

There’s an interesting thought. Would people be willing to pay subscription fees for content yet not purchase the equipment to utilize it because they could use the library? Logic would say no, but people might be very comfortable with planning their access around trips to community computer areas (such as the library).

Food for thought, methinks.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:34:22 +0000

I have a feeling that the better question I could have asked is what *else* should libraries look to push into the cloud. I’m wondering if it is a question of what else we could automate and/or streamline as well.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:33:20 +0000

Excellent points, all of them. I know that academic libraries are much more in the cloud since the latest research is likely to be found in a database that can be accessed anywhere as opposed to a book. I guess my question would be for what else could be pushed into the cloud at the academic level. eBooks? Printing? I’m trying to think of items or services that make sense.

By: iLibrarian » Libraries & The Cloud

iLibrarian » Libraries & The Cloud — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:36:41 +0000

[...] Woodworth at Agnostic, Maybe starts an interesting conversation with his latest post Libraries & The Cloud. He discusses the implications of cloud computing and content ownership with regard to the recent [...]

By: Gary

Gary — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:04:11 +0000

I agree that academic libraries are pretty much cloud based. I worked at a medical university library and it was rare to see students browsing the stacks. Most of what they needed could be found on online databases. All that is fine for students who are not paying direct for the subscription service and have computers in their dorm rooms and apartments. The digital divide is important, point though. How long have computers been around? What is the reach of high speed internet? And still, libraries find heavy use for their computers and Internet. This suggests that while people use computers and may be familiar with cloud based services, they may not be willing or able to pay for them. Gmail, google docs, pandora, slacker, and others are free. But would users start shelling out monthly fees for Internet, email, music, books, movies? Amazon, Netflix, and Apple could move towards a single portal model, in which you pay one fee to access all content. Again, though, it seems to leave low income and/or casual users in the dust.

By: Steve the Librarian

Steve the Librarian — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:38:45 +0000

I agree with Kim. From the patron’s perspective, whenever we access the car issue of Consumer Reports through EBSCO or download an ebook through Overdrive, the library already appears to be in the cloud.

By: kimboosan

kimboosan — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:23:30 +0000

I think a lot of it is perception. For me, both my local public library and the university libraries I use are all “cloud” services — they, and their holdings, are “out there somewhere” for me to access. Granted, they aren’t holding MY content, but nonetheless the concept that the data is somewhere else (not in a printed book, not on my harddrive) is already mainstream. Heck hotmail and gmail have already hammered “content in the cloud” home to people.

So to answer your question: yes. Not because it is the theoretically or philosophically right thing to do, but because it is already our reality. But as the discussion so often turns to when discussing “Library 2.0″, the answer is not a blanket solution but rather one that must be designed around the specific community served. Low income areas, for instance, still need substantial buildings because they are the educational and technical “home base” for those communities. My local university has converted 2 levels of a five level library over to “study commons” areas, shoving books I-don’t-know-where, and that’s fine. A year into my studies and I’ve only been there three times, and the majority of students access it remotely anyway; do we really need that whole building anymore? (not saying yay or nay, just proposing the question.) /2 cents