Smart Libraries in India -- Survey

Smart Libraries: A cross country analysis of practitioners' perceptions about definition, scope, and challenges.  Survey link 

Smart technologies, smart cities, smart lights, smart home appliances, smart Bluetooth trackers, GPS,  etc., are in Indian news. So are some libraries making news headlines in India--about "Smart Libraries" (SL)--probably an extension of what is known so far as digital librarianship. But many of these smart libraries are piecemeal. Whereas, it needs a holistic approach in building smart libraries. Hence, moving forward, today we need to think about the scope of terminology of Smart Libraries (SL), identify challenges and think about ways to solve the challenges. 

The questions that need to be asked are what makes the library smart. Is it by using the smart devices, or presence of smart librarians, or by using smart approaches, or by smartly emptying book spaces to accommodate the "out--of-the-box" innovative ideas?

This is not an exam, because there are no right or wrong answers. We are simply interested in your opinion. It should take no more than six minutes.

The results of this survey will help in writing a short paper that will be of academic interest. Your responses will be summarized and your name will not  be included in the dissemination of the results. For questions please email mt2222@yahoo.com.

Thank you for you offer to help and for willingness to get smarter about Smart Libraries.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Mohamed Taher.

Typical day of a librarian

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 Before Computer

• Duke University Libraries : Timeline 
• Library before the internet OH NO! The system is down!
• When the librarian was the search engine: introduction to the special issue on new roles for health sciences librarians
• The Evolving Catalog Cataloging tech from scrolls to computers
• Library Life Before Computers 
  

Functions of the Library were:

Acquisition :

Storage 

Processing

Retrieval

Dissemination

The Library System always have a Librarian (or staff), User (reader, customer, Admin staff, etc.) &  collection (reading resources).  

[Image Library: A system; Thanks]

After computers  & before Internet

• However did people find anything in a library before computers?
• Computer applications in the fields of library housekeeping and information processing
• Looking backward, 1984-1959: twenty-five years of library automation--a personal view.

Functions of the Library were:

Acquisition :

Storage 

Processing

Retrieval

Dissemination

After Internet:

• Being a Music Librarian: Never a Typical Day
• Librarian: Typical Day
• How and Why Are Libraries Changing?  (White Paper)
• Usage and Usability Assessment: Library Practices and Concerns.

Functions of the Library were:

Acquisition :

Storage 

Processing

Retrieval

Dissemination

Before Smart Libraries 

• Hybrid \Libraries "

More content yet to come - bookmark this page

Quotable quote: If modernization of libraries really happens, By Shampa Dhar Kamath

 If modernization of libraries really happens, India will be stocked with delivery rooms for the birth of new ideas. Libraries Dying but Literature Thrives By Shampa Dhar Kamath. Indian Express, 16th March 2014. 

context: "By emphasizing selling over lending, the panelists were perhaps just looking out for their bread and butter; by giving libraries the go-by, they were only doing what the rest of India has been doing for a while now. Actually, why just India; public libraries are becoming alien items in many parts of the world. Every other day, you will find articles in the London papers ruing the fact that libraries are mandatory in British prisons but not in their schools."

 

On the same shelf 

• Reay, K., & Huber, H. (2020). The printed letter bookshop.
• Library supply: an extended view of competition
• Who Are Your Competitors?
• Do Publishers Suddenly Hate Libraries?
• Inside The E-Book 'War' Waging Between Libraries And Publishers
• Overdue: Throwing the book at libraries,  KENNETH WHYTE, SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL JULY 25, 2020  [Opinion: libraries compete with booksellers. Kenneth Whyte ]
• Canadian Libraries Respond to 'Globe and Mail' Essay ...Canadian Libraries Respond to 'Globe and Mail' Essay Attacking Public Libraries
• CULC/CBUC Response to Globe & Mail article 
• Inside The E-Book 'War' Waging Between Libraries And Publishers
• Major Canadian newspaper publishes op-ed calling for libraries to stop circulating leisure material 
• Libraries, Publishing, and Bookselling: Responses to Globe and Mail Op-Ed
• How libraries can compete with Google and Amazon
• ELI5:how much competition is there between libraries and bookstores?