Let's Talk About It: Emerging Tech & Librarians - Special Libraries Association

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Let's Talk About It: Emerging Tech & Librarians

Information Outlook, Vol 6, No. 2, February 2002

Let's Talk About It:
The Emerging Technology Future for Special Librarians

By Stephen Abram

Stephen Abram, MLS, is vice president of Corporate Development Micromedia Limited and president of the Ontario Library Association.

The Change Continues

There is no doubt that technology has changed the world.

Almost every aspect of our lives differs in some way from that of our parents and grandparents because of advances in society's ecologyheat, light, communication, and food.

When my grandfather was born, communication consisted of mail that arrived twice a day, six days a week. The telephone was not around yet but you could send Morse code messages across the continent. When you bought a home in the city, you expected that you would have mail delivery there.

When my grandfather was first married, he bought a "starter" home. Electricity was an optional extra, no one in his neighborhood had phones, and home fuel (coal), ice, milk, and bread were delivered. For news and entertainment he went to the movies (or the "the show" as they were called) or to a friend's place to listen to their radio.

By the time my father was born in the 1930s, oil was delivered and some neighborhoods were heated by natural gas. Mail, ice, milk, and bread were delivered. People started to get telephone party lines in their neighborhood because a "whole phone" costs a lot and there was not enough "bandwidth" available for everyone to use one anyway. Houses were being built with telephone connections as options. Parts of the city were given phone service in geographic parcels. You could tell where someone lived (and their neighborhood's prestige) by the telephone exchange (I was in the poorer Howard 5-3344 district). Electricity was expected with all new homes. You needed it, of course, for your radio, which gave you news and entertainment.

By the time my father and mother got married, the home they bought came with a telephone (party line) and electricity. Natural gas was available in the neighborhood but the house came with an oil tankan upgrade located in the previous owner's coal room. Cable access was an optional extra, which few people had. As a child we could get oil, milk, and bread delivered, but not ice.

We moved when I was ten, and, as a teenager, I watched as homes were built around us. Each new subdivision had many standard features and no one questioned that electricity and multiple telephone jacks would be installed in each new home. Indeed, Ma Bell came around and installed up to five new jacks in everyone's house for free. Even though the jacks were free, no one demanded that the phone service should be too. Later everyone in the neighborhood was hooked up to cable TV. It was inexpensive and an incredible improvement on the ghastly and ghostly antenna reception.

Now fast forward to 2001. My brother just bought a house. Cable, telephone, and electrical access were standard. Most people in his neighborhood have satellite dishes (some the size of pizzas). Everyone heats with natural gas or electricity. There is no milk, bread, or ice delivery in this neighborhood. Not only do they not receive mail delivery to their door twice a day, six days a week like our grandparents did, their mail isn't delivered to their door at all. It comes once a day, five days a week to a neighborhood "Supermailbox."

In my neighborhood most kids have computers and computer games. Their homes usually have at least one, if not more, personal computers. They often have laptops along with home fax machines and multiple telephone lines. I estimate a clear majority of these homes use the Internet and many have broadband high-speed access. Twelve months ago my neighborhood was one of the last in my city to get broadband connectivity through both cable and telephone lines; everyone debates which is best to address their family's e-mail, instant messaging, and Internet addictions. No one seems to miss the twice a day mailman, the milkman, or the breadman. Few even remember the ice and coal men.

The travelers and businesses on the highways of my grandfather's day have given way to the information highway of my day. The actual ecologyheat, light, communication, entertainment, and workchanged in big ways over three generations. We can certainly expect that change to continue and possibly increase.

At work, as a librarian, teacher, strategist, and product developer, I have adapted fairly well to the changes of the past six yearsthe Internet, variant e-mail systems, the web, portals, intranets, extranets, multiple search engines, and blended approaches to the invisible web, the public web, as well as licensed products and new book paradigms.

At conferences, chapter meetings, work and play, and lunches with colleagues, we talk about our visions of the technology future and explore the relevant role we may play in that future ecosystem. There are a few key trends in the technology arena that I think will have an impact on libraries that will be greater than the impact of the web in the next five years. The web as we know it is just an acorn. From it and other developments, a mighty oak will grow. Let's be ready.

The Trends Are: Search, Find, and Display

We're about to see the greatest mutation of the "search" paradigm ever. Until now, the web search engines were pretty much word searchers that explored inverted indexes and, more recently, applied relevancy algorithms to their results instead of the less-than-satisfying alphabetical or chronological results lists of the immediate past. This is not too different from what librarians have been doing electronically since the 1970's! These are just ranked lists and pointers to resources.

Take a look at some of these recent newcomers and how they've changed the face of "search." Do end-users need training anymore? Do they need intermediaries or search coaches? You bet they do, but we need to understand it, too.

These search engines have different ways of adding value to search. Some do it through insights into the nature of "discovery" and some just display the results for quicker access. At the time of this writing (Dec. 2001) many users, including librarians, are still using AltaVistaeven though its index hasn't been updated since June/July 2001. Indeed, as librarians we were appalled at the number of people who tried to use Google to retrieve news within minutes of the 9/11 tragedy. A service such as Google that bases its result display on link popularity has precious little time to find popular links for current events!

So, one major trend in search is to create a visual display that looks like a map or a solar system and shows you the relationships and dimensionality of the information in the content that is derived from the internal taxonomies, thesauri, or proprietary algorithms. This has a great deal of potential. Some of the most interesting are WebBrain.com from TheBrain.com and CoBrain. Other examples of these sort of visual search interfaces are InXight, Kartoo, iLOR, Antarcti.ca, and Vivisimo. Have a peek.

The other major trend is to not just visually map a search result but to organize the hits not just public web hits but these tools can often be licensed and tuned to your intranet or invisible web resources. Sometimes these look like folders that mirror the metadata in the source, sometimes they create metadata on the fly through sources they chooseas minor as a Roget's or as proprietary and high value as MESH or LCSH headings and trees. Some just look like editorially (human) organized links but they're not. You can see how some of this works at Northern Light, Oingo from Applied Semantics, and WiseNut.

We are also feeling growing pressure, as librarians, to be more timely and to predict content that users want before they know it exists or that they need it. We need to keep our eyes on the tools for proactive and personal alerting through tools like the Northern Light Alerts, Mind-it, Spy-on-it, and specialized Bots (we can see a link list of these at Steve Arnold's site, http://www.arnoldit.com).

Our beloved Google had better evolve and adapt, too. In the search engine world, survival of the fittest rules. We're already seeing Google offering a multitude of new services (and ads) that index and serve up many information formats besides the traditional HTML and loads of new additions including some media and beyond PDF options.

Are you ready for multimedia searching? As more and more valuable, but non-text, information is stored and accessible via the web, you'd better be. We're starting to see the picture search go on steroids. There is lots of muscle. Take a gander at what Google, AltaVista, and MS Corbis are doing. Have you tried the new music search engines? There is some pretty amazing stuff here too. Are you ready to search full motion digital video in DVD's? Take a look at such neat stuff as the new Napster filters, video search engines like LookThatUp.com, and graphics SearchBots like BayTSP.com.

Are you ready for multilingual searching? How about being able to easily search other languages when they are buried and wrapped in a picture or graphic? A lot is happening in this space. WiseNut has Korean and Japanese options for its visual search. The majority of web language translations can be handled at Babylon.com. Babylon also offers thousands of multilingual thesauri along with a new feature that offers male and female voices giving English word pronunciation. Kartoo shows a French visual thesaural implementation for search. Imagine a controlled vocabulary being displayed as a constellation and you can see how cool Kartoo is.

What's Next for the Web?

First we're entering an era where the databases are going to get even more massive. The Pages of the Past product, which covers all editions of the Toronto Star newspaper since 1894, is 2 terabytes of images and searchable text alone. We're fast approaching the logical limits of Boolean searches to create a useable and correct retrieval set that is scaleable for end-user applications. The Antarcti.ca demo of the visual map for PubMed offers another concept for the upcoming way the web will look. The issues of finding (not just searching) both the visible versus invisible web will challenge us in coming years.

It's becoming clear that the search "problem" on the web may end up being solved by some of the PC Game options. This will allow you to navigate a three-dimensional space using such currently crude tools as joysticks, gloves, and eyeball goggles! Imagine that the result of your search is reached after journeying down a very complex pathbasically the research result is the "Princess" you're saving at the end of the game. You have to pick up clues by going through many doors as you seek to solve the issue at hand. The process of search and find will happen like this and we've trained an entire generation to explore information/problem space this way.

The next generation, but by no means final, architecture of the Internet and web is already here. You can see this in the file sharing, so called P2P protocols that don't require web pages or HTML to share information (images, documents, whole websites, records, etc.). Combine this with the same "why" generation that so easily shares and retrieves files through Napster, Gnutella, KAZAA, and Morpheus and we can see that the future is more than sharing MP3's and DVD's. Daniel Chudnov's vision of Docster is arriving and will consist of documents and records and any digitizable object.

Peer architecture is closely related to things that are near and dear to our heartsfull text, full image, and full article delivery. We are seeing the emergence of industry standard advanced intelligent linking services that allow us to combine our abstract and indexing servicesthose services that we know are necessary for accurate and productive search and findwith access to our web based periodical subscriptions and collections. You can see this in the products and strategic plans from ingenta, Catchword, Ovid SilverPlatter's SilverLinker & WebSPIRS 5, Infotrieve, OCLC, and ProQuest.

What are the Devices?

First, I think it's pretty clear that within five years the PC will not be the dominant electronic tool or even access device. Several things are happening that we need to watch and adapt to. First of all, we are seeing increasing use of flat screens. This isn't just about saving space on desktops; it's about moving products, services and information to where the users are. We will eventually see screens appearing on our freezer doors, refrigerators, microwaves, walls, countertops, and desks. Imagine what it will mean to libraries when screens are paper-thin and can be applied anywhereeven on our book stacks! Now imagine them being wireless!

Yes, wireless is another obvious trend that many libraries are adapting to quickly. Some campuses find such technological solutions as SkyPort drops, which can work around their wiring issues, asbestos, urea formaldehyde, poured concrete, historic-building limitations in a very cost-effective and service enhancing way.

We see the proliferation of Palm Pilots, RIM Blackberries, WorldPhones, and DoCoMo devices worldwide. Indeed it's a rare new PCS digital phone that doesn't come with, or have options for, MP3 players, radio, browsers, e-mail, TV, or voice recognition. Don't think it's going to happen? DoCoMo has been selling 50,000 devices a day in Japan and NTT DoCoMo has invested billions in AT&T to ensure its presence in the North American market. And these devices are already advertising in Teen People; we're not the target market.

Some libraries are supporting nomadic computing in recognition that this is where their users are heading and it's an opportunity to improve service. Mount Sinai Hospital library in Toronto has made the wireless plunge and offers many key databases available through doctors' and other health professionals' Palm Pilots at the bedside. Information now truly needs to be where the users decisions are, not where they have to go. Our customers are now more in motion than ever. Among others, Westlaw and OAG offer similar services.

Lastly, we can't forecast what's next without tipping our hats to 2001: A Space Odyssey "Talk to me Hal." Voice recognition (VR) is almost ready for prime time. Indeed many of us use it when we call 411 and give our answer to the computer's query, "What city please?" So, we're seeing more amazing things from Dragon NaturallySpeaking, IBM ViaVoice Pro, RocketTalk.com, and Philips Speech Processing FreeSpeech. Indeed Microsoft XP was released early this autumn and it has VR built in. It doesn't take a genius to see this turning any telephone into a speak-search-and-read-it-to-me device. No one wants to use the telephone button pad as an interface.

Work and Learning Environments

This is probably the biggest change that's happening. For years we've been following the technological advance we've termed "convergence." That's pretty well over (To quote my daughter, "It's so last century!") and now the challenge will be to converge the content and technology into our context. Moving library services to where they need it, not just when.

I call this new environment a "collaboratory." I mean this to be envisioned as a blended and overlapping thinking, decision-making, and learning environment. Adding librarian tricks to the bricks and clicks will be the goal. We have lots of terms that show us that this trend is emerging. Terms like virtual teams, collaborative digital reference, virtual reference libraries, and shared portals. This goes beyond chat rooms and videoconferences. It's about communities of interest, communities of practice, and e-neighborhoods. We're moving to a world where sharing and integrated, cooperative, partnerships will be the norm. Libraries have been on the edge of some of these trends as we have developed state and province-wide consortial licensing and services. We have seen the trends towards applying practices in knowledge management, content management systems, and managing the information supply chain as key to the infrastructure for an information and knowledge based economy. An interesting venture capital company to watch in this area is divine, Inc. You'll know them as the acquirers of RoweCom, Sagemaker, Eprise, etc.

If you're interested in looking at some of the newer, beyond chat, ICQ and Internet messenger applications, then take a look at things like Groove (just got VC of $53 million US), PlaceWare, WebEx, Centra, Flypaper, Raindance, or Intranets.com. We're looking at a new way of working and a new environment into which to offer the services of librarians and researchers.

Don't think that knowledge management isn't going away as a trend either. The tools are coming out fast and furious. You can track them at the KM World website and their e-newsletter. I also maintain a page of interesting links

(http://www.infotoday.com/il2001/cybertours/abram/).

Another very key trend is e-Learning. e-Learning is Internet-enabled learning. And, to be clear, we need to acknowledge that learning is the actual process by which humans adapt information. A blended learning environment is one where classroom instruction (virtual and live) and distance education courses are combined with e-Learning that combines live interactions and learning nuggets delivered in appropriate timeframesasynchronously and asymmetrically to the right work and study environment. If libraries are not integrated into the new blended learning environment, then we will lose relevance to the mainstream of society. Our selection, collection, and service development skills will serve us well in this new environment of buying courseware at the enterprise level.

Some sites to consider learning about this e-Learning trend are the websites of some of the major providers: Saba, Click2Learn, SkillSoft, Docent, Isopia, SmartForce, and NewMindsets.

If you're interested in actually developing courses or implementing a learning management system, there are wonderful tools and templates to help you. Many librarians have already migrated their products, services, and information literacy training to these web-based environments.

Another easy-to-adapt opportunity is web-based presentation management tools. These tools allow you to place voice, video, or objects like PowerPoint presentations with voiceover on the web. Try out BrainShark, Presenter, or DoTell. Another opportunity exists in Course Management Systems like Blackboard, eCollege, WebCT, Lotus Learning Space, WBT Systems Top Class, or Prometheus.

I've created a link page of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) for you to explore further (http://www.infotoday.com/il2001/cybertours/abram/).

Library Micro-trends

There are loads of opportunities in the library sector. One of the biggest is what we're calling Virtual Reference or Collaborative Digital Reference Services. This is the ability to provide online remote service. This can be as simple as an "Ask a librarian . . . live!" button on your OPAC or library site, Q&A Cafés or a real-time live-chat, homework helper service. Some interesting things to look at are LSSI's (Library Systems and Services LLC) Virtual Reference Desk or some of the specialized software in CRM (customer relationship management) or call center applications.

We are increasingly involved in tying licensed information to our enterprise's intranets. There are now suites of very cool tools available, largely from the traditional library electronic publishing community, which allows us to do this easily. You should check out Dialog Corporation's SmartLogik and NewsEdge IQ toolsets, Factiva Publisher and Factiva.com, LexisNexis Smart Tools etc., WestLaw Intranet Solutions, Northern Light SinglePoint Custom Enterprise Solution, and ProQuest's Archiver.

Are you challenged by maintaining segmented and niche lists of bookmarks? Check out community bookmark sharers like ITlist and Blink. Any new search on the phrase "bookmark manager" on any search engine nowadays turns up a plethora of products!

The trend toward personalization is key. We can see loads of opportunity here too. Interesting applications can be seen in such personalization and profiling tools as NetPerceptions, Verity, MyYahoo, MyExcite, or MyMSN. Indeed the most recent versions of MS XP and MS 2000 (MS Digital Dashboard thinking) adapt themselves as the user works with them to moderate their design to adapt to the user's usage patterns and behaviors. We are rapidly approaching an era where users' PC stations and other devices will not have a default homepage or portal. There will be a totally personal environment there that is as unique as the user's fingerprint or iris biometrics. Where will the librarian's services be in this world?

We've often played a key role in content management. At recent conferences we've seen the information supply chain show signs that knowledge and content management systems (CMS) are merging and then converging with workflow systems and e-learning applications. Reviewing the strategies and products of Vignette, Broadvision / Interleaf, MS nCompass, and then seeing how they integrate with cool taxonomy tools and services such as those provided by Data Harmony, Semio, Babylon or Applied Semantics and tying this to industry and sector specific ISO standard taxonomies puts our services into the stratosphereif we step up to the plate.

What about books, you say? We are definitely seeing cool developments in e-Book Management Systems. We're seeing large collections that are actually tied to MARC records, allowing seamless integration in our OPACs. Some of the more interesting ones are MeansBusiness (combines books with abstracted alerts), NetLibrary (especially in some of the ongoing acquisition scenarios), Element K (combines books with e-learning), and industry oldster and cool application, Books24x7.com.

Combine this with some of the intranet services emerging from Chapters/Indigo, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon and the interesting partnerships shown at Ebsco, OCLC, and FatBrain that allow for custom publishing, storage, and ordering and you see great potential.

What Else May Be in Our Strategic Future?

Surely, too much to fit here. Like my family, though just three generations, we will continue to adapt to change and opportunity. What was once challenging will become an accepted part of the new ecology and neighborhood.

The strategic window of opportunity for librarians is huge, but keep in mind that it won't be open long. We're about to enter the Boomer retirement era. It will be the largest flight of knowledge capital from the open market in history. Knowledgetacit, explicit, and culturalwill need to be transferred. The gauntlet has been thrown down for librarianshipuse the technology, use our professional skills, learn from others, and we will be so stupendously successful that the world will beat a path to our virtual door.