A
BLOGS
1. A blog is what you are looking at here. It is a web site that is usually updated daily, weekly or monthly and entries are usually displayed in reverse chronological order. Most blogging software is free and easy to use such as this one that uses Blogger, a Google tool. Most anyone that can use a computer can create a blog, post pictures, updates, discussions, etc. What makes a blog cool is that it is interactive. People can leave messages and comments to the writer and other viewers of the blog.
2. A blog as a tool for a library can be used in many innovative ways. My favorite way is as a constant update of new acquisitions. It can also be used to update patrons on events such a movie nights, classes, book sales, reading groups, pretty much anything and everything library related. I read the blog that my high school librarian writes to keep me updated on what is going on at my old high school. A library blog can also recommend books and even be an entire online book discussion forum.
3. The social impact of a blog is that it is a new gateway to information. It is an easy way to publish and distribute information that was not available until currently. It allows more writers to write and be heard without the need of a publisher. It allows a library to serve patrons without them even having to visit the library itself. It is changing the way people communicate and changing the location of that communication.
Adaptive Technology
1. Adaptive technology is anything that improves the functional capabilities of a person with disabilities. It can be software that reads a web page to a vision impaired person, a magnifying screen attached to a standard computer screen, a braille writer, or a keyboard that types in response to a users head gestures. Both hardware and software can be used as adaptive technologies.
2. Libraries use this technology to make the library accessible to all users. While not all libraries have all the adaptive technologies, they do try and make the library as accessible as possible to as many users as possible.
3. The social impact of adaptive technology is that more users can use the library and the technology available there. If a user cannot afford an adaptive technology at home it is possible that their local library may have the needed software or hardware to make the library more accessible to them instead. This is a huge social change for some users who may have resigned themselves to the fact that they cannot use the Internet. The library may be able to open a whole new world to them with these adaptive technologies.
Web Filters
1. A web filter is traditionally used in school and home libraries to limit the availability of some web sites. They may be used in the children's section of a public library. Most public schools are required to have some sort of Internet filter in order to receive federal funding for their Internet service. While the filters are supposed to weed out inappropriate content, they tend to over limit the sites that are restricted.
2. Libraries use them to keep children from viewing inappropriate content such as YouTube videos, Facebook, porn sites, etc. Most school districts specialize the limitations to local morals and parental concerns.
3. The social impacts of this are in my opinion huge. The filters do not allow the children to learn how to surf responsibly themselves. The filters also weed out a lot of perfectly appropriate web sites based on keywords. For example a web site providing information on breast cancer, would be filtered out solely due to the use of the word "breast". Also filters in any other use except by a public elementary school limits the availability of information. A library should not censor it's patrons. It goes against the whole purpose of a library.
RFID
1. RFID is radio frequency identification. It is when small microchips are planted in books, products, or pretty much anything where inventory control is needed. The microchip is read by a RFID reader and marks the location or movement of the tagged object. The item does not have to be placed directly on a reader, it just needs to pass by the general area, usually within 5-10 feet or as programmed.
2. RFID is used in libraries to track the location of books. There is no need for a patron to stop at the self check out machine or bother a librarian in order to check out. They would only need to walk out the door and both their library card and their books would be scanned. RFID is also used for checking in books and for taking quick inventory of shelves and finding lost books.
3. There is potential for RFID to have a massive social impact. Some librarians and patrons are worried that RFID's may impact their privacy rights, that the library may track their movements and their reading habits. While this is possible with RFID, the RFID chip would have to be programmed to do so, and that obviously would not happen in a public library setting. Librarians would go out of their way to continue to protect their patrons privacy rights, but they would love to have one less task at the customer service desk.
B.
I think RFID will most improve the library for librarians. Keeping track of thousands of books is difficult. Some slip through the cracks and I think using the RFID technology would make one less thing that a librarian would have to worry about. Being able to scan a shelf to find a missing book would save a ton of time as well as being able to inventory an entire shelf in 10 seconds. If I had RFID tags in my elementary school library it would be a huge time saver.
For patrons I think the blog would be a huge improvement. Some library web sites are not updated frequently which can lead to frustration on the part of patrons looking for new updated information. With a simple link on the main library website to a blog, a patron can find the latest and greatest information on a blog and a librarian will only have to spend a minute or two to update the page. Being able to see the newest books and book groups and events on a blog that could be sent via RSS feeds to patrons would be a huge time saver and could even save trips to the physical library.
