1

G: Emerging Technological Trends

Let’s Predict the Future!

A half-day workshop at the SAOIM 2014 conference held on Tuesday 3 June 2014 facilitated by Brian Kelly, Cetis

Slides available under a Creative Commons licence (CC-BY)

G3: Let’s Predict the Future:

The Hyperlinked Library

2

What is the Hyperlinked Library?

The hyperlinked library:• Based on the notion of the hyperlinked organisation.• A model which emphasises an open, participatory institution

that welcomes user input and creativity• See The Hyperlinked Organization, chapter 5 in The

Cluetrain Manifesto

The hyperlinked library was defined by Michael Stephens:• “An open, participatory institution that welcomes user input

and creativity. It is built on human connections and conversations. The organizational chart is flatter and team-based. The collections grow and thrive via user involvement. Librarians are tapped in to user spaces and places online to interact, have presence, and point the way. The hyperlinked library is human. Communication, externally and internally, is in a human voice. The librarians speak to users via open, transparent conversation.”

3

The Social Sharer

The social sharer:• Professional sharing: researchers, coders,

data wranglers, …• Social sharing: photos, games tips, good

pubs, good hotels, spare rooms, ....

Can use variety of services:• General: Facebook, Twitter, blogs, …• Dedicated: Stackoverflow, Stackexchange,

Quora, Hotukdeals, Airbnb, …

Characteristics:• Gets badges from their community• Open metrics demonstrates leadership• May be open to gaming

See discussion at on Brian Kelly’s Hyperlinked Library blog

4

The Social Librarian

The social librarian:• Shares relevant resources openly. • Engages in discussions.• Has an authentic voice and personality.• Goes where the users are; doesn’t hide

in the office in the library

See • “Could Librarians Be Influential Friends? And Who Owns

Your Search Persona?”, Tony Hirst, OUseful blog, 27 Oct 2010

• “My Trusted Social Librarian”, UK Web Focus blog, Brian Kelly 16 Feb 2012

5

The Dangers!

But will the hyperlinked library:• Result in outsourcing technical infrastructure to

commercial companies which have an interest in profits?

• Result in transferring ownership of content / usage data to commercial companies who may exploit such content without considering user concerns?

• Be great for middle classes who are happy to use networked technologies?

• Fail to recognise signals of user dissatisfaction which may lead to a return to trusted information sources and listening to authoritative voices?

• Be irrelevant if everyone has their own networks of peers for answering their queries?

6

The Need for Flexibility

Even if emerging technology trends do become mainstream

• They may pose new and unexpected challenges

• They may undermine existing business practices

Or:• They may be rejected due to societal concerns

(privacy, NSA, …) • The business benefits may be undermined

(e.g. pressure on Amazon to pay taxes)

7

Conclusions

There is a need to:• Understand unexpected implications of

growth of new technologies• Monitor trends of mainstream services

to detect unexpected dips• Be prepared (unlike the music industry!)

8

Questions

Any questions?