Thing #11

Onward to Thing #11: Blog about Technology. The instructions say, "simply blog about anything technology related."

Anything? ANYTHING? Sit down and grab a snack. This is going to be long.

Technology is everything, literally everything, humans make, ever have made, or ever will make. That statue in the park? The tools used to carve it are technology. The front door of your house? The hinges, the pane of tempered glass, the doorknob, the lock, even the chain, as well as all the tools and machines used to make these pieces--all technology.

These days, people say "technology" when they mean "electronics." Computers, cell phones, iPods, Kindles, Blackberries, video game consoles, and so on. Or they mean "intangibles"--technology that has evolved beyond physical boundaries--operating systems, computer programs, the internet, the web (they are not the same), Flash animations, streaming video, etc.

Folks forget that the book is also technology. It's old technology, but still . . . think about all the materials and processes that go into making a book. Think about how books were made by hand and written by hand in medieval monasteries. Now think about how they are made today. Think about the "Espresso" machine at the New York Public Library, which prints e-books on demand. Think about how that changes the game for publishing as well as for libraries. The book has undergone some astonishing technological developments through its history.

Some people say print is dead. They've been saying it for a long time, and I'm sure they'll keep saying it. Sure, some people love to read books on their Kindles, but others love the feel of paper in their hands. They want books because they don't want to have to worry about batteries running dead or about dropping a $400 dollar device in the bathtub. They want books because they don't want their favorite novel to become unreadable when some technological advance somewhere down the line renders a particular file format obsolete. Books are never obsolete. Of course, they can rot. They can burn. They can crumble into dust. As long as you keep backing up your files and converting them into the latest "standard" format of the day, you can keep them forever.

Some people drive sedans. Some people drive pickup trucks. Big deal. Some people read on paper. Some read on screens. Big deal.

The point is, the book isn't going away, not so long as there are people who value the tactile sensation of paper upon their fingertips.

The other point is, it doesn't matter. Paper books. Electronic books. Whatever. The library's mission remains the same: providing access to information and entertainment. The way we do our business is transitioning, but that's nothing new. Think about the first library that got an online catalog. Heck, think about the first library that decided to include non-print media in their collection, maybe a sound recording or a movie. There had to be a first one somewhere. Go back even further. Think about the first library that dared to open its doors to the--gasp--public. Libraries are all about change. Always have been, always will be. Why? Because libraries are all about culture. Whatever the people want and need, we provide--we MUST provide, if we want to remain part of the culture. And remember, culture is as much I Can Has Cheezburger? as Shakespeare.

Before I retire, I fully expect to be downloading novels and movies directly into my brain, and sharing them to patrons. How will that work? Is that technically "circulating" the collection? What kinds of laws and social mores will regulate direct brain-to-brain file transfer? Yet I expect I'll probably still have shelves full of paper books, as well as movies on VHS, DVD, and at least three other physical formats, both at home and at the library.

But here's where it gets sticky. Some technologies go obsolete. For technologies requiring no additional tools to operate (e.g.: books, door hinges, etc.), this takes longer, if it happens at all; quite often they continue to thrive alongside other technologies because people still find them useful. But technologies that are not self-contained tend to fall by the wayside. How many libraries still have U-Matic tapes in their collection? Do you even remember what U-Matic is? And when the last U-Matic player breaks, the information on any remaining tapes is gone forever, unless someone thought to copy it to VHS, and then copy it again to DVD, and then copy it again to YouTube, and so on. Maybe you're using Word 2007 now, and your computer doesn't even have a floppy drive. Your colleague retires, and you find a bunch of diskettes filled with Word Perfect files. What can you do with them? The information is gone forever. Maybe it's just old procedures that were outdated anyway. Maybe it's the mythical Great American Novel. Dross will be lost to the sands of time, but so will treasures. But that's nothing new with the modern age. Medieval monks decided which books to copy and preserve, and which ones to let go. Dross was lost, but so were treasures. And this will continue to happen so long as people have opinions on what is cool and what is crap, in other words, until the end of time.

But even if the manifestations change (oh Lord, did I just bring up FRBR?), it's the content that is key. U-Matic, VHS, DVD, .avi, or whatever format you put it in, it's still an episode from The Muppet Show, and it's still funny. So libraries need to stay cognizant of the fact that we gather, search, and provide access to content, whatever the carrier. Evolving technology provides evolving tools to perform the same essential functions for society. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

How do you predict which technologies are going to stick? You can't, really. But here's one guideline. Technologies that are useful and make people's lives better will stick, and continue to evolve. Look at how quickly cell phones and GPS became integral parts of our culture. Why? Because they directly and immediately enriched people's lives. Technologies that are sufficiently entertaining will stick around, too, because people love to have fun. Case in point, the video game. Sure, things have changed a lot between Pong and World of Warcraft, but it's still all about fun. And sometimes people whip out the old Atari 2600 games just for a trip down nostalgia lane. (I do, from time to time, and my friends play them with me.)

But we must guard against a new Dark Age. Can you imagine losing our computers? That can't happen, right? Well, did you know that computers existed well before the 20th century? If you're nodding and thinking of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, you'll have to go back a lot further. The ancient Greeks had computers over two thousand years ago. No joke. Look up the Antikythera Mechanism. Of course, they weren't surfing the web or sending out Tweets to all their pals, but it was still an astonishingly advanced piece of technology. How did such sophisticated tech vanish? Could it happen again? Think about it. (If you enjoy that line of thinking, read Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs.)

Libraries are in the best position to protect and preserve the "good stuff." New technology isn't to be feared, but explored. Some of it will be junk, and some of it will transform our lives. Creation and use of technology are what make humans human.