InfoTech
Volume 31, Number
5, June 2004
Laurel A. Clyde
Some Current Infotech Trends
At no fewer than three professional conferences in the
last couple of months, I have attended sessions in which
panelists were asked to take stock of current developments
in information technology and speculate a little about
the future. This prompted me to do my own review of today’s “infotech” developments
and trends – everything from nanotechnology to
thought-controlled computers, “electronic paper” and
wearable computing.
Then I came down to earth and looked
at some information technologies that are already affecting
some school libraries
now and are likely to continue to affect them over
the next few years.
The selection of “infotech trends” is
a personal one. Many of them are interrelated – instant
messaging would not have developed to the extent it has
without
handheld computers, for example. If your own favorite
new technology has been omitted, perhaps you could think
about writing a feature article for this journal!
How
have I identified trends and developments for inclusion
in my list? First, through conferences such as the
Online Information conference in London last December,
where
a number of new products were launched. Secondly, through
regular reading of information technology journals
and magazines such as Tech Trends and Computers
in Libraries.
Thirdly, through a number of Internet “alert” services
that provide e-mail bulletins about new developments
in technology. Text messaging
Also known as “texting,” text
messaging has become a common application on mobile or
cellular phones.
It does have its disadvantages in schools – students
have used it to send inappropriate messages and to cheat
on tests, for example. However, it also has potential
advantages. A number of information applications are
currently available or under development to take advantage
of text messaging (for instance, breaking news delivered
as text messages).
Although its death has been predicted a number of times
(“killed” by newer forms of instant messaging),
text messaging has retained its popularity; indeed, its
use seems to be increasing. Expect to see more sophisticated
information services and educational applications in
the future. We already have the term “m-learning” for
courses delivered via the cellphone as well as via the
handheld computer (see below). Expect to see phone-based
text messaging morphing into the various forms of instant
messaging, just as cellphones have become games consoles
and cameras, in addition to their voice and text communication
functions. Instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) is a medium for
communicating with others in real time via the computer.
It is no longer
restricted to simple text; IM already incorporates
group text chat, voice messaging, and images (for example,
images from a webcam or Internet-linked video camera).
Multi-party instant messaging enables groups of users
to communicate amongst themselves and with other groups.
Experienced IMers might carry out a number of “conversations” simultaneously,
with individuals or groups. IM is not restricted to personal
computers; it is available on all kinds of “mobile
computing” devices, including personal digital
assistants (PDAs), handhelds and cellphones. Currently,
there are many different instant messaging tools, services
and standards: “It’s a jungle out there,” says
Scott Spanbauer of PC World. Things are not likely to
become any simpler in the short term; in fact, we can
expect to see even more of these services. Handheld computing
In my February 2004 InfoTech article,
I discussed handheld computers, particularly in relation
to education. Handheld
computers have proved very appealing for many schools.
By definition portable, they can be used in a number
of educational settings, including for fieldwork. They
are designed for communication and information access.
They are less costly than laptops and desktops; a school
class or the teachers in a school can be equipped with
computer power at relatively low cost. Quality educational
software, however, remains a problem, as my InfoTech
article indicated. However, serious business applications
are emerging. Nevertheless, “the biggest challenge
facing the industry is the immaturity of today’s
mobile data networks, which suffer from bad coverage,
low speeds, or both” (Margulis, 2003). Weblogs
Weblogs have become the most talked about communications
medium of the early 21st century (see my report on
weblogs in the October 2002 issue of Teacher Librarian).
They
are sources of news and opinion: the reports of the “Baghdad
Blogger” (Salam Pax) and other “warbloggers” have
provided us with unofficial and sometimes very moving
accounts (from both sides) of the invasion and occupation
of Iraq, for example. Professional weblogs in the field
of library and information science, such as LISnews (www.lisnews.com),
Library Stuff (www.librarystuff.net), and Handheld Librarian
(handheldlib.blogspot.com), keep us up to date with new
developments. Community weblogs provide facilities for
readers to post messages and comment. Institutions and
individuals have created weblogs, with an estimated 3.8
to 4.5 million in existence at the beginning of 2004.
Recent developments have included phone blogging and “moblogging” – weblogs
created and/or updated from cellphones. Internet-linked
camera phones allow bloggers to add photographs to their
weblog pages even as events happen. Conference attendees
are blogging from the conference sessions, so that their
readers are “right there in the auditorium”;
reports of meetings appear even as the meeting is in
progress. The educational potential is enormous, especially
since good weblog creation software is available free,
as are weblog hosting services. RSS
RSS stands for either “Rich Site Summary” or “Real
Simple Syndication,” depending on the commentator
and the software used. It is an attempt to address the
problem of “too much information on the Internet”,
to provide a way for serious Web users to keep track
of new information in their own specialist fields. With
RSS, users can have content from frequently updated web
sites such as weblogs and news sites delivered to a “news
aggregator” on their own computer, and have that
content updated all the time. RSS extends the reach of
weblogs by making their content available through other
services. Increasingly, quality weblogs are being developed
with RSS capabilities. However, while RSS has been very
closely associated with weblogs, it is not just a tool
for syndicating information from weblogs. I use RSS feeds
on my course web pages at the University of Iceland,
for example, to provide my students with access to the
most recent material on the Internet related to the topics
covered in the course – often, the material that
they access through this feed carries today’s date.
The feeds that I use are free. School library professionals
could provide the same kind of service to teachers and
students in their schools. The number of RSS feeds available,
and their sophistication, is increasing all the time. Content
management systems (CMS)
Your library has a web
site (of course). The web site may even have become
a kind of virtual library, making
information and services available to library users
24 hours a day throughout the week. The web site is probably
growing in size, and management of the content may
have
become a problem – it is hard to keep track of
information across dozens, even hundreds, of web pages
on a site. The answer is a content management system
(CMS), a suite of software designed to automate the process
of creating and updating a web site. Most CMS software
suites include web page creation modules (through which
the visual design of pages is specified) as well as modules
for creating menus, site maps and search systems. CMS
software ranges from simple and inexpensive packages
that are affordable for many schools, to million-dollar
systems designed for multinational corporations. Even
some of the cheaper systems can provide the basis for
quite sophisticated web sites that include such features
as searchable databases. And they can simplify the process
of creating new pages and merging them into the structure
of the web site. These systems are improving all the
time and the market is very competitive, to the benefit
of buyers. Universal translation systems
“
In 10 years, everyone may have universal-translation
software on their handheld or cell phone,” says
Yuqing Gao, a researcher at IBM. For thousands of years,
humans have dreamed of a magic key that would enable
them to understand all languages. Computer-based translators
for web pages have been around for several years, and
though the quality is not particularly good at present,
it is improving. Automatic translation of speech presents
greater challenges. However, imagine the benefits if
medical teams who don’t share a common language
could communicate with each other in a hospital. Or if
one could understand the local radio in a foreign country.
Or if school students could access Internet resources
from another country even if they don’t speak the
language of that country. Cheap and readily available
universal translation software would particularly help
people in developing countries who cannot at present
access resources and information in English. Unfortunately,
of all the developments listed in this article, this
one is furthest away from us right now! References
Gao, Y. (2004, February). 10 emerging technologies that
will change your world. Technology Review. Retrieved
January 3, 2004 from http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/print_version/emerging0204.asp
Margulis, D. (2003, April/May). Eying the mobile horizon.
Information Age, 22-23.
Spanbauer, S. (2004, January 31). A grown-up’s
guide to instant messaging. PC World. Retrieved February
1, 2004, from http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,114161,pg,2,00.asp
Other resources
Breeding, M. (2003). Instant messaging: It’s not
just for kids anymore. Computers in Libraries, 23 (10),
38-40.
Pax, Salam. (2003). Salam Pax: The clandestine diary
of an ordinary Iraqi. New York: Grove.
Rogers, C., & Kirriemuir, J. (2003). Developing
a content management system-based web site. D-Lib Magazine,
9 (5). Retrieved May 20, 2003 from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may03/kirriemuir/05kirriemuir.html
Williams, J. (2003). Taming the wireless frontier: PDAs,
tablets, and laptops at home on the range. Computers
in Libraries, 23 (3), 10-13.
 Laurel
A. Clyde is Professor in the Faculty of Social
Science at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. She
can be reached at anne@rhi.hi.is.
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