I thought I would try to make the title of this blog post a bit of a play on words. I think I better stick to being a librarian and not a comedian! This post deals with libraries and handheld technology through the issues raised by Jason Griffey in his article "The Rise of the Tablet," published in
Library Technology Reports on April 1, 2010.
Griffey mentioned some general knowledge information at the beginning of the article, about the development of the tablet and Apples' iPad and iPad 2 (the iPad 3 had not been released at the time of publication). His statements don't deviate much from cold hard facts about how tablets came to be. It was the section in which Griffey started talking about how libraries can utilize tablets that grabbed my attention. This, after all, is what I am in school to discover and where my greatest interest lies in considering the future role of libraries as technology evolves.
Griffey indicated that Apple makes using iPads in a library setting rather easy for IT-type individuals. Up to 10 devices can be attached to a single iTunes account, which is necessary for software updates, app downloads, etc... Plus, Apple even provides links for what Griffey calls "enterprise users" that need to limit access to download capabilities, certain functions of the tablets, and what apps can even be displayed.
The biggest hurdle, as my second keypoint, is that there is only one provider of digital content that can be purchased for checkout directly for iPad tablets in his article. He, too, sees this as a negative. The company is called OverDrive, and my school district is currently examining their modules to consider making them available to our libraries. None of the other providers he mentioned, including Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and others provide this option to share downloaded media legally. This is a huge obstacle for using this technology beyond simple in-house internet searches and pre-downloaded texts.
Thirdly, Griffey does discuss tablets that use Android operating systems, but there is not as deep a discussion of their library capabilities or eReader usage. Some Android based tablets and iPad competitors, like the Kindle Fire and Nook Color, allow library patrons to read on bright screens, but many books are available only for purchase and not circulation.
I personally use my iPad 2 as a search tool for students in my libraries. The libraries only have 2-3 student computers to search our online index, so having an iPad in my hands open to the library search page saves many steps to the computers, while allowing me to help students who do not have time to wait on overcrowded computers during a limited library time. I also believe that tablets will replace PCs in our libraries once the financial consideration is settled concerning circulation and copyright.
The Rise of the Tablet.
Source:
Library Technology Reports; Apr2012, Vol. 48 Issue 3, p7-13, 7pAccessed via Academic Search Complete, February 10, 2013.
