This book is written by Kenneth J. Varnum, the Web Systems Manager at the University of Michigan Library. According to him, these are the 4 trends to be aware of:
1. Augmented Reality: is “technology that provides digital overlays to reality that add information.” The best example of this would be Google Glass eyeware, but there are AR applications for smart phones as well.
2.Discovery: Basically this would be the use of databases, but databases have now evolved from separate “ponds” of data to data being collection in “oceans ” of bibliographic records and full-text articles. Varnum also talks about RSS feeds for any search conducted.
3. Large- scale text, or the ongoing digitizing of books
4.Open hardware: which is commodity-priced computer chips that can be easily programmed and networked together to bring low-cost computing power into the library. For example, instead of buying expensive hardware for counting patrons, the library could instead build a small sensor that achieves the same goal, for less than $100. Provided, of course, that there is such a person working for the library. I have heard of open source software, but wasn’t aware that this may apply to hardware as well.
I realize that this article has more importance for university libraries, but eventually it may filter down to our public libraries.