When we think of the word “technology” what generally springs to mind are devices like smartphones and perhaps automated machine lines. But the fact is, it’s about so much more than trendy phones or robotic production.

Technology is changing just about every aspect of everyday life as we know it – and mostly for the better. Take the health industry for example. Medical researchers now estimate that by 2030, typical diseases of the brain will have become non-existent. That would mean no more Alzheimer’s disease, to name but one. Type 1 diabetes, too, will have become completely preventable with the help of human genome engineering.

But what about those industries closer to home for a bigger portion of humanity? What about, for example, the humble library?

If anything, what we do know for certain right now, is that technology won’t mean the end of libraries. In fact, it will only make these information universes even more useable and valuable than ever before.

The Librarian Of The Future

At the moment, we tend to distinguish our library spaces between the physical and the digital. While the physical aspect refers to the actual building, shelving, categorising equipment, etc., the digital involves not only electronic research resources, but also added elements like a virtual learning environment, an online layer involving the discovery of new worlds previously unbeknownst to us, and even the actual role of the librarian of the future.

In essence, the librarian is a guardian of public information. And the secondary focus, that of an environment of learning. Introducing technology into this equation simply means faster access to more information in a much shorter space of time.

Technology is changing the role of the librarian in such a way that readers are now provided with much more modern resources for finding and even citing information than before, but without a loss of the core function of the library as an establishment in its own right.

The Way We Interact With Info

Following only the introduction of the internet as research mechanism into the library setup, there’s already been a shift in the way we interact with information. Much like the way we now play big dollar casino free spins, the internet has been a game-changer in the library too.

While the library has traditionally been viewed as a central collection and mediation point for information, technology is fast beginning to make it so that the modern-day library is now a place where information is converted into new knowledge.

Technology Means Transition

Within the context of the library of the future, technology will likely play a titanic role in helping an older generation of reader or student make the transition to a digital world. And at the heart of this transition will be, once again, the librarian.

While it can be argued that the concept of replacing books with digital reading devices will never mean a complete electronic re-invention of the library space as we know it, the librarian of the future will undoubtedly have to answer to the call of the digital realm in a much bigger way than ever before.

Whether mostly good or something we’ll find ourselves kicking against for many more years to come, technology’s role in how the library of the future will function is already starting to show.