Coping Up with Information

Technology in Public Libraries

LIS Congress
28 February 2009
UP College of Education Auditorium
UP Library and Information Science Students' Association

Edgardo Quiros
Chief, Information Technology Division
The National Library
Introduction
The Public Library
An institution established to serve the
information needs of a specific community
Managed by educated and trained personnel
in collecting, organizing and disseminating
information to target clientèle
A place with ambiance where people go to
avail of information products and services
(print, electronic or otherwise)
A place where people can consult an
information professional
The Public Library Clientele
Age ranges from preschool children to
senior citizens
Information needs vary from daily news to
dissertations
Information is used in elementary, high
school, post high school, college, or post
graduate research
The Public Library Clientele
Information is also intended to support work
related research
Some used library materials for lifelong
learning
The Public Librarian
Know the client needs in terms of
information products and services
Select and collect printed or online
materials appropriate to clients
Catalog, classify and index materials
suited for clients information searching
behavior
The Public Librarian
Create abstracts, guides, bibliographies,
some with annotations, and other
derivatives to shorten searching time of
clients
Translate or facilitate the translation of
materials into language or scripts known
to clients
The Public Librarian
Advise clients on quality and
appropriateness of materials
Provide information services needed by
clients
Maintain library facilities conducive for its
clients
Requirements of IT
Stable and constant supply of electricity
Decent computers
Reliable Internet connection
Appropriate network devices
Requirements of IT
Software needed in the delivery of
information products and services
Reliable IT support
Availability of maintenance budget
Availability of quality digital information
Working knowledge and skills in IT
From books to bytes
Nature of ICT
New technologies are introduced almost
every three months
Computers become obsolete in less than a
year
Information in the Internet doubles every
three days
Dealing with ICT
Learning everything is next to impossible
Having new technologies is very expensive
There is always cost involved even with free
software
As librarians, copyrights should always be
respected
Guiding Principles

Library client needs (information

products and services) should come
first
Guiding Principles

Adapt technologies that will help in the

delivery of information products and
services
Guiding Principles

Collect, organize and disseminate

information products suitable for
clients
A Suggested Strategy
Know your clients
Know what information they need
Know which form of information (printed,
digital, etc) they prefer
Determine the availability of digital form
Determine sources of digital information
Identify IT equipment and facilities needed
Your clients
IT adoption
Willingness to learn new technology
Skills in using computers and software
applications
Experience in navigating the Internet
What information they need
Topic
Level of complexity
Material designation
Quality of information
Which form of information they
prefer
Analog – printed, audio tapes, video tapes,
microforms, photographs, etc
Digital – text, graphics, audio, video
Language used in the material
Script used in the material
Availability of digital
information
Is it in digital or analog format?
What digital format is used?
How much does it cost?
Is it accessible?
Sources of digital information
Does your library has a copy?
Which institution, person or organization
has a copy?
Which information provider has a copy
Can it be found in the Internet?
IT equipment and facilities
needed
Computer hardware
Application software
Internet bandwidth
Next Steps…
Items to procure
Computer hardware for information
creation, searching, storage, and retrieval
Software applications to view information
Furniture with reasonable comfort
Stable electricity and needed devices
Reliable Internet services
IT Services
On things to learn
Focus on technologies needed to provide
information products and services to clients
in efficient manner
Train to be functional providers of digital
information not experts in IT
Learn the appropriate techniques of
providing IT user education
-- F I N --