The Source: news about digital libraries and library innovations from around the web

Introducing The Source

The future of social relations (Note: PDF)

From the PewInternet website

The social benefits of internet use will far outweigh the negatives over the next decade, according to experts who responded to a survey about the future of the internet. They say this is because email, social networks, and other online tools offer ‘low-friction’ opportunities to create, enhance, and rediscover social ties that make a difference in people’s lives. The internet lowers traditional communications constraints of cost, geography, and time; and it supports the type of open information sharing that brings people together.


The future of libraries [Audio]

From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) website

Library usage is increasing across Australia. In a national study over five years, 177 million items were lent to the almost 10 million members of Australia's public libraries. And internet use at libraries is also on the rise. So what does this say about the future library, what will it look like? Will we need those long aisles of books and queues at the counter?


There’s an app for that! Libraries and mobile technology: An introduction to public policy considerations (Note: PDF)

From the American Library Association (ALA) website

This new report, released by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP), takes a look at how the adoption of mobile technology alters the traditional relationships between libraries and their users.


The people's inquiry into the public library service (Note: PDF)

From the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) website

In 2008, UNISON, the public service union, launched a campaign for the library service. The aim is to defend the achievements of 150 years of the free public library service, to celebrate its successes and to call for its continuation as a key public service in the 21st century. The necessity for such a campaign can be seen by the perilous position of the UK library service. Despite their vital role as centres of learning and leisure in local communities, libraries are often seen as a soft target when councils look for cuts. The pressure will undoubtedly intensify in a period of public spending retrenchment.