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Vol. 39 No. 1 — Jan/Feb 2019

FEATURE

In recent years, new IT concepts have appeared, including digital transformation, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). They have had an impact on the population, and therefore libraries can benefit from them too. Libraries may save a lot of their IT budget by adopting these new approaches, because they provide technology in easy ways, often at lower costs, and to the benefit of users. This article will cover the IoT and its applications in libraries. I also include a proposal to take advantage of what the IoT promises, not only to rationalize IT expenditures, but to achieve efficiency.

IT and the Library Infrastructure

The IT infrastructure in most libraries should consist of the following 10 elements:

1. Hardware, specifically computers and accessories
2. Software, including all the programs and applications that are used in running the library and providing services to the users
3. LAN, including the library’s internal communications network and its devices
4. WAN, which encompasses internet services, virtual private networks (VPNs), and other networks
5. ILS, which helps manage the collections, library services, and user accounts
6. Library websites and other electronic marketing tools, including social media
7. Databases
8. Paperless information resources (electronic or digital media)
9. Training resources to help staffers and users develop technology skills
10. Administration, including IT department management and contract managers

When these 10 elements are in place, libraries are in a position to develop an information culture for their community of users.

The IoT Concept

In recent years, several new IT concepts have emerged around the IoT.

• The IoT refers to physical devices that are connected to and exist as entities on the internet. The devices may be in the form of appliances or security systems in homes; the OSs in cars, trucks, and construction or farming equipment; the sensors in traffic signals and street lighting; the smart tags on items in stores; and the mobile devices that many users wear or carry with them at all times. The data streaming over internet connections may serve a variety of business purposes, including equipment performance monitoring, system updating, and inventory control.
• “The Internet of Things (IoT) is a scenario in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human interaction.” (TechTarget 2018)
• The importance of the IoT is evident in that it allows the connection of things anytime, anywhere, with everyone and everything connected to the network. The potential of the IoT is best shown in smart cities where continuously monitoring the data generated from sensors can result in efficiencies in managing resources.

While some issues remain, including privacy safeguards, data interoperability standards, and cybersecurity measures, we can say that the various technologies needed to support the IoT can and will be integrated so that the IoT’s full potential can be realized. Among the enabling technologies are some that should be familiar to librarians: radio frequency identification (RFID), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications protocols, and semantic search capabilities, including metadata and discovery tools (Vermesan and Friess 2013). 

Applications for Libraries

It is not enough to know the new IT concepts; we have to apply them in libraries. It is difficult to imagine all possible IoT applications in the future, but all IoT applications depend on the presence of communication tools, including the internet, Wi-Fi, and RFID. 

Here are some practical use cases for libraries:

• You could discover the smartphones located in a certain areas of the library, via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and send targeted communications (such as announcing an event currently taking place inside the library). 
• Or you could track Wi-Fi devices to show traffic patterns and identify popular shelves in order to make better informed space-usage decisions.
• Many libraries already tag the items in their collections with RFID tags to help check out and check in materials. Libraries can also benefit from smart tagging in other ways: finding lost or misplaced items in the collection or tracking items as they move through the library and possibly deciding to relocate underused resources in order to increase their visibility.

Just imagine the improvements that could result from adopting smart city technologies:

• You might install smart lighting inside and outside your library. The library could then use the internet to monitor and control the lighting (and the costs associated with it), via the library’s Wi-Fi network to turn the lighting on and off.
• The same goes for installing a smart energy system in which energy consumption can be controlled according to need—and not just made available all the time—thus saving a lot on expenses.
• By using fire sensors that are connected to the internet, the advent and progress of a potentially disastrous fire could be followed and dealt with safely from outside the library, pinpointing the danger areas and remotely dealing with them. 

As we have witnessed the evolution of book-based libraries into electronic libraries, digital libraries, and virtual libraries, we will no doubt soon see smart libraries. 

Challenges

While the IoT promises to make an extraordinary change in our entire way of life and work—not just for libraries and librarians—realizing the IoT’s potential presents challenges to IT leadership inside and outside libraries. In some cases, there needs to be a change in business culture, the structure of projects, and leadership strategy in order to place a strong focus on innovation, cooperation, and integration.

IoT systems are currently vulnerable to tampering; consider what that would mean for transport and traffic systems, other critical city infrastructure, and public safety. There are still concerns about the consistency, conformity, and reliability of fixed-object communications across mobile networks and through to remote control devices. And you can imagine what failures might mean for traffic control, public lighting, and emergency response efforts. But on its best day, the IoT should also provide support and protection to all places, inside and outside the libraries. And as libraries, we should lead the way. 

Envisioning a Smarter World

Cloud services provider Libelium (libelium.com) condensed its research findings, previously published in the report “50 Sensor Applications for a Smarter World,” into an infographic available on its website. The infographic shows how the IoT may revolutionize everything in our world, including libraries.

THE REALITY IN EGYPT

The reality for Arab and Egyptian libraries—that’s my part of the world—is that they need to pay more attention to IT and follow up on the new IT concepts and their application. (This may also be true in most libraries in developing countries or even some in developed countries, but I can only speak for my own.)

The most important reasons for not adopting technology are as follows:

• Not all librarians have the skills to deal with new technology.
• Administrative and bureaucratic procedures in the libraries have negatively affected the development of a technology infrastructure; therefore, the technology that’s in place is often obsolete and possibly not even being used. 
• Users are not playing their part in demanding that a distinguished service be provided by the libraries. Users should urge libraries to pay more attention to services based on IT.

But the following is clear:

• The IoT, digital transformation, and cloud computing are three concepts that should be of interest to those serving in the library field and governments around the world. These concepts depend on three key elements: the technology itself and all its components, the central importance of data, and the imperative for community awareness. 
• IoT advantages include cost-savings and increased work efficiency. But realizing these goals depends on reliable infrastructure, including not only the existence, but persistence, of good internet connections. In the era of the IoT, ISPs have becomes VIPs.
• IoT applications can and will be applied and adapted by libraries, even as the IoT expands to what some have called the Internet of Everything. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

• The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and Arab Federation of Libraries and Information (AFLI) must raise awareness among library employees about the importance of the IoT. 
• The Ministry of Communications and Information should promote cooperation among libraries, setting a good example by at least improving the IT infrastructure within the government libraries it supervises. A clear way of demonstrating the importance of IT would be to update computers and software in those libraries.
• The Ministry of Culture should call to the attention of other Arab countries the importance of IT in libraries and cooperate with relevant ministries and organizations to develop libraries, at the same time promoting user awareness of the role and importance of IT.
• Libraries need to understand and apply the new concepts, paying particular attention to providing the best services by improving the IT infrastructure, especially the speed of their internet connections. Continuous training for IT professionals to improve the quality of performance is paramount, as we know that learning to read comes before reading to learn. It’s also necessary that libraries identify sources of funding to provide stable IT budgets not only to maintain the infrastructure, but to increase the salaries of IT specialists in libraries. 
• Libraries in Egypt, the Arab world, and developing countries have an opportunity to cooperate in establishing the knowledge community by sharing knowledge about implementing IT solutions and initiating efforts to share resources, such as participating in the development of a unified ILS and union catalog that are accessible over the internet. 

If we truly care about the user community, libraries will provide the best modern services to them by applying the concepts of the IoT, digital transformation, and cloud computing. The goal will be achieved when all libraries and library associations do their best to advocate for change and work together to implement solutions.

Sources and Resources

Ovidiu Vermesan and Peter Friess, eds., Internet of Things—Converging Technologies for Smart Environments and Integrated Ecosystems, River Publishers, Aalborg, Denmark, 2013,  riverpublishers.com.

TechTarget, WhatIs.com: Internet of Things, retrieved Nov. 14, 2018, whatis.techtarget.com/glossary/Internet-of-Things.