Tag Archives: Hybrid Library

The Post-digital Library toward the Hybrid Library

Finally the world is beginning to move beyond concept that the digital technologies are the answer to everything. Finally the dust is settling after the onslaught of new digital technologies & we are able to glimpse a new future. The digital revolution has most certainly been a revolution but not quite what we had envisaged in science fiction films and books. Certainly there were elements of truth but we are a long way from the worlds of “Back to the future” or the “Blade Runner” of 2019 (disappointing in some ways, I was really looking forward to the hover board). We only need to pick up a design website, an arts magazine, a science magazine or a picture book to see that the world is moving beyond digital toward a hybrid world. A post-digital world. A world where the analogue and digital coexist, neither one is replaced nor entirely fills the role of the other yet both are heavily influenced by each other through complex interactions. Neither one works entirely independent of the other. How often does it happen that you start reading a magazine, then jump to a website to find out more, then click on a link to go further, watch a video, then go back to purchase a book written by someone you have just discovered through their online presence, then return to that magazine to read another article? It is a hybrid connected experience. Similarly in the library we are finally able to envisage a world where digital resources coexist with print and more traditional analog resources such as the beanbag in a quiet dimly lit corner. Libraries that have gone entirely digital have pre-empted a world that does not exist, the digital has not replaced the analog but has transformed it, changed it and now it has evolved and will continue to evolve. Evidence for this can be found in looking at trends in book sales. Book sales on the whole, including digital and print, are going up. Digital sales particularly in areas like mass appeal  paperback fiction are rapidly increasing – the book, the narrative text is still just as engaging as it ever was. While in the print world sales in children’s picture books are growing rapidly but so are other areas such as graphic novels. What we have are patterns of publication that are changing but nevertheless still growing. Print is showing no signs of disappearing – only changing. As a result our library has moved from attempting to be a deposit of all knowledge sufficient for an inquiring student, to providing a boutique collection of unique print titles that inspire a different response than a website or an e-book. We can now expand our resources into the electronic world particularly in reference resources through databases & e-books so that now I don’t need to stock those specialty titles in print for future reference, my students can now access resources electronically where-ever they are, when ever they need it. This means that when they come to the library they expect a different experience. And that is really what the library offers, an experience. That experience may include and often does include digital components however this all occurs in the context of beautifully bound books that inspire and create an atmosphere of creativity and exploration. So in the post-digital world, the post-digital library, we find a hybrid world where digital technology & analog technology mingle together. For this to continue the library environment needs to be nimble, flexible and adaptable yet open and carefully designed to maximise the benefits of both print and digital resources. The post-digital Library is a space and an idea that reflects the complex and connected world that we live in. This may change in the future but right now there is no indication that the near future will be any different. This is so exciting for me because I have been able to collect some of the most beautiful and inspiring books I have ever seen. I am not sure if this is reflective of the publishing industry producing more interesting texts or if I am just getting better at finding them. Which ever way, the library is filled with a never ending supply of unique, boutique creations. This is a great time to be in the world of library and information management.