RA: Role of the Computer in Information Storage and Retrieval Systems (ISRSs)

Title of the Article: A key resource for the jobless, entrepreneurs – and the community
Author: ALA
Publisher: ALA

ABSTRACT

The American Libraries Association (ALA) report presented the status of public libraries in the USA, in the year 2011. It reported how the existence of computers in libraries help a community better the lives of its citizens. Public libraries are still considered an institution of great importance as they help in the entrepreneurial interests of the people through the availability of computer workstations for the public. The libraries have proven themselves of great value to the people. However, these same new and advanced technologies and other new processes of library and information may endanger the role of librarians in the said valued-service provision of libraries to the information needs of the public.

What I learned

It’s great news that US public libraries have found means of helping communities during the recession. Despite the budget cut of these non-profit social institutions, they still have proved useful. Computer workstations are made available by public libraries, helping the community conduct job searches and providing them with internet connectivity. These computers have been great helps to the role of librarians as information professionals.

In the advent of the digital age and the information revolution, these computers which help information professionals and libraries deliver their work with efficiency, has also put some pressure on. Computerized vending machines for books, outsourced library services, sophisticated computerized information systems and more technological advancements are being developed to further the information infrastructure; computer programs that tends to 'mimic' the function of information professionals. The role of the computer has become a double-edged sword, providing help and at the same time, a threat to the slowly overshadowed role and function of librarians and libraries.

Librarians should not be threatened despite the fact the machines can cover most of the technical work a librarian or an information professional does. The said work processes do not include the core of a librarians work: understanding user needs and providing service that is based on experience and expertise in handling queries and providing the users not just any type of information, but the information that they’ll be able to use. Yes, computers do serve their purpose but the information literacy that an information professional has and the information professional’s skill in imparting that knowledge and technique is something most machines cannot do.

Reflections

Amidst this day and age of buttons and touch screen gadgets, librarians should step-up and continually upgrade their skills to render them adaptable and up-to-date with the latest processes. The mixture of the technology of the times and the expertise of information professionals make a very strong mixture of skill that would better address users’ needs, in the shortest period of time, exerting the least amount of effort, with accuracy and timeliness.

Sources

Articles

American Library Association. (2002). A key resource for the jobless, entrepreneurs – and the community. State of America’s Libraries Report 2011, American Libraries, Special Issue. Retrieved  Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/americaslibraries/publiclibraries

American Library Association. (2002). Computer use increases even (or especially) during recession. State of America’s Libraries Report 2011, American Libraries,   Special Issue. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/americaslibraries/publiclibraries

American Library Association. (2002). No-librarian libraries: An idea whose time has (not) come. State of America’s Libraries Report 2011, American Libraries, Special Issue. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/americaslibraries/publiclibraries

American Library Association. (2002). Outsourcing of library services seen as another bad idea. State of America’s Libraries Report 2011, American Libraries, Special Issue. Retrieved June 20, 2012,   from http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/americaslibraries/publiclibraries

RA: Information Science and Information Technology

Title of the Article: The ‘Information-Starved’ – is there any hope of reaching the ‘Information Super Highway’?
Author: Denise Nicholson
Publisher: IFLA

ABSTRACT

Information science is a study that deals with the behavior and processes involving information in whatever format. Information technology on the other hand is the study and application of applied sciences in the development and evaluation of processes involving information, from creation to dissemination and usage. These definitions do not only account for study. The focus is on how these affect one another as concepts, as much as in practice.

The article explored the plight of some marginalized sectors and communities in South Africa. Apart from the scarcity of resources to fulfill each citizen’s basic needs, especially the people living in rural areas, informal settlers in urban areas, illiterate persons and persons with disabilities, there is also an apparent lack of education and usable information sources. This lack has become a hindrance not only to the country’s progress as a nation but also to its cultural development, proper education, literacy, employment rates and health care. Moreover, in the future, if the said predicament keep on, the barrier between the “haves,” those who have access to various information sources and utility services, and the “have-nots,” those who do not have the enough resources to get access to information, shall persist; which may renew the legacy of apartheid. Although possible solutions and recommendations involving information science and technology are also explored opposite these issues in the South African context, these can also be applied in other locations.

What I learned

Information science is a multidisciplinary body of knowledge that deals with the study, practice, and evaluation of the properties, behavior and processes of information, from origination/creation, storage, preservation, retrieval, dissemination to usage and accessibility. The definition is overwhelming but it has been a concept handed down and practiced even in ancient civilization. Now there is information technology: the study and application of applied sciences in the development, assembly, operation and evaluation of information and the behaviors, properties and process it is involved in, from creation creation, storage, preservation, retrieval, dissemination to usage. These concepts ideally go hand in hand towards the goal of providing information and knowledge to the community. Information systems such as libraries, information centers and the Internet, make use of these concepts as a guide towards understanding the needs of users and as a tool to gear informational professionals to be responsive to these needs. 

History and culture plays a role in a community’s way of life, and may consist a large percentage of the knowledge that a community has to keep living and to recognize and establish their needs. Whatever practices in the past that a particular community has lived with, the said community may keep on with such practices despite its inconvenience; perhaps due to its customary appeal, or in some communities’ case in South Africa, the lack of relevant information.

The plight of the said communities in South Africa, with no electricity, water services, scarcity of food (food is often considered a privilege in some areas), lack of proper health services, ignorance of the law and the preservation of the country’s heritage is a tough cross to bear. It was a predicament which the villagers of South Africa themselves can resolve, if they had the right information: information about their rights as a community, not only to basic needs but the right to information. However, due to absence of sufficient funding, relevant information, regarding the laws of their land, regarding their rights as citizens, is at a lack The issue presents itself as an intertwined rope of dilemmas, stemming from the cultural apartheid. Perhaps, support was not sustained after the resolution of the cultural crisis. Given that half of the said nation is trekking unto the information super highway with quite a considerable speed, it is still largely possible to respond to this plight.

Nicholson (2002) mentioned in her article,  “governments, private and public sectors, as well as librarians and individuals in the sub-Saharan region need to commit themselves to eradicating illiteracy in every possible way, so that everyone is given the opportunity to advance along the Information Super Highway.” (p.265). If provision of information is a key to developing a community, and it it is the community that will be uplifted, then all members of the community should work toward that goal.

The role of the information professional does not just stop in the library. Being part and even one of the prime movers in the library as a social institution, the information professional has a social responsibility to take part in the education of the masses and to guide them towards literacy and the “information super highway.” If the problem can be solved hand in hand with other social institutions like schools or the government, then librarians should serve as the bridge towards the solution. As Nicholson said, librarians should realize their role in the society and face the challenges of their profession with a whole new different approach, keeping with the ever-changing needs and speed of these changing needs of a community.

Reflections

This would not greatly impact my career personally but getting to know that these situations take place in real life and not just the movies, is an eye-opener. It has rendered me aware of situations much worse than what I have encountered in my earlier studies in the field of Library and Information Science. It has shed some light to my hope for the profession of librarianship in my country. It got me thinking that the problems most librarians have here are far easier than the circumstances presented to librarians in some countries; perhaps, if they (communities in South Africa) are able to provide some solutions to their deeply seated problems of illiteracy and the like, Filipino librarians can and will be able to resolve information access and other issues involving the field and the country.

Sources

Journal article

Nicholson, D. (2002). The ‘Information-Starved’ – is there any hope of reaching the ‘Information Super Highway’. The IFLA Journal: Official Journal of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, 28, 259-265.

Book

Rubin, R. E. (2004). Foundations of Library and Information Science. Neal-Schuman Publishers .