Assignment X: Where Are We Going? A Hyperlinked Journey Through Libraries

In my current profession, I work in digital accessibility. This experience has been insightful for two reasons:

1. 1. 1. I’ve come to realize how poorly I was creating digital content in the past.
      2. I now prioritize user-centered design.

These moments of enlightenment are especially apparent in how I now approach hyperlinking. Previously, when creating content, I would structure hyperlinks with phrases like CLICK HERE FOR MORE. I lead digital accessibility training at my institution, and now that I’m more informed, I always advise hyperlinking the destination. For instance, if I’m including a link to OCLC, I hyperlink the phrase OCLC. The reason is simple: always tell the user where you’re taking them.

As I navigated the course content, I found myself drawn to the notion of a hyperlinked library. Before this course, I had never encountered the term. In fact, the term itself drew me to the course before I even read the description. The word hyperlink is usually used within the context of digital spaces. To be hyperlinked is to “provide access from one distinctively marked place to another.” Within this context, the hyperlinked library makes sense.

Libraries are traditionally viewed as physical spaces. Sometimes, they’re even pejoratively called “book warehouses.” However, in my experience, the library has always been a transitive space. The library is where I first used a computer. The library is where I first used a 3D printer. I’ve used the library to study and apply for jobs. The library has always seemed to be a step ahead in anticipating current trends and serving as a bridge from the user to those trends.

In my experience, the library has always been a place that takes me somewhere new. And so, like a hyperlink, it must always show users where they are heading.

These experiences speak directly to my goals and aspirations as an information professional. What drew me to this field was not only a deep curiosity and a constant quest for new knowledge, but also a fascination with how the human relationship with information evolves over time. Libraries, in this sense, have always been more than dreary book repositories. Instead, they are dynamic spaces where that relationship is shaped, challenged, and redefined.

How does this work? Libraries aren’t soothsayers. They do not peek into a window of the future. The way to guide users is by listening to their current needs, anticipating future ones, and creating paths toward that future. The most important step is to embrace the future, not reject it.

This idea reminded me of a reading from a previous course. In 1957, Peter Scott wrote an article in The American Archivist about receiving correspondence from a local university regarding the emergence of a new technology. Instead of dismissing the new technology, Scott took it upon himself to compare it to existing technologies. In the end, he identified a lack of communication between the manufacturers of this technology and libraries. His ultimate suggestion was to “approach manufacturers individually and through official library organizations, in order that [they] have a better understanding of our needs” (p. 251). And this new technology? It was the rapid-copying Xerox machine.

Bringing this back to two articles within The Hyperlinked Library, I found myself reflecting on the Do We Need Libraries? article (interestingly published in Forbes Magazine). While I do not agree with most of the author’s conclusions, the piece raises important questions: “What needs might libraries meet that users haven’t yet imagined? We can’t solve the mystery of libraries’ future by asking users what they want—they simply don’t know!”

And Steve Denning is right. We don’t know. But that’s the job.

The most straightforward answer lies in The Hyperlinked School Library: Engage, Explore, Celebrate. The author states, “Today’s teacher librarian (TL) must master foundational skills built on our core values, understand the importance of a strong and useful collection of materials and resources AND be knowledgeable in the emerging world of online social engagement. Exploring emerging tools and trends should be part of every qualified TL’s duties” (Stephens).

So while we do not know where we are going or what lies ahead, the hyperlinked library is constantly preparing users for this uncertain future. While we do not know where this road leads, we can at least guide the user along. Just as the hyperlink signals what’s next, so too must the library.

And while today’s artificial intelligence may seem daunting, so too did the Xerox machine in its time. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

References

Denning, S. (2015). Do We Need Libraries?

Scott, Peter. “Developments in Rapid-Copying Machines,” The American Archivist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul., 1957), pp. 239-251.

Stephens, M. (2010). The hyperlinked school library: engage, explore, celebrate.