Pushing the Virtual Library

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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 7/11/2007 2:00:00 PM

The idea of the virtual library got even more play at this year’s Library & Information Technology Association’s (LITA) top technology session, as panelists chatted about trends that can apply to K–12 media librarians as well.

E-books, slowly catching on in the K–12 space, continue to capture interest but are still hampered by poor readers, and won’t net more eyeballs until a decent reader can be developed, said Karen Coombs, a panelist at the LITA event and head of Web services at the University of Houston Libraries.

However, as users download and stream more books online, the media center as a physical location is morphing, dovetailing with another trend Coombs is following, where software exists less on a physical computer desktop, and more online, like Google Apps. “Software no longer has to live on our public machines or our servers,” says Jason Griffey, reference and instructional librarian for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “It can be hosted, Web based, and managed remotely.”

Roy Tennant, senior product manager for OCLC, echoed Coombs’ thought, mentioning that as software providers host and update software from their sites, libraries are less dependent on their own servers as well. He also noted that the ILS will get pulled further into backrooms as online portals offer better catalogs and greater access to resources in multiple formats.

Students in media-savvy K–12 schools already log online to read chapter assignments, file homework, and even collaborate in cyberspace, in true virtual classrooms and media centers—giving K–12 librarians more reasons to stay one byte ahead.

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