NOTE: This has been expanded into a chapter in Libraries, Community, and Technology,
In his recent book Why Things Bite Back : technology and the revenge of unintended consequences, Edward Tenner discusses how various technologies have struck back at those who employ them. This discussion has important implications for libraries because we have been leaders in using technology. Many libraries have had automated systems for over thirty years. CD-ROMs, shared systems and connecting to external databases are not new concepts, but old friends for most librarians. Some libraries have closed during hardware upgrades since it is barely possible to operate a library without its attendant technology.
It is not, and can not be, a question of turning our backs on technology. That genie is long gone from the bottle. The issue is making appropriate use of technology while understanding and preparing for its side effects. Anticipating and managing the effects of technology is the growth industry of the 90’s and a skill needed by modern library administrators.
Tenner categorizes the various ways that technology bites back. Technological solutions rarely address the entire problem they are applied to. Like tall smokestacks, technology sometimes merely serves to relocate the problem, requiring someone else to address it. Solutions intended to simplify can lead to even more complication. Technology requires a higher level of supervision and constant vigilance Finally, there are revenge effects, such as the drug resistant strains of diseases that result from the overprescription of antibiotics. Libraries are seeing technology bite back in all these ways.
Incomplete solutions
OPACs have completely displaced paper catalogs. As a result, when an OPAC is unavailable, there is no substitute. This situation, though infrequent, is embarrassing for librarians and a serious inconvenience for patrons. Librarians resort to brochures, backup CD-ROMs and their experience, but these are rarely as convenient for patrons as a paper catalog was.
Similarly, CD-ROM products have only partially replaced their print counterparts, because the cost of workstations limits access. Few libraries dealing with class assignments would consider one CD-ROM workstation a replacement for a set of encyclopedias, despite its higher cost.
Relocation effects
OPACs also change the nature of the patron/librarian relationship, requiring more skills from the patron. Librarians are now engaged in software instruction instead of bibliographic instruction. Rather than showing patrons how to follow see alsos, identify the best resources and use an index, librarians spend their time demonstrating how to operate their particular brand of software.
Bibliographic skills are portable. Patrons can carry them from one library to another and from public libraries to academic or school libraries. These skills do not change quickly and many adults are successfully using what they learned in high school.
Software skills are not portable. Even neighboring public libraries of the same size with the same software often have very different screens and options. Public, school and academic libraries favor different software, so that high school or college students find a barrier at their public library. Screens and options change with what a patron perceives as blinding speed, requiring them to constantly update their skills to use the library.
Automated systems encourage disintermediation, removing the skilled professionals that used to mediate between patrons and the collection. Patron are accessing their records, placing their own holds and even ordering items from other libraries, sometimes without even being in a library. This is powerful and inevitable, but definitely a mixed, blessing. Patrons are empowered, but what would we think of a mechanic, plumber or doctor who offered similar "empowerment".
Recomplification
It takes much longer to train circulation personnel now, since the quirks of the hardware / software are layered on top of library policies and procedures. There are programmed keys, passwords and all the impedimenta of the computer world. Though checkin and checkout are simplified, the automated system as a whole is immensely complicated. The software constantly changes, with major upgrades several times a year. An employee returning from two weeks vacation may face several memos, reprogrammed keyboards and completely different screens.
There is no doubt that OPACs have complicated using a library. For more than a few people, a keyboard is a barrier. They do not touch type and are unfamiliar with the keyboard. These formerly capable patrons now need help. Since the library may be the only place they use a keyboard, they are unlikely to develop keyboarding skills.
Even people who are "computer literate" (however you care to define that) are not assured of being able to use an OPAC. Terminals on an automated system do not work like a personal computer. Computer literate patrons will often try control, escape or function keys and then reboot the terminal they have jammed. Such "computer literate" patrons can disable entire banks of terminals before giving up in disgust.
Shared systems present patrons with even more complications. Despite cataloging standards, merged databases contain duplicate records, multiple entries for the same author and confusing holdings statements. Standard bibliographic instruction did not deal with a catalog listing holdings in twenty or more libraries. The complication is balanced by the expanded power, but not in every transaction and not for every patron.
Constant vigilance
Even modern automated systems require a great deal of baby-sitting, upgrading and general tweaking. This constant change means more staff meetings, more memos and a higher level of supervision. Each change promises better access, but certainly results in more training, revised brochures and confused patrons.
When hiring, a background in using computers must be balanced against more traditional library values, potentially changing the tenor of the staff. Many librarians are now amateur LAN administrators, PC troubleshooters and software experts. How much attention did directors pay to date due stamps and typewriters?
Revenge effects
Circulation desk work has been physically simplified, but these simplified actions are done more repetitively with fewer changes of task, with a resulting increase in repetitive injuries and worker’s compensation claims. It is true that paper systems were repetitive, that some of the increase in repetitive injuries reflect increased reporting and that much can be done to mitigate the effects of repetitive work. Despite aggressive management action, repetitive injuries continue to be an powerful revenge effect of this technology.
A new library skill
Librarians are learning a new skill, one that is more essential than web page production or Internet browsing. Whether they know it or not, every administrator has become a technology manager, monitoring every new piece of equipment for its potential to bite back. Technology management is a chronic condition and more new technology will not cure it. It has been an unlisted requirement of every administrative position for the last decade and it will remain an essential part of librarianship for the foreseeable future.
Adapted from a chapter in the book Public Libraries, Technology and Community : a Neo-Traditionalist Approach by Andy Barnett, which is scheduled for publication by McFarland in Fall 2002.
Last revised 12/04/02