Where’s that book you stole away?
A topic that I have rarely seen discussed is the issue of library security, but this oversight has been remedied by the upcoming Library Security Conference at the British Library, which offers a number of interesting presentations. I am particularly interested in the paper on Insider Library Theft by Ton Cremers. Does anyone have anything they would like to admit to in the comments?
But all this talk of security makes me long for the good old days, when cursing the thief could (sometimes) be security enough…
Steal not this book, my worthy friend
For fear the gallows will be your end;
Up the ladder, and down the rope,
There you’ll hang until you choke;
Then I’ll come along and say -
“Where’s that book you stole away?”
Captology and the art of persuasion
Want to become a world class expert on the psychology of Facebook? Then you need to attend the Stanford Facebook Class, which is part of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab. While the latter name caused a few 1984 type scenarios to flash through my mind on first reading (remember the Stanford prison experiment?), they say the technology they are researching can bring about world peace in 30 years, so I assume we are safe…for now.
So what are they studying?
The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab creates insight into how computing products - from websites to mobile phone software - can be designed to change what people believe and what they do… We believe that much like human persuaders, persuasive interactive technologies can bring about positive changes in many domains, including health, business, safety, and education… With such ends in mind, we are creating a body of expertise in the design, theory, and analysis of persuasive technologies, an area called “captology.”
Would it be possible for libraries to apply this research to further their missions? A few possible examples could be OPAC design (see this paper on Seductive Computing), encouraging positive behaviour in students, such as studying or research, through SMS (modeled on research using SMS to improve health), or increasing participation in local communities (through the application of persuasive technology to specific domains).
If you find the idea of using software designed to influence human beliefs and behaviors slightly disturbing, make sure you read about the ethics of persuasive technology and ask yourself, how far would you be willing to go to get library users to return those overdue books?
The catalogue display of the future?
Lately I have been spending a lot of time thinking about RDA (Resource Description and Access). One area that has piqued my interest is the effect its implementation will have on catalogue displays (OPAC’s).
The National Library of Australia’s Committee on Cataloging has some interesting material posted from the Beyond the OPAC : future directions for Web-based catalogues seminar. Ann Huthwaite and Philip Hider in their presentation The potential impact of RDA on OPAC displays explain two key elements in the design of RDA…
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