Top Technology Trends, 2002 ALA Midwinter Meeting

Technology and library users: LITA Experts identify trends to watch

The 2002 Midwinter Top Tech Trends Experts' Discussion was held January 20th in New Orleans. Experts attending included  Marshall Breeding,  Karen Coyle,  Walt Crawford,  Clifford Lynch,  Tom Peters,  Joan Frye Williams, and  Tom Wilson. Previous trends such as the ongoing Copyright debate featured prominently in the discussion, as well as the new ones listed below. An underlying theme to a lot of the trends was the explosive growth of information, and what trends are emerging from this phenomenon that libraries need to be monitoring (e.g. Broadband, Storage, new Search Interfaces, etc.)

Top Technology Trends

Trend #1:  Security

Trend #2:  Self-Publishing (Amateur Fiction)

Trend #3:  Storage and Organization of Mass Data

Trend #4:  New Search Interfaces (OPACs and otherwise)

Trend #5:  Broadband

    (Viruses and Other Software Vulnerabilities)

The software that libraries commonly use is vulnerable to viruses and other security threats. Administrators must be aware of the threats and continually update their systems. If administrators are not vigilant, malicious users will likely exploit security holes.

http://www.infopeople.org/security/viruses.html
A short tutorial on viruses, by Infopeople.

http://www.infopeople.org/Security/
Tips for security public access computers, by Infopeople.

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue30/web-security/
A 2002 article in Ariadne about how to increase users’ awareness of web vulnerabilities.

http://www.infotoday.com/it/sep01/it-cont.htm
“Defending Your Library Network.” Marshall Breeding’s tips for protecting Windows servers against worms and viruses.

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci213306,00.html
Basic background on viruses, included definitions and links to sites for further information.

http://www.informationweek.com/techcenters/networking/security/viruses
InformationWeek.com’s up-to-date listing of Microsoft security holes.

http://www.secadministrator.com/Articles/Index.cfm?DepartmentID=752
Windows and .Net Magazine’s Network up-to-date listing of security information for network administrators.

http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2248291,00.html
ZDNet’s tips for protecting against computer viruses.

    (Amateur Fiction)

In addition to the links below, check the Web sites of other major writing organizations or commercial self-publishing services.

Fan Fiction on the Net
http://members.aol.com/ksnicholas/fanfic/ - A directory of fan fiction inspired by movies, TV shows or books.

FanFiction.Net
http://www.fanfiction.net - A searchable directory of fan fiction. Also includes columns about writing fan fiction and a listserv.

"Author to Self-Publish Potter Parody," Publisher's Weekly (December 24, 2001)
http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=articleArchive&articleId=CA187909&display=searchResults&stt=001
A good example of how an author spurned by larger commercial publishers is opting to self-publish.

Subsidy and Vanity Publishers
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/subsidypublishers.html - This site from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) organization offers some basic definitions of royalty, vanity, subsidy and self publishing, as well as a list of warnings to authors and links to related sites.

Self-Publishing
http://www.writing-world.com/selfpub/ - Geared towards the writer considering self-publishing. Includes links to an FAQ, a step-by-step guide and related articles and sites.

Librarian's Guide to Zines
http://64.81.48.24/chad/sjsu/262/zines/ - A brief introduction to zines.

   

• General News and Technology

  SearchStorage.Com - http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/
  A search engine specifically for storage technologies. Contains a newsbar of top information stories, a featured topic story providing in-depth information, a career center section, a discussion forum, a tips section, and of course, a search engine which will return results from prescreened websites, archived stories on storage, etc.

  ZDNet Tech Update: Storage Update - http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/
  ZDNet’s site following technology trends. In addition to featured stories, one can click on the top toolbar on “hardware” and get news, hardware product information, white papers, etc. related to hardware, including storage devices. This site is updated daily.

  InfoStor Magazine - Storage Device News and Trends - http://is.pennnet.com/home.cfm
  Online journal with feature stories, news, opinions, editorials, and new products in storage technology. Examples of topics might include backup/recovery, data replication, holographic storage, new technology with optical drives, etc.

  DataStoreX - http://www.datastorex.com/
  This website advertises itself as “The E-Community for the Data Storage Industry.” Updated daily, it provides news, technical information, press release, stock information, etc. related to the storage industry.

  Storage Networking World Online - http://www.snwonline.com/
  This site advertises itself as “The Online Storage Networking Magazine for IT Leaders.” Updated frequently, it contains case studies and articles with topics such as “What is Behind the Move to Storage Networks,” “Why Implement Storage Networks,” and “How to Evaluate Success and Plan for the Next Step.”

  Imation Trends and Technologies Archive - http://www.imation.com/en_US/main.jhtml?Id=12_01
  Vendor website containing information pertaining to trends and technologies related to storage. Examples include CD-R construction, SAN security, and tape capacity trends. They have an archive of downloadable PDF documents on a rolling one year basis.

• Guides

  Yahoo’s Storage Pathfinder - http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Hardware/Storage/
  Yahoo’s guide to computer and network storage technologies.

  Computerworld White Papers - http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/whitepapers/
  Computerworld offers several white papers related to information technology, including storage topics. One in particular relates to storage resource management:

  Storage Resource Management - http://www.computerworld.com/computerworld/records/whitepapers/storagewp...
  A white paper primarily on storage resource management. Information includes the explosion in the amount of data being stored, major storage related problems, future storage requirements, and quotes from IT professionals related to effective storage management. The white paper is dated January, 2001.

  Storage Architecture Guide - http://www.auspex.com/download/download.html
  These downloadable PDF guides provide in-depth information on some of the latest storage architectures:
  Direct Attached Storage (DAT), Network Attached Storage (NAS), and System Area Networks (SAN). Note, this vendor website requires a short registration form is required prior to download.

  Scalability and Performance in Modern File Systems - http://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/papers/xfs_white/xfs_white_paper.html
  From the Silicon Graphics website, a white paper detailing file storage systems of various operating systems. The Unix file system (UFS), Windows NT file system (NTFS), Veritas File System (VxFS), and a file system developed by Silicon Graphics (the XFS file system, available for SGI’s IRIX operating system and Linux). The report discusses file system scalability, support for large file systems, support for large files, file directories, crash recovery, file system performance, etc.

  PC Tech Guide: Storage / Removable Storage - http://www.pctechguide.com/16storage.htm
  A technology guide discussing various removable storage media, such as floppies, CD-ROM, etc.

  Tom’s Hardware Guide: Storage - http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/index.html
  Updated frequently, this guide provides information on recent end-user storage technologies such as CD Burners, hard drives, flash memory, disk drivers, etc.

• File Management End User Software

  Microsoft XP: Usability Improvements, File and Folder Management - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/planning/usability/filef...
  Microsoft information detailing the enhancements in their latest operating systems related to file and folder management.

  ZDNet Downloads: File and Disk Management - http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/utilities.html
  Clicking on the “File and Disk Management” link will bring up a list of software that can be downloaded to help users manage their data. This is illustrative of 3rd-party vendors producing software to help address the tricky science of file management.

• Research on Future Storage / File Management Technologies

  A Virtual Environment Based File Management System: Preliminary Work - http://www.csee.wvu.edu/~vanscoy/vsmm98.pdf
  An example of academic research into the evolution of file storage. This work was produced by a computer science professor at West Virginia University.

  Nooface: In Search of the Post PC Interface - http://nooface.net/
  This website has a substantial amount of information including information on and links to various file visualization systems. Such visualization systems may one day be a part of the typical end-user interface and aid in analysis and visualization of file system structures and data storage.

  File System Visualizer - http://fsv.sourceforge.net/
  A tool to lay out file systems in 3-D for analysis and visualization purposes. This particular tool is for a Unix or Linux workstation. Such tools exist for other operating systems, as well.

  Storage Virtualization Surges Forward - http://www.amrresearch.com/free/0107etsbody3.asp
  A report on storage virtualization, a concept treating storage as a single logical resource or environment as opposed to a collection of many different physical media sources.

  Data Mountain: Using Spatial Memory for Document Management - http://research.microsoft.com/~dcr/publications/p153-robertson.pdf
  An interesting article from Microsoft Research discussing a new idea of file management that takes advantage of “human spatial memory” - that is, remembering where you put an item.

    (OPACs and otherwise)

SFX and MetaLib by ExLibris - http://www.sfxit.com/ and http://www.exlibris-usa.com/metalib/
These products by ExLibris provide reference linking within sources (SFX) or a simpler search interface from which users can begin their research (MetaLib).

TopicMap at the Library of Science and Medicine (Stanford University) - http://highwire.stanford.edu/help/hbt/
A special Java applet designed to help you navigate topics on HighWire in a graphical form. The intent is to give you a sense of context while navigating a large, tree-structured database.

   

Broadband Internet - http://www.broadband-internet.org
A research source for the "broadband community", this site includes information on publications, research & reference, history, hardware, software

• Broadband Internet: Broadband Research and Reference - http://www.broadband-internet.org/research_reference/
• Broadband Internet: Broadband History - http://www.broadband-internet.org/history.htm

Broadbandweek.com - http://www.broadbandweek.com/index.htm
Focuses on the technological changes in the converging telecom and cable broadband markets and includes free and/or subscription sections for news, research, tools & services

Broadband Background Links - http://www.citi.columbia.edu/Broadband_background_links.htm
A webliography of links put together for the "Columbia Institute for Tele-Information" 2001 conference titled "Broadband Economy: The Emerging Market System in Bandwidth"

Emerging Technologies in Broadband - http://wireless.about.com/cs/emergingtechology/
About.com's guide to leading trends in the broadband industry, including links to broadband providers, news, and standards

Broadbandinfo.com - http://www.broadbandinfo.com/index.asp
Offers free and/or subscription news and resource guides about the industry, as well as a "Buyer's Guide and RFP Center"