CLOUD COMPUTING & LIBRARIES

I believe cloud computing is the future… like it or not! Operating your business using ‘Cloud’ computing reduces the costs of running businesses considerably. There is a reduction in cost for purchasing and maintaining IT hardware, software and service costs. Purchasing lots of programs and having to regularly updating to the newer version will be a thing of the past as the cloud will always have the most up-to-date programs. I believe this will also reduce the amount of IT staff needed to service and maintain computers as maintenance and upgrades will become a lot easier as the service providers will take care of this.

Using the ‘Cloud’ will improve data backup and disaster recovery as I would assume it would be more reliable and would be constantly backed up with not as much chance of viruses getting into your items. It will more than likely be providing businesses a faster time to market their business to their clients and the world.

Within a school library environment, which I am more accustomed to, I think it will make like much easier and more convenient for students, particularly with their homework and assignments. When the students are working in the cloud they will be ‘sharing’ knowledge and working in a team environment more effectively. There would be no excuse for leaving your work at home or problems with losing information as they will be able to access it anytime from anywhere 24/7. They may access it via their phones, computers, ipads, and any other mobile device they may have or may be invented in the future. Teachers will be able to set work in a central place that all students, whether at school or at home, may access immediately. They in turn can have their work posted ready for assessment. I would think there would be less strain on the school/library network which usually slows down the staff and student’s access to the internet.

This could also allow the library staff to free up more time and streamline the processing and cataloguing process which would benefit clients as the library staff would be more accessible to help with research and other queries. Freeing up time will also allow time for library staff to be more innovative in the direction of their library and  meeting the needs of their community. This would also allow a wider client base as clients may not even enter the library itself while still access the website, online books or facilities offered.

I think libraries will be sharing more resources with other, bigger, libraries worldwide. Some libraries will be reluctant to take the step, however I think it will be inevitable for their survival in this technological age. The disadvantage is that technology is moving so fast it's creating a huge gap between those libraries that are willing to embrace all this, and be innovative, and those that are not willing to upskill and be addressing what 'community' are needing, especially younger patrons who want things instantly and at their fingertips. If they don't I feel those libraries will die a slow death!