Exercise 16 - Comment on Teacher's blog

Teacher's blog about current awareness/trends/issues

Automated Book Delivery System and Virtual Browse
This YouTube clip is about the use of Robots (ABDS) and Virtual Browse in the Hunt Library, North Carolina University, USA.
The Hunt Library has 4 robots that travel up and down 18 metre long aisles retrieving and depositing books. There are 2 million books stacked in large bins that are electronically tagged and this uses up one ninth of the space of normal library shelving. Books most often used remain on the shelves, a total of 40,000.
Virtual browsing allows the user to look at a book online as if they were looking at it on a shelf. This is called a virtual book shelf.  Users can search for books online using their phone or ipad as they would do in a normal library.

Before watching these clips I didn't know of ABDS and Virtual Browse. As a student of Library studies it is important that I am aware of current trends and issues in the industry so that when I work in library/information services I will have the knowledge and terminology of what is available.
For libraries with large collections that are short on space the ABDS is a viable option. Using Virtual browsing is similar to using online databases in a normal library.

Filter Bubbles
A filter bubble is what has been tailored for you.  This is why two people googling the same subject will come up with different pages and links.  The presenter of this clip talks of the importance of users receiving  information that is valuable and gives them a sense of public life and not just 'junk food' pages and links.

I did know of filter bubbles before watching the clip and it would be great if we were not exposed to so much junk on the internet. It would save our time because we wouldn't have to read it, remove it and that would give us more time and energy to read and analyse the quality and important information on the net.

Annette Smith