Download or read book Imagine Your Library s Future written by Steve O’Connor and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2010-09-25 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this information age it is widely recognised that, in order to maintain relevance and to gain a competitive edge, libraries and other organisations in the business of information must continuously assess their roles, collections, services and perhaps most importantly, their business practices. Scenarios are a way of predicting and describing a future three to five years away while strongly engaging one’s community in choosing the future which is preferable. The horizon in which assessments about future roles change is growing shorter and shorter. While it is almost clichéd to state that change is the only constant, differing scenarios of what libraries might be allow all of us to contemplate futures we might otherwise not allow. Drawing on extensive experience in libraries in different parts of the globe, the authors provide a rich analysis of planning, managing and implementing change in information organisations through scenario planning. Through extensive practical applications, both actual and theoretical, the authors provide a strong background understanding and direct the reader through a planning process that is both readily applicable and innovative for all information organisations, irrespective of their size or client base. Extensive exploration of what it means to ‘shape our futures’ rather than having our future shaped for us Valuable techniques for understanding futures and creating different scenarios Practical applications are illustrated through examples and real life experience

Download or read book Epiphany Z written by Thomas Frey and published by Morgan James Publishing. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A trend expert predicts what’s next for fields like education and government while sharing how readers can shape their own futures. Epiphany Z is a dynamic approach to envisioning, comprehending, and ultimately thriving in the radically different futures emerging around us at the speed of light. Distilling decades of research, experience, and proven success in correctly identifying and accurately extrapolating today’s trends and innovations into tomorrow’s realities, futurist Thomas Frey gives you an advance ticket to the most explosive period of change in all of human history. Frey’s unparalleled ability to detect emerging trends from the smallest of clues gives him an edge on other futurists. Now he’s sharing the edge with you! · What are tomorrow’s hottest industries? · What huge industries of today are doomed to extinction? · How will our lives be changed by advancements in robotics, in drone technology, and in manufacturing and transportation? · How can education cope with the explosive new world of enhanced information, hyperactive business environments, and unimaginable cultural shifts? · Who will be the masters of tomorrow’s universe—and who will be left behind? · Above all, how can you protect yourself from the most disruptive aspects of the changes sweeping your way—as well as become one of the masters of these changes? Those changes are taking place now. Thomas Frey shows where they will be taking all of us tomorrow and offers a roadmap for the future.

Download or read book Imagine the Library of the Future written by Spokane Public Library and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sustainable Thinking written by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich and published by American Library Association. This book was released on 2018-01-29 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book will show you how to harness sustainable thinking to move forward with confidence into the unknown.

Download or read book Beyond the Library of the Future written by Bruce A. Shuman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1997-03-15 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With insightful comments from a variety of sources-and a generous dose of humor-Shuman builds fictional scenarios that are guaranteed to get librarians thinking, What if...? Eight new scenarios explore such developments as virtual reality, robots, time travel, computer viruses, security, and more-all within the context of the public library (or cybrary, as the author calls it). Written in a conversational tone, the book is intended to stimulate discourse and exploration of issues. Current trends are carefully woven into each scenario as Shuman investigates issues surrounding the library's role in the future. A list of quotations about the future and an extensive bibliography for further reading conclude the work. This book is a sequel to (not a revision of) Shuman's previous work The Library of the Future. Like its predecessor, it is entertaining and thought-provoking-a great read for librarians, library administrators, and students in library school.

Download or read book A Hands On Introduction to Data Science written by Chirag Shah and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-02 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introductory textbook offering a low barrier entry to data science; the hands-on approach will appeal to students from a range of disciplines.

Download or read book The Debt to Pleasure written by John Lanchester and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2001-12-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "New York Times" Notable Book, "The Debt to Pleasure" is a wickedly funny ode to food as the novel's snobbish narrator instructs readers in his philosophy on everything from the erotics of dislike to the psychology of the menu.

Download or read book Planning Our Future Libraries written by Kim Leeder and published by American Library Association. This book was released on 2013-11-12 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thought-provoking collection will challenge librarians at every kind of institution to start planning today for the library of tomorrow.

Download or read book The Future Library written by Peng Shepherd and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2021-08-18 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than a hundred years from now, an arborist fighting to save the last remaining forest on Earth discovers a secret about the trees—one that changes not only her life, but also the fate of our world. Inspired by the real-life “Future Library,” a long-term environmental and literary public art project currently underway in the Norwegian wilderness. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book What We Owe the Future written by William MacAskill and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Instant New York Times Bestseller “This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that.” —Ezra Klein An Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism” — that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more — or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today. In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed; counter the end of moral progress; and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human. If we make wise choices today, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope and beauty.

Download or read book Imagined Futures written by Jens Beckert and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a capitalist system, consumers, investors, and corporations orient their activities toward a future that contains opportunities and risks. How actors assess uncertainty is a problem that economists have tried to solve through general equilibrium and rational expectations theory. Powerful as these analytical tools are, they underestimate the future’s unknowability by assuming that markets, in the aggregate, correctly forecast what is to come. Jens Beckert adds a new chapter to the theory of capitalism by demonstrating how fictional expectations drive modern economies—or throw them into crisis when the imagined futures fail to materialize. Collectively held images of how the future will unfold are critical because they free economic actors from paralyzing doubt, enabling them to commit resources and coordinate decisions even if those expectations prove inaccurate. Beckert distinguishes fictional expectations from performativity theory, which holds that predictions tend to become self-fulfilling prophecies. Economic forecasts are important not because they produce the futures they envision but because they create the expectations that generate economic activity in the first place. Actors pursue money, investments, innovations, and consumption only if they believe the objects obtained through market exchanges will retain value. We accept money because we believe in its future purchasing power. We accept the risk of capital investments and innovation because we expect profit. And we purchase consumer goods based on dreams of satisfaction. As Imagined Futures shows, those who ignore the role of real uncertainty and fictional expectations in market dynamics misunderstand the nature of capitalism.

Download or read book Libraries Past Present Future written by Stuart Kells and published by . This book was released on 2019-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Library as Place written by Geoffrey T. Freeman and published by Council on Library & Information Resources. This book was released on 2005 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the role of a library when users can obtain information from any location? And what does this role change mean for the creation and design of library space? Six authors an architect, four librarians, and a professor of art history and classics explore these questions this report. The authors challenge the reader to think about new potential for the place we call the library and underscore the growing importance of the library as a place for teaching, learning, and research in the digital age.

Download or read book Reflecting on the Future of Academic and Public Libraries written by Peter Hernon and published by American Library Association. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Academic and public libraries are much different today than they were even 15 years ago. With even bigger changes on the horizon, what lies in store? This volume offers ideas to academic and public librarians about the future of library services. Editors Hernon and Matthews invite a raft of contributors to step back and envision the type of future library that will generate excitement and enthusiasm among users and stakeholders. Anyone interested in the future of libraries, especially library managers, will be engaged and stimulated as the contributorsExamine the current state of the library, summarizing existing literature on the topic to sketch in historical backgroundProject into the future, using SWOT analysis, environmental scans, and other techniques to posit how library infrastructure (such as staff, collections, technology, and facilities) can adapt in the decades aheadConstruct potential scenarios that library leaders can use to forge paths for their own institutionsThe collection of knowledge and practical wisdom in this book will help academic and public libraries find ways to honor their missions while planning for the broader institutional changes already underway.

Download or read book History and Future written by David J. Staley and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perhaps the most important histiographic innovation of the twentieth century was the application of the historical method to wider and more expansive areas of the past. Where historians once defined the study of history strictly in terms of politics and the actions and decisions of Great Men, historians today are just as likely to inquire into a much wider domain of the past, from the lives of families and peasants, to more abstract realms such as the history of mentalities and emotions. Historians have applied their method to a wider variety of subjects; regardless of the topic, historians ask questions, seek evidence, draw inferences from that evidence, create representations, and subject these representations to the scrutiny of other historians. This book severs the historical method from the past altogether by applying that method to a domain outside of the past. The goal of this book is to apply history-as-method to the study of the future, a subject matter domain that most historians have traditionally and vigorously avoided. Historians have traditionally rejected the idea that we can use the study of history to think about the future. The book reexamines this long held belief, and argues that the historical method is an excellent way to think about and represent the future. At the same time, the book asserts that futurists should not view the future as a scientist might--aiming for predictions and certainties--but rather should view the future in the same way that an historian views the past.

Download or read book Imaginable written by Jane McGonigal and published by Random House. This book was released on 2022-03-24 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World-renowned future forecaster, game designer, and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Jane McGonigal gives us the tools to imagine the future without fear. How can we be confident about making plans? How might we feel secure despite the future being unknown? How do we learn to feel at peace with the unexpected? Today it feels more challenging than ever to feel unafraid, hopeful, and equipped to face the future with optimism. How do we map out our lives when it seems impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year or next decade? What we need now are strategies to help us recover our confidence and creativity in facing uncertain futures. By learning to think the unthinkable and imagine the unimaginable you can better plan for a future you'd like to see. And by seeing what's coming faster, you can adapt to new challenges, reduce anxiety, and build hope and resilience. 'An accessible, optimistic field guide to the future.'-San Francisco Chronicle 'Jane McGonigal is unusually adept at anticipating events that most of us can't even fathom. In this eye-opening, actionable book, she teaches you how to widen your peripheral vision, extend your imagination farther into the future, and conceive of the inconceivable.' Adam Grant, #1 Bestselling Author of Think Again __________ 'Top 10 innovators to watch' Business Week 10 most powerful women to watch' Forbes 'Top 100 creative people in business' Fast Company

Download or read book The Library Beyond the Book written by Jeffrey Thompson Schnapp and published by metaLABprojects. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jeffrey Schnapp and Matthew Battles reflect on what libraries have been in order to speculate about what they will become: hybrid places that intermingle books and ebooks, analog and digital formats, paper and pixels. They combine the cultural history of libraries with innovations at metaLAB, a research group at the forefront of digital humanities.