Libraries: the last frontier of digital information
In today's age of digital information and information collection dominated by search engines like google and bing and social networks like Twitter and facebook, there isn't really anything we cannot learn. Due to the exponential growth of the Internet and thanks to creative individuals, retrieval of information has boiled down to how well you define search engine terms.
Being a librarian when I was in primary school back when, I have always surrounded myself with books and find the best section of the library to hang out and well let's just say some alone time. But I digress. I always believed that libraries were all about information and all about books. I would probably still have that same impression if Liana (@spoonrabbit) has not convinced me otherwise. I was actually very impressed by the what Liana does and the department she is in. This is like 'Q's' office in MI5. Highly experimental, sophisticated and cool. Liana spoke about the projects that the library undertakes to further the purpose and cause of the library. Like building a mobile library and experimenting into having library kiosks near MRT stations. But today they have launched yet another first in the business of libraries. A Facebook app. Enabling the library to make use of social networks to propagate importance of having books and making it easier for it's patrons to borrow, finding and reserving books. With the integration of social networks, they give the users the ability to recommend them to their friends. Not unlike what amazon has done with selling books. The National Library of Singapore in itself is very advanced and has services that are very relevant to today's digital world. They have ebooks, searchable books index in their databases, video content, archives of newspapers and news surrounding Singapore and these are the only things I know about. Now they are engaging the community through social networks. I see that this is one of the most advanced libraries in the world and it's not surprising that the habit of reading books is still being instilled here in Singapore. Access to these information are readily available. That's why I think librarians (that includes all those who work in the library) are one of the coolest and most advanced people on earth. Besides they have access to all those information. Enjoy some of the pictures of the night:
