A snapshot of current trends in digital transformation in libraries

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Schwab, 2016) has had an increasingly significant impact on the social ecosystem over the past decade, bringing about a cultural paradigm shift. As a result, several models, theories and frameworks have been published that attempt to describe and frame digital-technological integration in social subsystems. The phenomenon of digital transformation has had an impact on the entire public collections network, including libraries. It is clear that the changes go beyond infrastructural development at the institutional level, they require human resources training and the modernization of collections and services.

The education subsystem is a pioneer in this field, as the European Union has developed a number of frameworks (DigComp 2.1, DigCompOrg, DigCompEdu) that describe expectations and measure the degree of digital maturity according to the pillars of digital transformation (SELFIE-tool). However, in a library environment there is currently no definition describing digital transformation and no international framework to diagnose progress, although improvements have been achieved in a number of areas.

It is the aim of this paper to outline the concept and pillars of digital transformation in libraries using deductive research strategy, the method of document analysis, and to outline current trends based on the Hype curve (Fenn and LeHong, 2011). In our analysis, we describe innovations in the library ecosystem according to the pillars of Professional development (Human resources), Leadership and management practice, Infrastructure, Collection channels and Services, based on the following aspects: name of the trend, short description, year and place of publication, connection to a special field, the possibilities of its adaptation in a library environment, location on  the Hype curve.