I, library robot

Connecticut library has acquired two fully-automated, walking, talking robots to provide independent assistance to its patrons. The robots, set to begin their duties at the Westport, Conn., library Oct. 11, will teach computer programming skills, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The robots, Vincent and Nancy, stand just shy of 2 feet tall. They walk, grasp, move around walls, talk, listen and have facial-recognition software. They speak 19 languages.
But library robots Nancy and Vincent will not be shelving books or explaining the Dewey Decimal System -- at least, not at first.

 Reported October 1 2014 by Carolyn Kellogg of the Los Angeles Times

Think like a Startup

A white paper to inspire library entrepreneurialism
by Brian Mathews

What if Residence Halls and Student Centers managed learning commons spaces?
• What if the Office of Research managed campus-wide electronic database subscriptions and on-demand access to digital scholarly materials?
• What if Facilities managed the off-campus warehouses where books and other print artifacts are stored?
• What if the majority of scholarly information becomes open? Libraries would no longer need to acquire and control access to materials.
• What if all students are given eBook readers and an annual allotment to purchase the books, articles, and other media necessary for their academic pursuits and cultural interests?9 Collections become personalized, on-demand, instantaneous, and lifelong learning resources.
• What if local museums oversaw special collections and preservation?
• What if graduate assistants, teaching fellows, post-docs, and undergraduate peer leaders managed database training, research assistance, and information literacy instruction?
 Read this interesting paper