Share this
by Clare Brown on December 29, 2021
Another tumultuous year is drawing to a close - congratulations, we made it! Looking back on the year's events, I’m irresistibly reminded of Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire”, which if you’re interested, has recently undergone an update. What happened in the library world in 2021? Innovation, digital transformations, AI projects, and making the most from existing technology were hot topics.
Read on for the most popular blog posts on Vable’s Current Awareness Strategy Blog in 2021!
Library innovations introduced under COVID-19 that we love and want to keep
This post was based on a discussion organised by the now defunct #UKLibchat. Library and information people came to Twitter one evening to share their pandemic experiences and demonstrate how good can come from bad! Some of the library services' resulting innovations have worked out so well that people are planning to keep them going.
CILIP’s Research Report: Should librarians embrace AI and be learning how to code?
In 2021, webinars and online conferences continued to be a great source of discussion and an effective way of sharing knowledge. CILIP’s webinar on "AI, machine learning, process automation and robotics" examined their recent Research Report (May 2021) and took a peek into the future of libraries and the library management skills that we will be needing.
What's the difference between content aggregation and content curation?
What is the difference between these two ideas, and why do they make a difference to a firm’s information flow? Targeted, handpicked information is crucial to our end users and information professionals are perfectly placed to curate newsletters and RSS feeds. This post illustrates the benefits of content aggregation, the deployment of push/pull content, and how you can ensure you stay ahead of the competition.
What is the difference between current awareness and horizon scanning?
Our end-users are busy people and are concerned with doing the best they can for their clients. Trend spotting or horizon scanning isn’t necessarily at the top of their daily “to do” lists but if they want to grow the organisation effectively, everyone needs to anticipate future events. Information people need to explain the difference between current awareness and horizon scanning - and put them both into a wider strategic context. We should be dazzling our end-users with future information possibilities.
A guide to choosing the right current awareness platform
When you start on the current awareness journey, it is important to have the right information at your fingertips tips. There are many news monitoring and content aggregation platforms on the market so Vable has put together a guide for your convenience. As vendors, we want you to make the right decision for you and your organisation.
5 amazing AI and Machine learning projects in the GLAM sector
This was inspired by another online library and information conference. I was pleasantly surprised by the ILI Bitesized Conference - small is indeed beautiful! The session that most resonated with me was the one on machine learning by Bohyun Kim. She outlined some of the pioneering attempts to apply different forms of AI in the library, museum and archive context.
How can I achieve better search results using the full power of Google?
Library and information people are experts in exploring Google functionality. It can take seconds for us to find things for our end-users, and they often express their amazed gratitude. If we stay on top of Google’s search practices, news alerts, archives and other functionality we can maintain our star status and demonstrate our value - after all, Google will never replace the library and information professional.
Team Vable hopes to see you all in person in Summer 2022 - watch out for BIALL and AALL conferences!
