Technology column: Is there a drone in your library’s future?

The use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a library environment might seem unheard of yet looking back so too was the use of 3D printers up until recently.Their usage is a unique opportunity for library staff in term of gaining new knowledge and skills, collaborating with different parts of the community.

Similar to libraries themselves, drones comes in a variety of types specialising in different requirements depending on the user and the proposed function required. Some of the common features discussed by Fernandez are:

• The agricultural industry in the assistance of monitoring crops, distributing pesticide and feed drop and potentially scare off larger pests to protect crops and livestock.
• Military and law enforcement usages for surveillance and defencive capacities
• Entertainment industry where they provide new and previously unattainable angles for filmmakers and directors and location scouts.
• Educational or STEM groups seeking to engage students with robotic, engineering or coding elements involved with the development or construction of drones.(Fernandez, 2016).

It is perhaps the last point where academic libraries have the most potential to enhance people’s experience, knowledge and potential first use of handling a drone. Providing courses through local libraries in partnership with local employment agencies could allow for greater employment for people seeking employment with Livestock monitoring in real time local forestry tree counting or geological observation for the mining industry (ABC News, 2016).

The potential importance of drones for delivering information of physical library resources to patrons with movement restrictions or mobility issues. If this can be incorporated with technology such as facial recognition on drones to identify patrons to assist in remote borrowing or returning of items or equipment to assist patrons help stay connected with their local library (Anonymous, 2016).

As seen with the current Covid 19 pandemic, libraries have risen to the occasion by providing activities such as online trivia, book and movie clubs and reading challenges online for patrons to participate (Australian Library and Information Association, 2020).

If future situations rise again and libraries are forced to their physical collections would it be feasible to consider the use of drones for physical delivery or inter library loans. Is there a potential for use for patrons to use a drone for remotely viewing the stack of a collection. Previously the thought of patrons being able to stream movies in their own home via their local library would have been unheard of.  Libraries continue to embrace new technology, it will be of interest to see how our profession embraces drone technology and moves forward with it in the immediate future.

Image Credit Pxfuel

References

ABC news, (2016). Agricultural drone jobs taking off in northern Australia. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2016-12-13/agricultural-drone-jobs-taking-off-in-northern-australia/8103834

Australian Library and Information Association, (2020). COVID-19 and Australian public libraries: interim report 30 April. Retrieved from https://read.alia.org.au/file/1354/download?token=a5rDrE9C

Fernandez, P. (2016). “Through the looking glass: Envisioning new library technologies” Drones. Library Hi Tech News, 33(7), 1-5.

Anonymous. (2016). Emerging Tech Trends Require Change Management. Library Administrator’s Digest, 51(5), 3-4.