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Digital Culture Library Issues

The Kindle and Reference 2.0

Ok, so we’ve all seen the press, read the Newsweek story, and if you’re reading this you probably read my take on the Amazon Kindle. Here’s a new feature that wasn’t heavily marketed for the Kindle, that has a direct impact on library efforts…and the surprising thing is, it has nothing to do with reading a book.

I’m talking about Amazon NowNow.

It’s an “experimental” feature on the Kindle, but NowNow is a human-powered answer engine that uses the Amazon Mechanical Turk group to search and answer questions for users. The service is in beta, and has been for a year or so (Jessamyn blogged about NowNow back in January).

So what’s the big deal? Well, the Kindle is an always-on internet appliance…anywhere you can get a cell signal, you can be online with the thing. Which means that you can ask a question and get an answer, from nearly anywhere, from a human, emailed directly to the device you used to ask the question in the first place. And this is built into the device…yes, Amazon might decide to charge for this, but right now they aren’t.

Is this Reference 2.0? Imagine being asked a research question by a patron, finding the perfect article for them, and being able to send that article to the device they are going to use to read it. Yes, I realize that laptops sort of fill this goal already, but the Kindle is certainly a more user-centered way of getting at this process. The patron doesn’t have to find a way to ask us questions…the device they are using is a direct line to us. It might not be that distinct from a webpage with a meebo widget…but I think it is qualitatively different somehow.

How?

Discuss.

By griffey

Jason Griffey is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at NISO, where he works to identify new areas of the information ecosystem where standards expertise is useful and needed. Prior to joining NISO in 2019, Jason ran his own technology consulting company for libraries, has been both an Affiliate at metaLAB and a Fellow and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and was an academic librarian in roles ranging from reference and instruction to Head of IT at the University of TN at Chattanooga.

Jason has written extensively on technology and libraries, including multiple books and a series of full-periodical issues on technology topics, most recently AI & Machine Learning in Libraries and Library Spaces and Smart Buildings: Technology, Metrics, and Iterative Design from 2018. His newest book, co-authored with Jeffery Pomerantz, will be published by MIT Press in 2024.

He has spoken internationally on topics such as artificial intelligence & machine learning, the future of technology and libraries, decentralization and the Blockchain, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property. A full list of his publications and presentations can be found on his CV.
He is one of eight winners of the Knight Foundation News Challenge for Libraries for the Measure the Future project (http://measurethefuture.net), an open hardware project designed to provide actionable use metrics for library spaces. He is also the creator and director of The LibraryBox Project (http://librarybox.us), an open source portable digital file distribution system.

Jason can be stalked obsessively online, and spends his free time with his daughter Eliza, reading, obsessing over gadgets, and preparing for the inevitable zombie uprising.

4 replies on “The Kindle and Reference 2.0”

I think it is different. It’s a direct line – the patron doesn’t even have to visit the library website and click on the Meebo widget.. The patron doesn’t have to know that XYZ Public Library is the one that serves him/her – just that if I go to this place on my Kindle, humans will answer my questions and give me the stuff I need right now. It kind of makes me wonder where libraries were/are in the planning of this service. Is this something we should try to work with Amazon on? Or is it something we can emulate to create better reference services?

I’d want some crazy-strong privacy functions on this info. Libraries go to great lengths to protect the privacy freedoms of their patrons. Would Amazon be willing to fight as hard? Would it be easier for courts to subpoena the person who did the research, than the documentation of the search itself?

I think it is different. It's a direct line – the patron doesn't even have to visit the library website and click on the Meebo widget.. The patron doesn't have to know that XYZ Public Library is the one that serves him/her – just that if I go to this place on my Kindle, humans will answer my questions and give me the stuff I need right now. It kind of makes me wonder where libraries were/are in the planning of this service. Is this something we should try to work with Amazon on? Or is it something we can emulate to create better reference services?

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