Chapter 2. How to Measure the Future

Authors

  • Jason Griffey

Abstract

Chapter 2 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 54, no. 1), “Library Spaces and Smart Buildings: Technology, Metrics, and Iterative Design”

Chapter 2 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 54, no. 1), “Library Spaces and Smart Buildings: Technology, Metrics, and Iterative Design,” takes a look at the Measure the Future project, which uses technology to measure how patrons use different areas within the library and provide useful data that can help libraries answer questions relating to how their spaces are used and what changes they might want to make in the future. I’ll discuss the Measure the Future project from the initial ideas that started it to the current state and where we hope to be in the future. Part of what I want Measure the Future to do is help libraries tell better stories about themselves and to have data to back up those stories. I’ll provide an overview of how Measure the Future addresses security concerns, describe the technical features of the project, and look at the beta and alpha testing phases of the project and where we hope to be in the future.

Author Biography

Jason Griffey

Jason Griffey is a librarian, technologist, consultant, writer, and speaker. He is the founder and principal at Evenly Distributed, a technology consulting and creation firm for libraries, museums, educational institutions, and other nonprofits. Griffey is an Affiliate Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and was formerly an associate professor and Head of Library Information Technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Griffey was a winner of the Knight Foundation News Challenge for Libraries in 2015 for the Measure the Future project (http://measurethefuture.net), an open hardware project designed to provide actionable use metrics for library spaces. Griffey is also the creator and director of the LibraryBox Project (http://librarybox.us), an open-source portable digital file distribution system. Griffey has written and spoken internationally on topics such as the future of technology and libraries, personal electronics in the library, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property.

References

John Bracken, “Knights News Challenge: Libraries Closes Sept. 30,” September 10, 2014, Knight Foundation, https://www.knightfoundation.org/articles/bracken-knight-news-challenge-libraries-offers-25-million-innovative-ideas.

William Gibson, Burning Chrome (New York: Ace Books, 1982).

Downloads

Published

2018-01-04

Issue

Vol. 54 No. 1 (2018): January

Section

Chapters