The services that libraries provide to their patrons

The Boston Globe has a wonderful article about a local library and the services it is now providing. In Turning the page in the Internet age, the Globe writer details the how patrons are using both traditional and electronic services. Technologies mentioned include wireless connectivity, online databases, audio books, 24/7 online reference and much more. In talking about digitization, the article notes:

Digital technology has also made it possible to more easily share historical collections with the public. The Quincy library has digitized documents and photographs of its granite industry, shipyard, and historic buildings. Prior to the digitization, many of the images were on fragile glass negatives and had a complicated indexing system that needed to be decoded by staff members to find them, [Ann] McLaughlin [director of Quincy's Thomas Crane Library] said.

In a time when many libraries are having a hard time financially, it's wonderful to see articles like this. I'm especially pleased that it mentions digitized materials.

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