New Technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: AI, IoT, Robotics, and Beyond

We live in the era of digital disruption in which digital technologies are rapidly changing the fundamental expectations and behaviors in libraries, library users, and beyond. We all know that (a) library professionals need to be conversant with emerging technologies and should be able to anticipate new opportunities and challenges those technologies may bring to libraries and library users. At the same time, (b) doing this successfully also requires a certain shift in our mindset. This is part of the greatest challenge to library professionals as they advance in their career, look to gain new skills, and move up in responsibilities and positions along the way. What kind of mindset would move forward our ability to stay up-to-date with emerging tech trends and to find ways to apply them productively to libraries? How do we cultivate such a mindset in individuals as well as in organizations? In this program, I will discuss emerging technologies, their potential to libraries, and what it means to be a library professional capable of successfully navigating the digital era.