Get Smart: Raising the Intelligence of DIY Library Smart Objects

In discussing technology, “smart” is a descriptor that implies a certain amount of computing and information exchange taking place. One of the most common uses of the term would be “smartphones” such as the iPhone. Not only is it a phone, but it is also a computing device programmed to access and retrieve information from the user, the environment, and the Internet. In education, the company SMART Technologies has found a niche as a supplier of SMART Boards, digitally interactive white boards for the classroom. In general, these technologies are called smart objects: physical, relatively inexpensive computing devices that connect users to the Internet or some other information repository. The imagination of Silicon Valley provides a future vision of homes filled with smart dishwashers, smart televisions, and even smart light bulbs. However, there are still a few years between now and smart homes. A gradual adoption of smart objects will pave the road to this vision. Libraries have the potential to be a space where they are introduced to smart object transition of upgrading everyday objects to smart objects.