"Without libraries what have we?" Public libraries as nodes for technological empowerment in the era of smart cities, AI and big data

Since 2014, a growing body of critical research has pointed out flaws in smart city development. It has been described as too technology-led and business-oriented, diminishing citizens' agency and causing digital divides. As the agenda keeps spreading, there is an urgent need to develop more participatory, inclusive and bottom-up approaches to balance interests of those currently in strong power positions, such as large corporations. Participatory design (PD) and participatory approaches in general have been suggested as a remedy, but they often tend to be local, small-scale and short-term. Therefore, their impacts are often modest as well. We suggest that we need to start thinking about ways to create scalable approaches that would grow the temporal and spatial impact of actions and practices that intend to increase citizens' understanding and control over new technologies, i.e. their technological agency. Without making sure that more people have adequate knowledge and sufficient control and mastery of technologies, societal discussion and ultimately, political decisions, are left to few experts. We explore the potential of public libraries to act as an ally and cooperation partner in participatory design and technology education in general, with a significant potential to broaden micro-level actions' impact. The paper consists of a broad literature review mapping the central challenges of current smart city development; this is followed with an introduction to the Finnish library system as a democratic project; finally, we present three examples of how libraries are carrying out technological education connected to emerging technologies, particularly to 3D printing, robotics and virtual reality. Our central argument is that there is a need to bridge micro-level actions, such as those connected to participatory design projects, with the macro-level technopolitical development by collaborating with meso-level actors and networks.Peer reviewe

Geoscience after IT: Part L. Adjusting the emerging information system to new technology

Coherent development depends on following widely used standards that respect our vast legacy of existing entries in the geoscience record. Middleware ensures that we see a coherent view from our desktops of diverse sources of information. Developments specific to managing the written word, map content, and structured data come together in shared metadata linking topics and information types

Historic American Buildings Survey; catalog of the measured drawings and photographs of the survey in the Library of Congress, March 1, 1941.

First ed. published in 1938 by U. S. National Park Service.Includes index.Mode of access: Internet

Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t[he] United States : projected agreeable to the direction of the President of the United States, in pursuance of an act of Congress, passed on the sixteenth day of July, MDCCXC, "establishing the permanent seat on the bank of the Potowmac" /

In lower margin at left: Computer-assisted reproduction of Pierre Charles L'Enfant's 1791 manuscript plan for the city of Washington, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Library of Congress.Facsimile."Published by the Library of Congress in 1991 with support from the National Geographic Society, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Park Service."Margins printed in beige tint.Includes text, notes, and index of "References."Original version: [1791]

Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t[he] United States : projected agreeable to the direction of the President of the United States, in pursuance of an act of Congress, passed on the sixteenth day of July, MDCCXC, "establishing the permanent seat on the bank of the Potowmac" /

Title in left lower margin: Full-color facsimile of Pierre Charles L'Enfant's 1791 manuscript plan for the city of Washington.Full color facsim. of the earliest extant plan of Washington D.C. (The L'Enfant Plan). Computer graphics, United States Geological Survey, William E. Schinkel ... [et al.] ; map editing, Library of Congress, Richard W. Stephenson, with the assistance of Ralph E. Ehrenberg and Andrew J. Cosentino.Published with the support of the National Geographic Society.Accompanied by text: L'Enfant's 1791 manuscript plan of the city of Washington : facsimile and computer-assisted reproduction. 6 p. Also accompanied by computer-assisted reproduction of the original. 1 map ; 74 x 104 cm.Includes text, notes, and index of "References."Original version: [1791]