Qualitative analysis of international strategic trends pertaining to the digital ecosystems of libraries

Abstract

The principal driving force behind contemporary changes is the Fourth Industrial Revolution. While similarly to previous industrial revolutions the Fourth Industrial Revolution radically altered technology, economy and society, the latter displays an exponential growth as compared to the linear development of the former. Consequently, cyber-physical systems emerge blurring the distinction between hardware and software, and take advantage of the options provided by networks and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, communication takes place not only between humans but machines as well (Schwab, 2015). The Fourth Industrial Revolution results in a cultural paradigm shift and dramatically changes how society functions.  Since the library has a complex role as an information system and as a culture and value transmitting institution it is extremely sensitive to these developments. Therefore in order to preserve their competitive edge, libraries must continuously and adaptively respond to the given changes. In our essay we explore the impact of the respective paradigm shift on libraries and identify external factors influencing library ecosystems and the related expectations.   We will provide a definition for the digital ecosystem of libraries followed by a trend analysis of the given components’ actual role and the extent of their effect on library strategies. We base our conclusions on a software supported content analysis of strategic documents issued by several international library organizations  (IFLA 2013-2024, ALA 2017-2022).