The simplest definition of the Internet of Things (IoT) might be: real-world objects connected to the Internet, sending and receiving data. But beyond that, there is little consensus on what the specific technical infrastructures of IoT might look like; what kind of standards would be required; who should set those standards; what the specific business cases for various industries should be; and the relationships between personal, private data about individuals vs. information about their connected things.
Likewise, in an informal poll of more than 100 librarians, we found that the term “Internet of Things” itself was less familiar than some specific examples of the “smart” or “networked” objects that are beginning to comprise IoT, such as smart watches, medical monitors, smart appliances and self-driving cars (see sidebar below).
But what does IoT mean for libraries? Will connected objects—clothes, cars, plants, utilities, factories, homes, buildings—fundamentally change the way libraries serve their users? Or is this another new technology that is simply more about hype than reality?...more