Bibliotecas Inteligentes: Samsung leva tecnologia de ponta a bibliotecas universitárias

Estudante verifica as mensagens recebidas através de um boletim digital na biblioteca recém-construído em Myongji University. [Foto: JoongAng Ilbo]

Lee Ye-seul, a sophomore in the Arabic studies department at Myongji University, wanted to announce an upcoming meeting for other classmates in the department.

Normally, it would be expected that Lee would get some magic markers to make colorful hand-drawn posters that are a hallmark of campus life.

Instead, Lee posted the announcement on her school’s Web site, which then distributed it to digital bulletin boards and flat-screen TVs on the walls of the school library.

As more universities in Korea transform their libraries into “smart libraries,” posters have given way to digital bulletin boards.

In the case of Myongji University, which opened its new library in March, the school has dubbed them “U-memo boards,” or ubiquitous memo boards. Students can enter their student IDs and the screen will show personalized information such as messages, classes and syllabuses.

No longer do students need to come early to secure a seat in the four-story smart library or save them for friends, since they can use touch screens mounted on three-meter (10-foot) pillars to reserve seats.

The ambience is very high-tech. With a digital aquarium and digital pond adorning the lounge, students feel like they are in sort of a digital park.

“We thought young students today are familiar with a digital lifestyle,” said Ko Su-yeong, a project manager at Samsung SDS, the company that developed and installed the equipment in the library. “Yet we sought to recreate familiar objects like bulletin boards and sticky notes. So in a way it’s delivering ‘analog sentiments’ through digital technology.”

Nearby Yonsei University was one of the first universities to adopt smart library technology. Its six-story academic information center that opened in May 2008 is equipped with some 300 personal computers and multimedia facilities. The center has served as a model for overseas universities in China and Taiwan, with officials having come to the library over the past two years, Yonsei said.

Like the Myongji library, the Yonsei facility features digital memo boards and media pillars. In addition, students can use digital systems to read newspapers and check out books.

“We hold group discussions here using laptops and projectors. These multimedia functions help us in understanding class materials,” said Cho Ik-seong, a junior majoring in business administration.

Samsung SDS has helped other institutions of higher learning like Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University to set up high-tech libraries that adopt video conference technology as well as radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag systems. Similar systems at 10 other universities are being planned.


By Moon Byung-joo [ hkim@joongang.co.kr ]

Fonte: JoongAng Daily