Here’s a neat idea about how handheld tech could help regular librarians. ReadWriteWeb reports that a study group at Miami University has come up with an augmented reality Android app that could allow librarians to tell at a glance when books on library shelves are out of order, by using a built-in camera to read tags attached to the spine of shelved books and superimposing indications of which books are out of place. It will also generate inventory reports.

It wouldn’t work for very thin books, such as those found in children’s sections, but could be very helpful for others when it gets out of the prototype stage. As the son of two librarians, I can say unequivocally that this is really neat stuff.

1 COMMENT

  1. That’s very cool! I worked in a public library for several years, then a medical research library for 10 years, and a great deal of our time was spend scanning the shelves to check for this very thing.

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