The document summarizes technological changes in Greek libraries over recent years. While Greek libraries were early adopters of technological changes, penetration of eBooks and sophisticated business models remains limited. However, libraries have increasingly embraced open access, open source, and open data initiatives. Projects like Kallipos provide enhanced academic textbooks online. Funding from the EU and Greece has supported centralized technological solutions and opportunities for public/private cooperation to make technology more affordable and transform literacy programs.

1. {Tech}changes:
the technological
state of Greek Libraries
Giannis Tsakonas
Library & Information Center,
University of Patras, Greece
!
EBLIDA 2014 - Libraries in Transition: Changes? Crisis? Chances!
Session: Changes? / May 14, 2014

2. τὰ ὄντα ἰέναι τε πάντα καὶ μένειν οὐδέν
(all entities move and nothing remains still)

3. Introduction
• Libraries are between early adaptors of changes
• technological, economical, societal
• easily absorbing changes from abroad
• In the recent years we have seen the Greek libraries
landscape changing
• This change could be dramatic, yet it wasn’t.
• ineffectiveness
• conservatism
• State roles

4. Library technology! For whom?
• Technology is not an isolated concept.
• We have a different type of interaction with our audience.
• On the move!
• On the cloud!
• Reusability and device agnosticism are the keys.

5. Information carriers
• Low penetration of eBooks in the Greek market
• Few eBook shops
• Elementary formats
• No sophisticated business models (rather narrow
approaches)

6. [enhanced] information carriers
• Kallipos *
• Enhanced publications in academic textbooks
• A project to allow the open access to multiple textbooks
with numerous added value functionalities to increase
interactivity.
✤ www.kallipos.gr
4/8/14 10:12 AMΕπίδειξη τμηματικά ομαλής ευθ. κίνησης
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keyTimes 0;0.25;0.5;0.75;1;1;1
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στιγµιαία ταχύτητα
χρόνος χρόνος
διάστηµα
ταχύτητα
ΠαύσηΔοκιµή Νέο σηµείο Αφαίρεση σηµείου
Example provided by M. Hirtzler, Modifications by A. Neumann, N. Mitrou
Διαδραστικό σχήµα για την επίδειξη της
ευθύγραµµης, τµηµατικά οµαλής κίνησης. Τα
σηµεία αλλαγής της ταχύτητας (µικροί κόκκινοι
κύκλοι στο διάγραµµα 'διάστηµα-χρόνος')
µπορούν να αλλάξουν διαδραστικά (µε mouse
drag). Μπορούν ακόµη να προστεθούν ή να
αφαιρεθούν σηµεία µε χρήση των αντίστοιχων
πλήκτρων. ---- Τα σχόλια αυτά είναι
ενσωµατωµένα στο svg, γίνεται δε χρήση ειδικών
συναρτήσεων (στο αρχείο textFlow.js) ώστε να
εγκιβωτιστούν σωστά σε δοσµένη περιοχή
κειµένου. Παρατηρείστε ότι τα γράµµατα
κλιµακώνονται (π.χ. µε resizing του παραθύρου
του φυλλοµετρητή σας) κατ' αναλογία µε το
σχήµα.

7. Open the Gates [of knowledge]
Open Source
• Repositories & Digital
Collections
• DSpace, Fedora, OJS,
Omeka, plus in-house
systems
• ILS
• Koha
Open Data
• Open Linked Data
• Polaris (Panteion Open
Linked AuthoRItieS) for
authority files of social
sciences.*
• Open Bibliographic Data
licenses in various IRs
✤ library.panteion.gr/polaris/

8. Open the Gates [of knowledge]
Open Access
• OA advocacy*
• Nation-wide retrieval of
OA sources *
• Registry of OA initiatives*
✤ www.openaccess.gr
✤ www.openarchives.gr
✤ www.lis.upatras.gr/?
page_id=494
Open Education
• Open Courseware
program
• Libraries as key agents in
the project by helping
with copyright
management (and not
only).

9. Fuelling the technological change
• EU/GR funding allocated to library projects: horizontal
and vertical actions of HEAL.
• Centralized technological solutions as a response to
scarcity of resources:
• ILSaS
• SmILLe
• Horizontal streams of actions
• Current Research Information Systems by HEAL and
NDC with UPatras as the pilot case.
• Various vertical actions for specific institutions

10. Fuelling the technological change
• Opportunities for Public/Private sector cooperation.
• Libraries as benchmarking/pilot spaces of innovative
services and infrastructures
• SELIDA - UPatras project about RFID integration as
means to the Internet of Things.

11. Making technology affordable
• The Media Lab initiative of FutureLibrary with Google
• Providing technology to enable citizens to their tasks, to
introduce technologies, to reveal competencies.

12. Using technology to transform literacy
• Virtual worlds and Digital storytelling to transform
information literacy programs.

13. Libraries as...
• The academic libraries are transforming into information
hubs; our public libraries into community hubs.
• introducing technologies
• supporting best practices
• cultivating cultures of progression and growth

14. ending thoughts

15. THANK YOU
for your attention
!
mail: john@lis.upatras.gr | twitter: @gtsakonas
Credits:
Heraclitus image by Johannes Moreelse
from www.wikimedia.org
M. Faraday image by Thomas Phillips from
www.wikimedia.org
Kallipos book screenshot from
www.kallipos.gr
!
MediaLab photo from www.futurelibrary.gr
UNESCO infographic from
visual.ly/reading-mobile-era
E-Read graphic from www.eblida.org