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CHICAGO — ",” by Sandra Hirsh and Susan Alman, is the newest volume in a series from 91��ý’s . The Library Futures Series is edited by Miguel A. Figueroa, Director of the Center for the Future of Libraries, and produced in collaboration with 91��ý Neal-Schuman. It focuses on emerging trends in the profession, provoking discussion on how to shape the future by sharing ideas and exploring joint solutions to the challenges facing libraries and society.

A concept with far-reaching implications for the future of recordkeeping, blockchain technology uses a distributed database (multiple devices not connected to a common processor) that organizes data into records (blocks) that have cryptographic validation. The data are timestamped and linked to previous records so that they can only be changed by those who own the encryption keys to write to the files. Firms like Microsoft and IBM are already exploring ways that blockchain can more securely handle valuable transaction data. And Sony is harnessing blockchain to store educational information (registration documents, attendance, grades, and even the lesson plans that previous teachers have used) that can easily be transferred between schools as students move or graduate. In this book, technology experts and editors Hirsh and Alman build on to discuss how blockchain’s potential use as a convenient system for recordkeeping could lead to more government documents, historical records, and other pieces of information migrating to such a system. They and their contributors also examine its possible consequences for academic, public, school, and special libraries, as well as the information professionals who sustain those institutions.

Dr. Hirsh and Dr. Alman were the co-PIs in the IMLS-funded project, Investigation of Possible Uses of Blockchain Technology. Hirsh is director and professor of the School of Information at San José State University. She is a past-president of ASIS&T and is the president-elect of ALISE. She cofounded and cochairs the global virtual Library 2.0 conference series. Alman is a member of the San José State University School of Information faculty. Prior to this appointment, she taught at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences and the University of Michigan.

purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. 91��ý Editions and 91��ý Neal-Schuman publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. 91��ý authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact 91��ý Editions at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5052 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.

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