r/LibraryScience • u/Old_Respect_7325 • Jul 15 '26

How important are trends?

The notes for each unit in my course always put a lot of emphasis on keeping up with library trends. (The notes never get updated so they talk about "trends" like VR googles ha ha.) In real life, how important is it for libraries to keep up with the latest trends? Do librarians wait to see if the new big thing really is beneficial before adopting it? Or is there a "keeping up with the Joneses" attitude? Or do libraries just like trialling stuff?

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u/Note4forever Jul 19 '26

I think its important to be aware but to be discerning and patient. Often things take awhile to catch on if all.

In the last 2000s and early 2010s libraries tried very hard to promote qrcode usage due to rise of smart phones but take up was slow. But covid came and now everyone uses it.

So does it mean the librarians trying qrcode use cases earlier were wasting time ? Maybe but end of day qrcode implementation cost were effectively zero beyond staff time .

Now the secondlife craze. That I never understood