Custodians & Midwives: The Library of the Future

Abstract

Custodians and Midwives is the outcome of a research collaboration between the National Library of Australia (NLA) and new School of Cybernetics (SoCy) at the Australian National University (ANU). This collaboration was undertaken in the first half of 2021. During the collaboration, SoCy researchers investigated and evaluated the potential new dynamics that will emerge if, and when, the NLA integrates tools and processes enabled by promising artificial intelligence (AI) technology capabilities into core work processes of the organisation’s mission to “collect, preserve and make accessible” library materials (National Library Act 1960 (Cth)). In Custodians and Midwives, we take a cybernetic systems approach to the questions of how new and emerging technology capabilities might shape and be shaped by the future of the NLA. In this report, we provide a library collections-centric analysis of clusters of AI capabilities to support the NLA in making decisions regarding the integration of AI-enabled technology systems into the organisation’s processes now and in the future. We prioritise clusters of capabilities defined as (1) the services a class of technologies provide, and as (2) knowledge that can be applied to specific technology products and processes. Focusing on AI capabilities, rather than specific products and processes in the market or deployable now, enables us to outline a pathway for the NLA to evaluate opportunities, risks, pitfalls, and issues (ORPI) with AI over the timescales and rhythms that characterise the library as a cybernetic system.