As I see it the problem is going to be more along the lines of
predicting what technological advancements there are going to be between
now and 2010. I imagine when the question was asked at the start of the
new millennium I very much doubt anyone would have suggested that people
would be carrying around a computer device the size of an AA battery to
store their information on rather than a handful of floppy disks or a
cd-rom.

In the past 15 years the educational needs of FE students has not
changed a great deal, although the way in which the information has been
provided has altered significantly. Where as HE students should be using
as wide a range of resources as possible and then use their ability to
evaluate the credibility of each source, FE students tend to be guided
more directly towards the information they require in order to complete
their courses.

Barnsley College has take the step of focussing away from HE, with the
degree courses now being taught at a satellite campus in Barnsley run by
the University of Huddersfield. It still remains to be seen if it is
going to be a success, as it only happened at the start of this academic
year. I feel it could be a good thing as it mean the College can direct
attention towards FE and vocational courses. This in turn means that the
Library service can focus on providing the resources required by FE
courses which have a degree of stability to them year on year. It can be
predicted with some certainty that A Level English Literature will
require Shakespeare and Dickens, with the possible inclusion of some
Bronte or Austen. A-Level Law, Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Biology
and Economics will all have a variety of syllabus set texts which may
not alter a great deal in content from year to year. The trick is going
to be to find new ways in which to support these courses be they new
online databases or some new undiscovered medium.

As to what new undiscovered medium may be in the pipeline I'd guess that
it may be a handheld inter-active device. The next generation of
bluetooth mobile devices could allow students to communicate with one
another and library resources while in class. I think the only thing
which we can really predict for certain is that your crystal ball is
going to be a fraction of the size it is at present, but have an
incredibly greater capacity (and may or may not have an 'i' in it's
name).

David Porter

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D I S C L A I M E R 
Any opinions expressed in this email are those of the individual and do
not necessarily represent those of Barnsley College. 
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