The document discusses how blockchain technology can revolutionize public and commercial libraries by creating an immutable and decentralized system for verification, payments, acquisitions, records keeping, and more. It explores opportunities like enhanced cooperation and management of collections, as well as challenges around regulation, user experience, and standards. The document also addresses how blockchain could enable a subscription model for commercial libraries and digital rights management for ebooks.

1. on
Blockchain Technology
for Libraries:
with David Ofili | Nov 23rd, 2021 Executive Host: Sylvia Arthur
Section Host: Adachukwu Onwudiwe
Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD) – Ghana
Public and Commercial

2. THEME 1
Breakdown the concept of
blockchain technology.

3. What
Blockchain
Is Not
It is not Bitcoin
nor cryptocurrency
But
• It is the technology that makes
Bitcoin work
• It serves as a publicly
distributed ledger, or as a public
transaction ledger for Bitcoin

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See next slide

5. CONVENTIONAL LEDGER BLOCKCHAIN KIND OF LEDGER
1 Begins with one copy (the ledger itself), which could be
duplicated, reproduced otherwise, and shared if
necessary.
Starts always as multiple copies, according to the number of
participants in the network.
2 Could remain one copy and never distributed to other
people.
Always distributed at the point of creation.
3 Holds information in one place. Holds the same information in multiple locations.
4 It is a document – print or electronic. The ledger is not a document, rather, the nodes (participants)
in the network constitute the ledger.
5 Information could be erased or cancelled, changed or
rewritten.
Ledger could also be destroyed and there would be no
trace of it, or the information contained in it.
It is immutable. The information it holds cannot be erased or
cancelled, changed or rewritten, nor destroyed. When a
supposed change to a record or piece of information is
validated, rather than effecting the change, what was meant
to be changed remains intact and a new block is created for
the supposed change and added to the chain. So, the previous
record/information and the new “version” of that
record/information are both kept intact in separate trackable
blocks.
6 The absence of the ledger’s manager could cause
temporary or permanent trouble.
When one or more participants pull out of the network, their
absence is not felt, as the ledger is distributed across the
network.

6. Cryptography is the chain that
holds the blocks together.
…and decentralised
Proof of Work | Proof of Stake
Hash
Hash | Distributed | Public
Cryptography, or cryptology, is the practice and study of techniques for secure
communication in the presence of adversarial behavior
[Rivest (1990) – Extracted from Wikipedia]
…but decentralised
Enhanced Image [Non-commercial use]
Original Image Source: Euromoney Learning 2020
https://www.euromoney.com/learning/blockchain-explained/what-is-blockchain

7. Centralised
Network
Decentralised
Network
Distributed
Network
Hash
Node
It is encrypted data that is unique and undecipherable (by
unauthorized persons or machines).
Think of it as a fingerprint. It is unique.

8. an ever-expanding chain of indestructible
records, called blocks, linked sequentially with
secure communication techniques, and saved
with all participants on the network.
Simply see blockchain as:

9. THEME 2
Do you think that blockchain
technology will revolutionize
public and commercial libraries?

10. Answer: YES!
See details in next slide
• Immutable
• Public
• Decentralised
• Peer-to-peer
• Verifiable
• Consensus
CHECKLIST

11. How blockchain revolutionizes libraries
• Library verification system
• Decentralisation and immutability make data tampering (falsification, hacking, etc.)
difficult. Hence: trackable circulation history, easy and automated verification of library
[access] eligibility, quick and easy verification of library card, certificates/badges, and
other issued documents, etc.
• Library payment system
• Peer-to-peer takes out the bottlenecks of transacting with and through commercial banks.
• Simplifies payment for all library charges, including ILL, overdue, and other sundry charges.
• Takes out all middlemen charges.
• Smart Acquisitions
• There are no middlemen activities, therefore, library acquisitions are made simple.
• There is no time loss as library partners and potential partners in a particular process
are immediately aware of the process outcome without any intermediary.
• The pedigree of a vendor or contractor doesn’t matter much as processes could be
automated so that when certain conditions are met, a particular action is executed.

12. How blockchain revolutionizes libraries
• Decentralized bibliographic data
• Library staff can create instantly accessible bibliographic records anytime,
anywhere, without such data being stored first in a central database.
• Accurate record keeping
• Decentralisation, immutability, and verifiability support records accuracy.
• Enhanced collections management, as libraries can track the growth and
development of their collection over a period.
• In a hybrid system, the cause of a misshelved book is easily determined
• Library Cooperation
• Peer-to-peer makes library cooperation easy – whether library-to-library
communication/cooperation, or library-to-client communication.

13. How blockchain revolutionizes libraries
• Supply chain management
• Library supplies are easily tracked.
• At what point a product or services (including books supply) went wrong or got
damaged could be figured out easily.
• Digital provenance
• The origin of special collections, museum artefacts, and archives collections are
easily determined.
• Digital Rights Management
• Immutability and verifiability make it easy to know who published or created
what first, and who shared what when. This makes it easy to track and
monetize an author’s or creator’s work.
• Blockchain is a good platform for DRM.

14. THEME 3
What do you think are a few of the
greatest opportunities and challenges of
blockchain technology as far as
libraries are concerned?

15. Regulation
(Decentralised)
Acquisitions
(Smart contracts)
Compliance Management
(Accurate records, evaluation, etc.)
More personalised and
secure communication
(Peer-to-Peer)
OPPORTUNITIES

16. •Technology acceptance
• Many librarians struggle with accepting new technologies.
• Many haven’t accepted current and simpler prevailing technologies,
so, it wouldn’t be completely illogical to say they are far from
accepting this which they don’t fully understand yet.
•Poor User Experience Design
• Many blockchain applications/platforms are designed in ways that
allow for their optimum performance, not necessarily in ways users
would prefer them.
• One of the reasons is that people still struggle with grasping the full
concept of blockchain, so, they may not provide the best experiences
in the design process.
•Best Practices / Standards / Governance
• No central authority.

17. THEME 4
Some experts insist that blockchain is bad for the
environment, pointing to its high energy usage
and carbon footprint; while some experts say it
isn’t bad for the environment. As an advocate of
green libraries and blockchain technology
application in libraries, what is your view and
why?

18. We [libraries] don’t
have to be miners –
Let’s just be users of the
technology

19. Blockchain mining is the process of
validating new blocks to be added to the
chain, for a reward upon consensus of
other participants in the process.

20. Image Source: BBC – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56012952 Image Source: Statista – https://www.statista.com/chart/18632/estimated-
annual-electricity-consumption-of-bitcoin/

21. THEME 5
Can DRM be applied to e-books within
blockchain technology, and is it
restricted to the distribution system of
blockchain?

22. Blockchain for
DRM?
See also slide 13
Restricted to
Blockchain?
YES! NO!

23. Digital rights
management (DRM)
is a measure that
protects the
copyrights of digital
contents against
violation.
Image Source: ToolBox – https://www.toolbox.com/it-security/identity-access-management/articles/top-digital-rights-
management-software/

24. THEME 6
Explain the concept of ownership on
blockchain and how it differs from
regular digital content distribution.

25. • The technology has no autonomous
owner or body that regulates or dictates
the how, what, when, and why of the
technology.
• Every participant has some sort of stake.
• The network system is decentralised and
distributed.
• Records are stored with all participants,
and not in a central database.

27. THEME 7
Let’s say a commercial library operates
a B2B and B2C model, can blockchain
accommodate a subscription model?

28. Answer: YES!

29. Blockchain’s peer-to-peer network means that data, information,
and/or assets can be shared directly between participants without
the involvement of a middleman or central authority. Hence,
libraries can render services directly to other libraries (B2B), and
directly to clients (B2C).
Image Source: InvestmentZen – https://www.flickr.com/photos/investmentzen/29303167932

30. THEME 8
Considering our reality in Africa (in
terms of digital literacy, tech access and
adoption), will a library designed on
blockchain be attractive to the regular
African readers and authors?

31. From personal experience, most users – irrespective of
geographical location – don’t care about what technology powers
a library or a particular service. What users care about the most
are the:
• available of whatever it is they are looking for;
• ease (considering skill, knowledge, fee, and other factors that could impede
access) of accessing what it is they need, and
• the satisfaction that comes with their accomplishment.
If all three looks good, most users are good to go, even when the
technology may not be sound from a professional point of view.