Distributed library ledgers: the U.S. authorities decide to finance development of blockchain tech for libraries

The Institute of Museum and Library Services can celebrate a considerable achievement: they have lately received a governmental grant totaling to $100,000. The United States government chose this organization to study blockchain system for public library needs.

This institute will not work alone. The San Jose State University Research Foundation is to study blockchain and how is it applicable in libraries as well. The document describing the grant tells:

“The proposed National Forum would bring together 20-30 technical experts in libraries, blockchain technology, and urban planning to discuss ways that blockchain technology can advance library services to support city or community goals. The resulting commentary from a project blog, national forum, and conference and the survey data will be evaluated and included in the project's final report, which will be available online.”

Blockchain is usable for financial accounting, as some big companies already demonstrated by silently sending the corresponding patent applications to the USPTO, a governmental organ that provides patents for innovators. It is also usable for healthcare, as the plans of Xerox suggest.

Seems natural to apply this innovation in libraries – however archaic these organizations might be, the possibilities of instant prevention of discrepancies in archives and catalogues with the help of the distributed ledger technology (DLT) will surely attract many of them.