Decentralization & Blockchain: Possibilities & Problematizations for Libraries

GLORIANA ST. CLAIR DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN 21ST CENTURY LIBRARIANSHIP - Carnegie Mellon University - Qatar

The hype cycle for the technology known as Blockchain has reached a fever pitch, but it remains misunderstood by many. What is blockchain? What value could it bring to information management and library services? And, why should information professionals be interested? Jason Griffey will discuss the potentials and pitfalls of blockchain, focusing on its ability to decentralize and upend a number of assumptions about the way digital goods and services are implemented. He will also look at the problems of blockchain technologies; give some guidelines on separating hype from reality; and talk through what libraries should be watching for – and helping to build – over the next several years.

Transcript

1. Decentralization &
   Blockchain
   Possibilities & Problematizations for Libraries
   Jason Griffey
   
   Affiliate Fellow
   
   Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society
   
   Harvard University
   Gloriana St. Clair Distinguished Lecture in
   
   21st Century Librarianship
   

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2. Bitcoin
   Photo by btckeychain - http://flic.kr/p/pRNcBV
   

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4. Blockchain
   

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9. Decentralization
   

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10. ledger
    Date - Time - Identity - Transaction Details
    

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11. Block 44
    

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12. Block 43 Block 44
    

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13. Block 43 Block 44
    Hash
    

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14. Block 43 Block 44
    Hash
    Block 45
    

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15. Block 43 Block 44
    Hash
    Block 45
    Hash
    

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16. Block 43 Block 44
    Hash
    Block 45
    Hash
    

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17. Public Verifiability
    Integrity
    Transparency
    Decentralized
    Robust Resistance To Manipulation
    Many Authors
    Block 43 Block 44
    Hash
    Block 45
    Hash
    

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18. Consensus Algorithms
    

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19. Incentives
    

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20. Proof of Work
    

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21. Proof of Stake
    

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22. Proof of Authority
    

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23. Proof of Weight
    

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24. Byzantine Fault Tolerance
    

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25. Directed Acyclic Graph
    

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26. ledger
    Date - Time - Identity - Transaction Details
    

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27. ledger Database
    Date
    Time
    Identity
    Transaction
    

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29. Photo by btckeychain - http://flic.kr/p/NT6bxT
    

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30. smart
    

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33. Plantoid
    

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43. BaaS
    

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47. Possibilities
    Photo by marsupium photography - http://flic.kr/p/kmLrrp
    

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48. Provenance
    Metadata that reflects the chain of
    ownership/possession of a
    physical object.
    

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49. Digital Provenance
    

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50. Bibliographic
    Metadata
    Decentralized OCLC
    

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51. Book

    Metadata
    

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52. Book

    Metadata
    Book

    Metadata
    

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53. Book

    Metadata
    Book

    Metadata
    Metadata

    Update
    

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54. Book

    Metadata
    Book

    Metadata
    Metadata

    Update
    Book

    Metadata
    

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55. Book

    Metadata
    Book

    Metadata
    Metadata

    Update
    Book

    Metadata M
    

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56. First Sale
    

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57. Digital First Sale
    

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58. Distributed Verifiable
    Credentialing
    

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59. Expanded University
    

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60. Distributed Verifiable
    Sovereign Identity
    

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61. Universal Library Card
    

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62. Problems
    

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63. Centralization
    

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69. Conclusion
    Photo by benjaflynn - http://flic.kr/p/FAJjc7
    

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70. https://ischoolblogs.sjsu.edu/blockchains/
    

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71. https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/375.pdf
    http://doyouneedablockchain.com/
    

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72. –Roy Amara
    “We tend to overestimate the effect of a
    technology in the short run and
    underestimate the effect in the long run.”
    Amara’s Law
    

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73. –Roy Amara
    “We tend to overestimate the effect of a
    technology in the short run and
    underestimate the effect in the long run.”
    Amara’s Law
    

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74. “We have just started to
    make a technological society.
    The technological changes in
    the next 20 years will dwarf
    those of the last 20 years. It
    will almost be like nothing at
    all has happened yet.”
    — Kevin Kelly
    

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75. Douglas Adams said...
    

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76. Douglas Adams said...
    1. Anything that is in the world when
    you’re born is normal and ordinary
    and is just a natural part of the way
    the world works.
    

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77. Douglas Adams said...
    1. Anything that is in the world when
    you’re born is normal and ordinary
    and is just a natural part of the way
    the world works.
    2. Anything that’s invented between
    when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is
    new and exciting and revolutionary
    and you can probably get a career in
    it.
    

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78. Douglas Adams said...
    1. Anything that is in the world when
    you’re born is normal and ordinary
    and is just a natural part of the way
    the world works.
    2. Anything that’s invented between
    when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is
    new and exciting and revolutionary
    and you can probably get a career in
    it.
    3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-
    five is against the natural order of
    things.
    

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79. Remove the Centers
    Democratize the Decisions
    Reduce the Friction
    

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80. P H O TO C R E D I T: C I N D I B LY B E R G
    M E A S U R E T H E F U T U R E
    H T T P : / / M E A S U R E T H E F U T U R E . N E T
    A F F I L I AT E F E L L O W
    B E R K M A N K L E I N C E N T E R F O R I N T E R N E T & S O C I E T Y
    H A RVA R D U N I V E R S I T Y
    J G R I F F E Y @ C Y B E R . H A RVA R D . E D U
    H T T P : / / J A S O N G R I F F E Y. N E T
    T H E L I B R A RY B O X P R O J E C T
    H T T P : / / L I B R A RY B O X . U S
    J A S O N G R I F F E Y
    F O U N D E R / P R I N C I PA L C O N S U LTA N T
    E V E N LY D I S T R I B U T E D L L C
    H T T P : / / E V E N LY D I S T R I B U T E D . N E T
    

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