Application of Cryptology to Libraries: Tourism Resources are Safer

Abstract

Gregory K. Tharp

As global tourism is asked to do more with less in view of declining funding and a changing economic landscape, the application of cryptology to library technical services offers a potential solution to increasing tourism efficiency as they rely on libraries to access tourism information. Through examining the ALA Privacy guidelines found on the ALA website, the need for technical services auditing Integrated Library Systems or ILS is evident in the ALA toolkit on protecting privacy in library systems and is enumerated in the National Information Standards Organizations or NISO Consensus Principles, however the NISO frameworks for secure data exchange between libraries and vendors are one piece of the library privacy puzzle at least from a technical standpoint in that technical services librarians interact with metadata and preservation of library materials and thus need guidance on how to ensure data privacy, ranging from protecting patron information to mundane technical services functions such as copy cataloging, in an era when there are increasing calls from both internal and external parties to cut down library funding in academic, special, public, and other types of libraries due to declining revenue sources, grants, and other reasons [1,2].