Dive Brief:
- The University of South Florida’s library plans to offer unmanned aircraft for students to check out for school-related projects starting in the fall.
- The library purchased two drones with leftover funding from a grant for new technology.
- The aircraft, which cost $1,500 each, are capable of taking photos and video.
Dive Insight:
As paper books are marginalized, the future of libraries may lie with technology lending. CNN quotes South Florida’s dean of libraries as saying that the drones could be used by students working on multi-media projects, mapping the campus, and other research projects. Students have to enroll in a training course before taking the drones out, and they have to be supervised while flying them.