Libraries in Internet of Things (IoT) era

Purpose Internet of Things (IoT) has been widely adopted in the commercial sector. Although IoT enables traditional libraries to convert into digital ones, the implementation of the IoT in libraries is slow. The purpose of this paper is to report on the current state of research on applications of IoT in libraries, describe challenges that IoT applications face in libraries and discus directions of adopting IoT in libraries in the future. Design/methodology/approach To conduct this research, the literature of IoT and its application in libraries were reviewed by examining existing literature in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Xplore. Findings The literature review finds that radio-frequency identification has been adopted by digital libraries. The slow implementation of IoT is caused by security and privacy issues, lack of standards and the lack of financial, technological and organizational resources. This study provides a prospective for the application of IoT in libraries; the technologies of IoT have the potential in betterment of library services. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this study is that only IEEE Xplore is included. Other database should be explored in future research. Originality/value The application of IoT in libraries is an emerging issue; a systematic and extensive review of recent research on applications of IoT in libraries is unavailable. This paper presents an overview of IoT in libraries, findings and potential research opportunities.