Blockchain, highlighted in the 2016 Trend Report Update as a key emerging issue for libraries, has also increasingly grabbed popular attention. The rising value of BitCoin has been at the heart of this, but applications to banking, grant-making, and validation of academic papers have also been proposed.

This briefing paper offers some ideas on what blockchain is, and how it may affect the information supply chain of which libraries are a key part. 

You can download this briefing paper as a pdf.