Thing #15- Library 2.0

This topic was a little unsettling, since I have spent happy, happy years in the type of library that I know, particularly enjoying the feel of the paper and the weight of the book. I then started to become rather excited. As a learner who pretty much just "went and looked up" information on whatever I wanted to find out about, I never really thought too much about barriers between the users and the information, as mentioned by Rick Anderson in "Away From the Icebergs" . It makes sense, though. There is so much available now, in so many different formats and forums, and I know that I have commented a few times previously on the difficulties in sifting through the information found in my searches during this class. Facilitating acquisition of the needed information is crucial, and is part of the current job of the librarian. What has changed is the scope of resources, as well as the ways to transmit or share the information. There are so many more possibilities and opportunities. We, as librarians and teachers, must roll with it.

Ranganathan said that the library is a growing organism, so it must grow in the area of restructuring with regards to the housing of the "collection" and the way that information is shared and tramsmitted. We are, after all, supposed to have an eye on the changing needs of the patron, with the key word in this case being "changing." This doesn't just mean acquiring or weeding books anymore, it seems.

I like the concept of pooling information and resources in terms of resource sharing networks, as well as by the patrons themselves. If our young patrons are going to become lifelong patrons, we will have to encourage and foster the skills that are impacting their future, take advantage of the technological advances which make access to so much information possible, and accept that their world and skill sets are not the same as ours was 20 years ago. Progress will happen, and we can go with it, or we can ignore it, which would be a mistake.

With all of this blogging, searching for blogs, different search engines designed for different types of searches, and the advent of a global community online, I do find certain parallels to life in the pre-radio, television, phonograph days. "Regular" people tended to clump together to discuss, create, perform, and yes, write their opinions, just because they had something to say. In a way, blogging communities, or any forums on the internet where people discuss, create, or express themselves are like huge, more accessible salons of earlier centuries, and technology and the resources it offers are just more global ways for like-minded (or non-like-minded) individuals to communicate and gather information. Oddly, some of the "de-humanizing" technology may be making us more human again. It may not be face-to-face, but it is communication, it can support collaboration. The library definitely has a place in the facilitation of these exchanges, but we have to claim our place there.

Now, I don't say that making this change will be easy for all of us. I will still fall asleep at night with a book open on my stomach. I don't know that I will always ache to get to my newsreader, email, or blog rather than lounge on the couch with real paper and cardboard in my hands. I will, after reading these perspectives, try to be more active in how all of the tools that I have been learning about fit together and work together, and be more conscious of the technological advances and opportunities, that I and my future library might be more productive and more useful.