Week #6 Thing #15

"Away from the Icebergs"

Public libraries certainly don't want to go down like the Titanic. Rick Anderson has highlighted 3 issues ( or icebergs ) that could pose potential disasters for public libraries if they do not chart their future direction correctly. I recall vividly the very first course I took when I began my MLS. It was an introductory course to "Information Science" and our class viewed the video "Goodbye Gutenberg". It was our professor's goal to alert us to the fact that because of technology "the times, they are a changin" . This was way back in the early 1980's when technology was just beginning to impact the way libraries operated. OCLC and Marc Records were the latest and greatest back then ,and everyone on the cutting edge wanted to learn database searching and become high paid information brokers. Then the Internet hit, and all of a sudden the information domain was no longer exclusive to libraries. Today anyone with a computer and a good dsl line can access more information than any one library can have in a collection. The Internet, not the library, is now the first choice for most people to go to search for their information needs. So, Rick Anderson makes a very valid point when he states that the "come to us" model of library service is one of those icebergs that could impede progress. The "come to us" model of library service is no longer relevant. We need to bring library services to our users wherever they are and whenever they need us. The only way to do this is through technology. I think SJPL has done an excellent job of bringing library service to our users 24 hours a day through our website. Every time I assist a customer I take the opportunity to point out access not only to our catalog but also to the web links to information and the databases that customers can use at home. I like to do this because I always receive a "WOW" reaction from customers. They are so pleased that they can do their library research from home or from a remote location via a laptop computer. Access to SJPL's eBook and digital audiobook collections via the website is a real convenience and another example of bringing our services to the customer rather than making them come to us. This is the way we want to navigate public library service, so that public libraries do not face the same demise that many of the earth's icebergs face today : complete meltdown .




Web 2.0

"Into a New World of Librarianship"

In 8 brief paragraphs Michael Stephens does an outstanding job of summarizing some aspects of the new world of librarianship. Librarians are still bringing information and people together, but in a whole new way. Libraries and librarians are no longer the "keepers" of knowledge. We are now the navigators of knowledge and architects of information constructions built with technology tools. We gather our knowledge using technology. We organize knowledge through technology. And we make all of this accessible to users through technology. Tools needed to achieve this work are found in Web 2.0. Libraries need to plan their services and futures based on this new world premise. Still, I maintain, that there are important aspects of librarianship and libraries that are not part of this new technological world. I hope in their zeal to embrace technology, that librarians and libraries will not lose sight of their very special cachet that much of the human world still longs for. Libraries cannot forget those users who still long for the quiet sanctuary of peace and contemplation that a quiet study room or reading room offers. Libraries cannot forget that they are still seen as the promoters of literacy among all age groups. And libraries should always have books.