Week #6 Thing #15

I liked this assignment. I took me from the interesting details of specific new technologies we've been looking at so far to the big picture. Library services need to meet the user's needs. What does Library 2.0 mean to me? It means I need to be willing to try out new things, to look at information acquisition through the eyes of my students today. I have a very fond memory of spending a rainy afternoon in the Huntington Art Museum studying and researching with my classmates at UCLA. We'd been invited to our professor's office and study--he was the curator of the museum. The books he let us use were old, fabulous. He served us tea. There was a little fireplace with a fire in it. On the floor were oriental rugs and I remember the soft ticking of an antique clock in the background. Now that was research in a heavenly setting for an art history student. But that was also in 1968. Things have changed since then and I am teaching students who will live and work in the 21st century. The way to access information is constantly changing...and that's both good and bad. Good in that if your source is reliable you can have up-to-the minute information. Bad in that every time you master one technology, there seems to be a new one to take its place. This is not a world for the faint of heart or mind or for those who don't like to learn new things. But I do, and I want my students to like that idea, too.

I read the OCLC articles and I especially liked the idea of the 3 icebergs. The first one--having a collection "Just In Case"--means that we need to let go of the idea of building a collection to meet everyone's needs. I find this especially true in the reference section and in non-fiction. However, I don't want my students to think that books have no value because that simply isn't true and my goal is to balance the wonders of the internet with the reliability of the published book.

The second "iceberg"--Reliance on User Education--makes me realize that even though I am a teacher as well as a librarian I need to step aside sometimes and be more of the "guide on the side" with my students. I need to find user friendly services for them and let them go. They are, of course, almost fearless when it comes to technology, and I need to capitalize on that.

The third "iceberg"--Our patrons need to Come to Us--is simply no longer the case and I need to be sure my students understand that they can access library services on the Web. For my students today and those in the future using the Web is analogous to my generation and the telephone. They have grown up with it. It doesn't seem miraculous to them. It's part of their lives.

We need to change course and above all be flexible, exploring the possibilities of Web 2.0 with our patrons and students. We need to be unafraid to discard what doesn't work best--be it a book, the card catalog, or a technological application. Flexibility and the ability to evaluate the worthiness of new ideas and applications is the key.