Well all this Library2.0 talk is making me feel like the old model telephone.. I love books; I love the smell of brand new books; I love bookmarks (good old traditional nicely made ones, mind you) and using them to mark where I've read up to; I love going to libraries with shelves upon shelves full of books, the sight of that is just so *e x c i t i n g* and of course I love spending hours in the library just enjoying the books. Now they're suggesting replacing good old traditional books with online digital books? OVER MY DEAD BODY!Ok so i'm overreacting, the number of print media and its readership has been steadily declining and online media becoming more and more popular (I'd find a reference for this, but meh, too much work), it'd make sense to shift the paradigm (i hate saying this word, I always get it wrong). I agree with Rick Anderson that it no longer makes sense to build a comprehensive library collection and has unnecessary items available on the internet already, when it is difficult, expensive and slow to distribute. However surely there is still a place in today's society for the library in the traditional sense? Don't tell me your eyes can take looking at a computer screen hours on end, day by day (ok i know a lot of people do this) but reading books just give a different pleasure than reading it off a screen.
Ok, so I'm slightly off topic here. So the suggestion seems to be that the web2.0 technologies can be used to benefit librarians in providing a better and more sophisticated service to library patrons, which I agree, to an extent. Web2.0 technologies such as blogging, photosharing and the use wikis make technology as readily available as ever. However for most library patrons that I have come across, most of their requests were still normal in that I could assist by pulling out the title of the book on a certain subject or by a certain author that they wanted from the computer database. None of them has yet to ask, I would like to know what are some of the opinions blogged about the issue of Georgia being invaded Russia. People that actually come to the library are those that know that what they are searching for are in print, on a book somewhere in the library, or in a newspaper or videos or dvds such as school children researching for projects, recreational readers and reading up on a hobby. Those that are savvy with web2.0 technologies, I'd assume would not need the library in the same way as the aforementioned, and therefore probably would not need services of librarians that are savvy with web2.0.
So instead of a revolutionary way that changes librarian services, web2.0 is more like little extra something, that librarians can use. I still have a ton of things to say in response to Dr Wendy Schultz's little opinion pice of how library services are evolving but i'm afraid whatever scarce readers i have of this blog will just frightened by the sheer length of this blog entry. I'll save it someday for another blog entry.
Picture of the Week(!):
Sarah Palin (played by Tina Fey) in response to Hilary Clinton (Amy Poehler) proposed use of diplomacy in foreign relations:
" I can see Russia from my house!"
