Week 6: #15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

I do not agree with much of anything that Rick Anderson had to say in his article Away from the “Icebergs” He says "As a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything – digital collections of journals, books, blogs, podcasts, etc." In my, allbeit brief experience, our patrons think though digital is nice and sometimes convenient, print information and information not retrieved from the internet is requested first and foremost. With regards to Reliance on user education I would just like to once again point to a previous post of mine about a workshop at the Cy-Fair College library branch which was all about how wonderfuly equipped and expertly staffed we are when it comes to servicing our patrons. And finally his third iceberg, the “come to us” model of library service, which he says means placing library services and content in the user’s preferred environment (i.e., the Web). Who says this is the user's preferred environment? It is an environment that is used more and more by more and more people but it is by no means in my opinion the preferred environment for everyone all the time. I promise you I will never read a book for entertainment on a computer screen.

In "Into a new world of librarianship" I am reminded of my days in library school. In theory "Librarians 2.0 plans for their users , Librarian 2.0 embraces Web 2.0 tools, Librarian 2.0 controls technolust , Librarian 2.0 makes good, yet fast decisions , Librarian 2.0 is a trendspotter , Librarian 2.0 gets content, however, in the real world we: don't involve "users from the get go in planning and launching services based on their needs", we have managers come in and tell us we are moving our reference desk to the circulation desk; we don't have to worry about buying technology for the sake of technology, we don't have a budget for that; we are certainly embracing Web 2.0 tools, iHCPL is an example of that, but the majority of my patrons don't understand me when I say "right click", so I don't think they are living in the thriving online communities of Weblogs, wikis and MySpace. I am however ready, willing and able to use Instant Messaging to meet users online should they decide to come.

All this said I do however agree with Chip Nigles in his statement that "the principles of Web 2.0 can help libraries collaborate in new and powerful ways". It is just not as imminent as some would have us think it is.

John Riemer says, "Expanding and enriching metadata will give libraries a competitive advantage and will support the bibliographic services of the future. " Agreed, the future and yes we should start now so when our users get "there" we will be ready.

Dr. Wendy Schultz says it best when she says, "But let’s be clear: Library 4.0 will not replace Libraries 1.0 through 3.0; it will absorb them."

Finally, adopting A Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto as a personal strategy is a good way to make sure we are ready for the transition from Libraries 1.0 forward.