Musing in 2.0

I read the Library2.0 information will a wry smile on my face. I was lucky enough (?) to enter the profession at the beginning of online catalog usage and internet access with no (that's right --No) graphics. Indeed, one of the papers I wrote in library school was about angest of librarians afflicted with "technophobia" as libraries moved forward to embrace the latest technical trends of the time such as online catalogs where one waited for several minutes to see the results of their search, librarian/printer interfaces to access such databases as Medline, computer driven utilities to charge and discharge library materials and Marc format cataloging.

How the world has changed! Those of us who migrated to the internet age 20 years ago are now scrambling to catch up to Library 2.0. I mostly embrace the concept of the library integrating all their services into the patron's daily patterns of work, study, and play. I totally believe constant and conscious flexibility is the only way to continue to adapt and provide our patrons with the very best user centered services possible. However, the attitude that electronic data will totally replace the familiar bound paper book is ludicrious. It is still awkward to take a computer to bed with you or curl up with a MP3 player on a rainy afternoon (I would just go to sleep and run the battery down). While there is little doubt that technology can often supply more current facts than a bound volume, there are times when the old fashioned printed word is still a valuable sidekick to the constantly emerging technological trends.

It is not just the role of the librarian and the library to serve the patrons, but both must be flexible, prepared, and open to the ever shifting, evolving, and devolving trends in technology. People in dialog is the center of the very best library service. I personally do not care for most of the social networking sites, such as MySpace, but do by into the fact that we must build the communities we serve both on and offline.

Goodness what a soap box! I didn't know I was that passionate about technology, but since I have enjoyed seeing it go from the T-Model to the hybrid (technology -- not cars) I guess it follows that I would either love it or hate it.