Thing #15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0, the Future of Libraries

"Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?"
(from MD Libraries 23 Things #15 page)

Exactly. Where will the web it take any of us. Better spelling and grammar?


Icebergs... (from Rick Anderson's OCLC Newsletter post Away from the "Icebergs")

Just in Case collection...

Of course we have to look at what is new and trendy and what we will offer beyond books. Some books are still hard to get. There is still something more permanent about a reference source on paper. The day may come when a source online will be more trusted than a source on paper, but we're not quite there yet. And you never have to change batteries or make sure it's plugged in and not crashing. Please ask our customers what they want. Some still want books. Give them what they want. Some want cd, downloadable, net based. Give them what they want. Some just want to be able to come in and check their e-mail and surf the net. Give them what they want.


The "come to us" model...

"it wasn't a good system, but it worked, sort of..."

Nonsense. It was a good system. If you couldn't find it where you were, interlibrary loan was a godsend. Or librarians found where what you wanted lived and you went to it. No choice? No there was a choice, it just wasn't 50 choices and it wasn't an instant choice and good heavens you maybe had to talk to a human being! The choice was buy or borrow. Far from being a burden, it was a blessing not to have to buy, especially big expensive items. It was considered a privilege to be able to participate in something bigger than any one individual. It's like voting. The Library, what does that name mean to millions of Americans? Change has to happen and moving out of old patterns isn't easy. If we are able now to offer more choices, then we should do it. But don't forget why there are libraries in the first place and don't be so worried that there will be no books.


"...no profession can survive if it throws its core principles and values overboard in response to every shift in the zeitgeist..."


The shift has already happened. When libraries decided they were about information, not books and let computers in and embraced them, that's when the shift happened. The rest has been just dealing with that shift. What will libraries in the future look like and what wonders will be offered? How that question gets answered in every different library and library system is what's important.