2 Things On A Stick

Before I begin today's post, I would like to add one comment to my last missive. I am not a fan at all of Blogger's new editing software. Once you've posted, it's nigh on impossible to edit after you find formatting errors or what have you. It's always been tough to get an accurate "preview" of what's it's going to look like, but at least you could fix your work after the fact before everybody else saw the snafus.

That aside, I tried in vain on numerous occassions on multiple computers and varied internet connections to load Stephen Abram's Australian kick-off video, all to no avail. :(

To start off, I felt John Blyberg's post was spot on in many respects. As both a paperback lover and Dot Com Bust survivor, I'm always suspicious of anyone claiming the "interweb" is going to change everything. (Ex: remember the "paperless office" myth?) Cynicism aside, he's right. We HAVE to compete with Google when the general public in some cases feels a librarian is an outdated profession not unlike door-to-door knife sharpeners or the ice man. We may need to lay off some old librarians if they refuse to be re-trained in computer software. I don't think this will change the mission of libraries per se - check out Earl Lee for further ammo on that particular front. The new movement is problematic much like Wikipedia or any other "authority" being thrown to the madness of crowd-sourcing. I for one hope it never comes to deciding between more books or internet terminals so Milennials can have more flame wars. It's not so much a paradigm shift so much as another oppurtunity to engage the public rather than scolding them for, say, pirating mp3's on public property. If acquiring video games and opening coffee shops gets people passionate about libraries again, so be it. We are not as obsolete as let-the-market-decide-libertarian types would have us to believe, but we do need to do a better job of showing how cool, invaluable and radical we really are.

The "Ongoing Web Revolution" article in Library Technology Reports had some good ideas as well. The web is not necessarily the royal "us" (if it was, there would be no such thing as "powerful" or "influential" blogs like Wonkette.) Engaging the public means trusting them, and sometimes trusting everyone is a really dumb idea. Everyone's voice doesn't necessarily have to be heard in order for democracy to work. But we do need to let the patrons participate, within reason. That's where we drop the ball. Having an intranet wiki isn't enough anymore. One part of the conversation lost in that article was how web technology like FaceBook physically isolates us in exchange for providing the illusion of community. Yes, you can clarify your identity, track your loved one's every move, chat with strangers, form virtual tribes, earn street cred and share your garage band's demo. But at the end of the day, you are lonely and staring at a computer screen all day by yourself! But it holds promise too: BookSpace, allowing readers to comment on the book they read at the library's URL, the Library of Congress using Flickr to help identify un-catalogued photos, etc. This is all still up for debate, but it does have the potential at least of making the library a more social place.

I was not impressed with the OCLC Next Space Newsletter's take. Why would you ask a "futurist" anything other than to kindly shut up and sit down? Why not query Miss Cleo while you're at it?

The Wiki entry was much better. Two mantras I loved were "Beta is forever" and "Harness the Long Tail". Excellent! The blogosphere is right to proceeed with trepidation, the concept of Library 2.0 is vague at best at this stage in the game.

In closing, my response to the training prompts:

• Time is definitely an issue for me as this is only one of three part time jobs I currently hold down. My boss set aside 2 hours a week for me to work on this, the rest is pro bono blogging.
• I am participating in this because my boss told me to. I hope to learn about things I don't know how to do (like RSS technology) and to get better at the things I do (like Blogger). A new flash drive would be a nice bonus. :)
• The Internet has affected my life drastically since I first logged on to Yahoo in the early 90's. I purposely do not have the Net at home so I can save money but also to be more productive and social. I hate to admit it, but anytime I have unfiltered T3 lines at work, my productivity dips ever so slightly. If you've got AD/HD tendencies like moi, you can easily waste an entire afternoon puffing on WikiCrack.
• I feel my Library 2.0 knowledge is advanced by comparison to some of my co-workers. But that's, again, a gross generalization. Library 2.0 is definitely catching on: a librarian ex-girlfriend of mine in rural Texas has patrons friend her on MySpace, responds to reference problems via IM, etc.

Buh-bye.