Week 6 #15

I found all these articles interesting yet difficult to follow. My experience in the library is very limited. I think I have been here for 2 months but prior to that, my experience in the library dates back to my college years...late 80's early 90s and only when I had to go.

So in regards to reference librarian, I fear I am a weak one. I do my best to muddle through the requests but I read these articles from the perspective of a patron. I do need help searching. Joe Blow walking in from the street has no clue as to what the library has to offer. And will only learn after many uses. The percentage of the community that comes to the library is small compared to the community itself. I see many patrons but many of them come everyday to study (they bring their own books from school or grab a book that is needed for school) or they sit at the computers writing emails and logging into MySpace.

How does library 2.0 fit into that forum? We seem to be encouraging people to stay at home and visit their library virtually. Don't get me wrong...my title is Technology Training Assistant and I LOVE technology but I think we are beginning the lose the social aspect of society. Case in point, my daughter, 11 years old, has been brought up in the technology age. She has had her own computer for 4 years and has learned to respect it but when her friends come over to play, an odd thing happens. she logs into my computer and her friend logs into hers and they chat online instead of face to face. Is that the future? Everyone order take out and stay at home and visit your library from there?

What kind of information will people find on their own? Can you count how many emails you have had forwarded to you from others that were forwarded as fact and when you research it, you find out that it isn't? We need librarians to help us laymen people try to weed through all the garbage. You are right, there is tons of information on the web and not all of it correct. Someone needs to guide us in the truthful direction and my hopes is that it is the librarians. Many of todays youth prefer visual aides such as videos or hands on work to studying with books or experiencing stories. I digress...I have changed the topic...let me pull back a bit. As for tagging, I love tagging my personal items but sometimes I have been tagged with bogus tags because some weird person finds it funny.

All I am saying is that I love technology but we can't sacrifice the human aspect of the library. Read my blog a few weeks ago about the sounds of the library. Those sounds weren't just songs playing over some speakers....those were sounds of life....sounds of people in a building. Leaving breathing people and not avatars.