Week 6: Thing 15

I have just reread three of the articles from Web 2.0 and I am feeling a little despondent. I feel that my school library is stuck in the Dark Ages and there is no forseeable hope for a future in Web 2.0. I hate to be a nay-sayer and I try to think of the ways I can bring some of the new and exciting digital changes into my school environment but I am in a system that faces grave financial problems each year. Our middle school students do not have classes in health or even keyboarding never mind other computer programs. Saying this let me respond to each of the articles I have read. Rick Anderson writes "Away from the 'icebergs' listing the three problems he sees threatening the progress of libraries and "indeed our existence".

The first deals with the "just in case" collection. He claims that this approach does not make sense anymore since as Web 2.0 continures to emerge patrons will be accessing everything digitally. I agree with him totally and the upside for me is with little or no budget each year I can still help my students access information they need.

The second "iceberg" deals with "reliance on user education". He states the understaffing doesn't allow the needed education for research so the tools must be user friendly requiring little or no instruction for use. As a school librarian one of my jobs is educating my clientele and helping them navigate through the information with the tools at hand. Taking this course, I thought I could count on some computer savy kids to help me but they are not familiar with any of the tools I have asked them about. Well, some had heard of Blogs. I myself am waiting for the day when I just have to ask the computer to do a task verbally and it is accomplished.

Finally, changing the "come to us" model. I like going to the library. I like the ambience and order. I do feel that libraries have made great efforts in accessing materials for patrons from all over. We are in an "I want it and I want it now" age but what we give up is practice in patience and civility.