March 10, 2010
Thing 17 – Library 2.0
Where do libraries fit into the future. What is our role as libraries in our current technological society. What will be expected of librarians. How will we compete in this new tech savvy world.
These are many of the questions that have arisen over the last couple of decades, since the Internet was made public. Things have changed so much since I first became an Internet User in 1995. I’ve seen the change, I’ve watched the technology, software and applications being created to allow the public more access, more use, more information, more of everything.
As a librarian, it’s always been nice to slide back through the doors of a small library and realize that things here have not accepted every change, every technology, every last little bit of information on the Internet. As usual, Librarians validate a resource first before accepting it.
To be left in the current of change, libraries without logic and planning would be swept along as quickly as change happens, and yet, we are still viable, we still offer traditional services…but we have managed to keep up, and compete in a market where we once worried we might lose ourselves.
We have accomplished this because first and foremost, we are libraries, we are librarians…our customer always comes first.
It would be nice to say the budgets were available to keep up with the tides, but by being forced to pick and choose and to be accountable, we have taken the best of what the web has offered and made it relevant to Libraries.
Will we ever be obsolete? Never.
Will we be able to continue to compete. Yes.
Our secret is not so much a secret…it’s in almost every name of every library all over the country. Whitby Public Library. Toronto Public Library. Oshawa Public Library.
We are a public service, and no matter how big Amazon’s Kindle gets, or Apple’s IPad becomes…they are still consumer products that are not free. Libraries will survive, we can be Web 2.0 friendly, Library 2.0 friendly, however we still offer services without a direct price tag to our customers.
