Week 6 Activity 15

According to Wikipedia, "Proponents of this concept expect that ultimately the Library 2.0 model for service will replace traditional, one-directional service offerings that have characterized libraries for centuries."

Rick Anderson from University of Nevada outlines three library practices we will have to examine and change for the next generation of librarianship. I agree with his assessment in regard to collection of print sources, if he is referring strictly to nonfiction and reference. However, in school libraries I do not see the reading of fiction decreasing at all. And ebooks have not been wildly successful, at least not yet. I would love to decrease my nonfiction collection and have more shelf space for fiction.

His second suggestion is that we cannot rely on librarians to train individual users, but rather libraries need to provide the easiest to use and most reliable sources for their users. He cites his ratio of one librarian per 680 users. That actually sounds good to many school librarians! And we are teachers, so I believe our emphasis on teaching large groups, small groups and individuals to find the most reliable information and employ the web2.0 tools to use that information creatively will continue. We will most likely be teaching the teachers along with the students.

He then proposes that libraries need to change the "come to us" model of the past. And this is largely true for all types of libraries as we advocate availability of resources 24/7.

Michael Stephen, presumably a public librarian, takes the last concept to heart when he reports that he meets his clients online to build new services. But he cautions against purchasing new technology for technology's sake. It must further the mission of the institution.

The Wikipedia article on Li bray2.0 concludes with, "The concept of radical trust appears to be at the heart of much of the issue. While librarians are learning about Web 2.0 tools to facilitate discussion so that their internal business can evolve to enterprise 2.0, involving external users appears to be (sic) face some opposition." This statement calls to mind the opposition we Library Media Teachers often face from our technology departments who control what the students can and cannot access on the Internet.