Thing 2. What is Library 2.0?

I think Library 2.0 has a lot of potential applications in the library world. Kids nowadays don't use email because they're too busy communicating on myspace (young whippersnappers). Many don't come into the library to do research because hey, it's all online. We have the obligation to engage this group and provide services for them, not the least because they will be paying our salaries in the near future.

So, recognizing how important this technology is, let me say that Wow, watching the assigned video was kind of awful. I'm referring mostly to the experience of viewing it online, because the program kept choking, but also because the subject of the video, while expressing relevant ideas, is not a particularly engaging public speaker. But to be perfectly fair, neither am I. I was interested in point he made about how if you are passionate about something, like smoking (smoking?!), you can always make the time for it in your daily life. I agree with this statement, but realistically, in the long term you can only cram so much in your day before you hit overload (more comments on this topic below).

A lot of the information in John Blyberg's blog post was covered in Jody Wurl & Michelle McGraw's MLA presentation (Reader's Advisory 2.0) which I was lucky enough to sit in on last fall, but Mr. Blyberg did have some interesting insights. I particularly liked the comment that "In order to be adept at navigating L2 waters, the old fiefdoms need to disappear," and not just because I like the word fiefdom. Loosening the boundaries is difficult concept in today's compartmentalized library systems. I wouldn't say that our library has a daily gladiator match ("Tuesday: Reference Librarians v. Technical Services!"), but our respective job descriptions do mean that we occasionally have very different - and sometimes opposing - agendas. It would be fantastic if we could have more overlap of duties among divisions; if the overlap could be combined with innovation, all the better.

I do wonder, however, how we can drastically increase our services to the millennials while at the same time providing the same level of assistance to patrons that may have some computer skills, but have little or no interest in facebook or youtube. Obviously this group is dwindling, but they they are still a very important subgroup of our user population. (Some of my concerns were mirrored in one of the posted comments: "We haven’t just been ignoring the young and the tech-savvy...what about everyone else?")

According to one article, if we host collaboration resources, we need to trust our patrons to stick to guidelines like those at Ann Arbor..."Keep it factual, simple, direct and about library related business." I commend Ann Arbor for their optimism, but boy, after seeing some of the comments posted to our teen page, I shudder a bit at the idea of unmoderated library blogs. On the other hand, I was a bit nervous re: express reserves, and as far as I know we've not had any problems with people checking out someone else's materials. Shame on me for being a Negative Nancy.

Note: if there is one thing I'd like to see added in the short term, it is the conversation feature that Hennepin County added to their catalog entries. Too cool!

And finally back to the subject of time, sweet, fleeting, elusive time.
I don't think I've ever heard a librarian say, "I'm sooooo bored. I really wish that my supervisor would give me more work to fill my increasingly empty day." Libraries are all busy and understaffed (admittedly many libraries in the state are much worse off than mine, so I have NO complaints), but I do think if we are expected to incorporate Library 2.0 tools in our daily activities on a permanent basis, then something - some task or tasks - will have to fall by the wayside. Of course, I have no idea which ones should get the ax...