Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Thing#2

I was so impressed with the whole concept of moving to a more interactive, take-your-library-wherever-you-go kind of library.  I think the authors each had interesting perspectives and ideas on how our libraries will look in the not-too-distant future.

I also posted once already, but want to say again, how interesting I find it that so many of them use the term "user" instead of "patron".  I think it's indicative of how we are all trying to blend into the community and how we are trying to use less professional jargon to help that process.  It fits right in with the whole Library 2.0 concept, right?

I especially enjoyed the Michael Stephens article on the "new world of librarianship" at the OCLC site (http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm).  It's not only the library itself that will change dramatically;  we must keep step and be on the lookout for the best, most economical, most efficient solutions to solving information problems for our users.  I get a chill of excitement when I think about it and try to imagine how "my" libraries will evolve (or is that just a panic attack coming on?)

Well, guess I'll try to move on the Thing 3 today yet.  I feel like I'm a little bit behind in my journey to 23. 


1 comment:

Catablogger said...

I think it's interesting how library jargon changes. "User" was the "in" term when I was in library school 35 years ago ("patron" was "out"), and since that time we've gone through "borrower," "client," "customer," "patron" again, and probably a few that I've missed. It's kind of nice to be back to "users" again - it makes me feel more cutting-edge!