Blogpost #6

Harlem Renaissance/IADT Library site

http://domin.dom.edu/students/bankclau/LIS753/index.html

Blog Post #5- Weaving the Web

As our Lis753 class comes to a close, I've been thinking about the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools we learned to use: wikis, blogs, Flickr, YouTube, podcasts, rss feeds. I've wanted to contemplate them in a larger context than just the technology of it all. I wondered if the Web's inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, had any foresight as to how the Web would impact our society, our world. In Weaving the Web, Berners-Lee discusses the ultimate destiny of his invention which debuted in 1991.

His closing chapter opens with the question, "Can the future Web change the way people work together and advance knowledge in a small company, a large organization, a country?" We can answer that question. We know that the Web has changed the way libraries work and the way they advance knowledge.

Berners-Lee observes, "that people seem to be naturally built to interact with others as part of a greater system". Blogging? Flickr? MySpace?


"If we lay the groundwork right and try novel ways of interacting on the new Web, we may find a whole new set of financial, ethical, cultural, and governing structures to which we can choose to belong, rather than having to pick the ones we happen to physically live in".

I thought about our class visitors, Erik and Jaap, and how we were introduced to their library in Holland from their physical visit, yet we can continue to learn about their work at the Delft Library via the Web.

In a discussion of his goal for the Web, Berners-Lee describes a system that would take advantage of "ingenuity, inspiration, and intuition of individuals in a special way". We've seen examples of libraries subscribing to those technologies that maintain that goal. And for those librarians that have shied away from the technology, they may want to visit Berners-Lee's insights to understand the true nature of the Web and to use the evolving Web2.0 tools to provide their patrons with the information and services they need and want.

Ning? Library 2.0?

Is anyone familiar with Ning site: Library 2.0?

Have a look!

Blogpost #4 Library Blogs of Note

Ricklibrarian is written by”baby boomer” reference librarian, Rick Roche of the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, IL.

I learned of the blog through an article, Balancing the Online Life in the January 2007 issue of American Libraries.

The AL article notes that Roche began working in libraries in 1976 “long before the birth of the web”, and quotes him as saying, “Boomers do not have to be left behind and can catch up technically, but it helps to partner with the younger librarians”.

There’s much written about the resistance of “old school” librarians to the technologies of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0, and yet here’s a great example of a professional who has taken it upon himself “to make a conscious commitment to keep up with the technology trends”. Roche attended the LITA forum for six years and while he observed that many of the presentations were beyond what he could understand, he learned from the effort:

“In demonstrating his points, the speaker completely lost me. You may not need to write code, but you need to read it and know what bits to take, how to combine it, and where to put it. He moved a little too fast for me in this presentation. I need to start again with this topic” (Roche’s comments about a Mashup Application presentation at the Internet Librarian 2006 conference).

Ricklibrarian , “a review of books, websites, movies, or anything worth reviewing with comments about libraries and librarianship”, is valuable for it’s diversity of content as well as the observations and spirit of its creator.

It's comforting to read these musings from a fellow boomer who's challenged, but not defeated, by the new technologies, and whose adventure and humor make for enjoyable and informative reading.