Libraries as Internet cafes
67 percent of libraries report they are the only provider of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities
67 percent of libraries report they are the only provider of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities
Librarians that are arguing and lobbying for clever ebook lending solutions are completely missing the point. They are defending library as warehouse as opposed to fighting for the future, which is librarian as producer, concierge, connector, teacher and impresario.
Post-Gutenberg, books are finally abundant, hardly scarce, hardly expensive, hardly worth warehousing. Post-Gutenberg, the scarce resource is knowledge and insight, not access to data.
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We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don't need are mere clerks who guard dead paper. Librarians are too important to be a dwindling voice in our culture. For the right librarian, this is the chance of a lifetime.
For libraries, 2010 will be seen as the last time that buying any reference materials in print made sense at all. The year doused any smoldering embers of the "library as warehouse" mentality, with surviving libraries being the place where you "do" instead of where you "get" things. This is the year that I've truly realized that libraries and librarians that are not changing really will go away - that economics really will trump traditional and sentimentality. And it is the first time I believe this is a good thing.
Robert Darnton, Harvard's chief librarian, convened what the Chronicle of Higher Education calls "a group of 42 top-level representatives from foundations, cultural institutions, and the library and scholarly worlds." The group issued a statement endorsing what it called a "Digital Public Library of America" that assembles the collections of archives, museums, and universities across the country.
"That goal differs from other schemes in that it would not merely coordinate digitizing projects that exist everywhere," Darnton tells Fast Company, "but it would also make the entire cultural heritage of the country accessible free of charge to all of our citizens."
put KNOWLEDGE at the centre of your thinking rather than ‘library’ and ‘information services’
A bunch of things I think teacher librarians should unlearn:
- That the little things really matter to those we serve and teach. (For instance, whether or not we decide to shelve Mc and Mac together.)
- That Boolean logic is the best search strategy since sliced bread.
- That Wikipedia is bad or less-than-good in all contexts.
- That databases are the only online sources with value.
- That having a web presence, no–that having a really good and really useful web presence, is optional.
- That someone else is exclusively or ultimately responsible for learning relating to information and communication and search technologies.
- That the price initially quoted is the price you have to pay. (Thanks, Mom!)
- That issues relating to Fair Use are generally going to be answered with the word no.
- That no really means no when it comes to issues relating to access to the information and communication tools of today and intellectual freedom.
- That libraries should be quiet.
- That libraries should be neat.
- That a library’s effectiveness and impact should be measured by the number of books it circulates.
- That your stakeholders automatically will know what you contribute to your school’s culture.
- That a library is merely a place to get stuff.
- That your collection should be just-in-case rather than just-in-time.
- That someone else is responsible for your professional development.
- That ubiquity won’t change your practice profoundly.
- That your library is bounded by four walls.
- That your library is open from 8 AM to 3 PM.
Ooh... I like this list too! (see preceding post for another one)
I remain generally hopeful for my own profession, but only if most of us stay wary, stay uneasy, stay edgy about the future. Stay willing to adapt and to maybe not afraid to cut losses and throw out many of our most cherished ideas of what is a "collection"; what is "service"; what is a "library" or "librarian." If we continue to define our profession by what we do and where we do it, we're on our way to joining the iceman, the farrier, lamplighter, pardoner, summoner, and the canon's yeoman.
