It's taken me a bit of time to read through the 2.0 articles, and have my brain cells slowly absorb the information! I especially liked Wendy Schultz's article, which of course bought up the spectres of 3.0. and 4.0!; and her definition : "Libraries are not merely in communities, they are communities ". And Michael Stephens', which began with "the Library is human" and went on to deliver some particularly readable 2.0 information. Chip looked very perky (I can't believe people still have those names!), but I really had a battle to grasp all he had to say.
It seems to me there is a huge task ahead of us here, maintaining the balance between reality and virtual reality : meeting our community's varied needs and expectations face to face and online. The library I work in is in a country town. It is (I hope!) a friendly, inviting, welcoming place where people come to borrow all sorts of resources, to use computers, and to find help and information - for all sort of reasons. It is a meeting place, a relaxing space and, sometimes, a fun place. A community centre in the very old-fashioned sense of the word.
But more people are taking advantage of our online services from home _ and not just the young ones! They might need a bit of help from our staff to get going, but it's amazing how quickly they take off! You can find just about everything you need on the internet and we really do have to be part of this reality, and find a place to meet our community online - a place that is relevant, useful and exciting!
I've been learning a lot of useful tools of the online trade here. I've got to figure how to best use them. To bring people onboard and to meet them out there, in their loungerooms and kitchens and offices and cars and trains, on their laptops and phones! It's quite a challenging task!
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