Library 2.0?
Rochelle worries that all this Library 2.0 talk is lost on her library. Ross tells us why he hates the Library 2.0 meme and Dan reminds us it’s not about buzzwords. But Michael is getting closest to a point that’s been troubling me for a while: Library 2.0 isn’t about software, it’s about libraries. It’s about the evolution of all of our services to meet the needs of our users.
Let me step back a bit.
Before the development of the camera, illustrative painting and portraiture was a trade on par with carpentry and masonry. But as photography became a reality, painters found themselves in a quandary. Many said that those early black and white photos were inferior to large and colorful portraits on canvas, but the photos were quicker, cheaper, and offered a scientific representation of reality that suited the times. And so painting, having lost its relevancy as a form of documentary reality, became art. As art, it exploded with new non-representational forms and styles (plot the timeline of the impressionists against a timeline of photography), and became collectable.
Our perspective prevents us from seeing the turmoil of those times, but let me try apply that lesson to libraries today.
We have two choices. We can continue to operate by the old rules and hope that we find wealthy patrons to support us as symbols of the wealth and refinement of our communities. But, if we look hard, I think we’ll find that we can apply the core values of librarianship to new current technologies and new service models, and rather than becoming a sort of art, we will be valued for serving the needs of our communities.
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Bisson on Library 2.0
I just realized why the concepts of Library 2.0 resonate so with me. I knew it all along, but these insightful words at MaisonBisson (a red hot blog!) spell it out[...]
Bisson on Library 2.0
[...]Library 2.0 isnﾃや冲 about software, itﾃや冱 about libraries. Itﾃや冱 about the evolution of all of our services to meet the needs of our users.[...]
Isaakﾃや冱 Links - 05 December 2005
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You don’t need technology for Library 2.0 - but it helps
[...]Those following the Wallis Blyberg discourse about Library 2.0 [latest installment] would be forgiven for thinking that Library 2.0 is all about technology. As a techie myself, it is not difficult to find myself waxing lyrical about technology for[...]
What Is Library 2.0???
[...]There has been a lot of discussion about Library 2.0 — what is it and what role does it play in libraries. This post at MaisonBisson really explains things well.
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[...] Richard, please don’t misunderstand me. Technology is the essential infrastructure for Library 2.0. My point was that technology alone doesn’t make a library. It would be better to read my post in the context of Meredith Farkas‘ and Jenny Levine’s recent posts crying out for more programmers in libraries. [...]
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[...] That said, I’m reprinting here the full text of his recent column for the Valley News, a paper serving Hanover New Hampshire and other upper Connecticut River valley communities. He’s discussing the challenge we face from the perspective of an interested customer. [...]
[...] And here’s the library connection: We will all struggle with questions of relevancy in this new world. Inevitably, this will require us to examine our core values and change our services, but the results will be magical. As never before has the technology been available to so connect questions with answers, patrons with libraries. [...]
[...] I made this point before, in a discussion of how painting evolved from trade-craft to art after the development of the camera, but I love seeing a new example. [...]
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[...] Library 2.0? - posted on December 2, 2005.ﾃつ [...]
[...] Library 2.0? - posted on December 2, 2005.ﾃつ [...]
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[...] The premise is that libraries are physical spaces used to house books, and that as books decline in importance in our libraries the buildings must take on some new, third place role. That much would be true, if libraries were no more than buildings full of books. [...]