Week 9 #21

This is one of those things I'm undecided on. I can see that it could have some positive effects (I love the information about library exhibits and enjoyed the Library channel offerings) but, like most of the internet, there has been too much adding and not enough editing. Just sorting through one keyword listing is a nightmare. But with diligence, I think this could be a great thing.

Week 9 #20

Not only am I back to kicking and screaming, I am appalled that this site, which is semi-BLOCKED by our filters (although there is a way to get around the filter by clicking on that it is being used for "work-related purposes") is being used as a teaching aid. This may be a generational thing or it may be that I am not a TV watcher but I actually think the problem is that after you've seen the kitten massaging the puppy and said the obligatory "AAAWWWWW!" the point of this site is to promote free filth. There is no other explanation for why a site that is supposedly a place to share videos allows film of hard core sex, live executions and people shooting up heroin to be shown to children. Let's be real, if I want cutesy, I can watch America's Funniest Animals; if I want news there are a lot of legitimate news sites but if I want filth, it's been gathered, sorted and filed alphabetically. Thanks YouTube!

P.S. I do appreciate that the filters do not allow me to order Victoria's Secrets.

Week 8 #19

I am now embracing the technology! This Zoho thing is wonderful! One of the most asked questions I get in my computer classes is: Does my computer come with Word (or Excel or etc.) and I have to explain that no, that's extra most of the time. This is a fantastic application for people who don't want to buy MS Office and the best thing is it's available wherever there is a computer. I love being able to save my stuff and then just open it up on another computer and its there - this is especially good for people who are job hunting. Instead of having to carry disks or flash drives (many of which get left behind or get corrupted from being schlepped around!) you simply open up the application and voila! there it is! And with it being MS friendly - you can easily pop it open, save to a Word file and then send it if you must have a Word document.

Week 8 #18

I think I pretty much talked about my feelings on computerized social networking last blog - I don't like it. I think it's a way for people to hide behind words and avatars. Just as with the wikis, I can see that a group might have a social network to keep up with what's going on - my mother's family has one for the family which is spread out all over the states and into Europe, but just to put information on the web randomly, like casting a worm into the lake to see what you get, is simply beyond me. If these people are so interested in actually having a relationship with someone, why don't they get out and have one? Instead of joining myspace.com, why don't they volunteer somewhere or join an actual club with real people? Sorry, I just don't get it.

Week 7 #17

I know this will sound anomalous since a lot of people believe that the new technologies are bringing more people together, allowing people to share their thoughts, wiki-ing, blogging, etc., but the few times I have looked at places like myspace.com, blogs, and other technorati that are "bringing us together" I have thought that technology is actually keeping us apart. First of all, each of these sites represents a person sitting alone in front of a computer (even our patrons that are sitting elbow to elbow are strangely alone in their own little world) and that means the person is not sharing with a real someone. And, how much are we losing by limiting our face-to-face contact? How many of these people behind the blogs/spaces can live up to whatever they are writing? And why aren't they involved in a flesh and blood relationship (I don't necessarily mean boyfriend/girlfriend, but just friend/friend)? Are we turning into a nation that lives through a screen? And if you only connect online, are you losing the ability to have a "real" relationship where the other person sees you with your not so perfect hair and a few extra pounds instead of the beautiful avatar you have posted? And are we turning into a people that likes the shadow instead of the reality?

Week 7 #16

I find it hard to see the point of a lot of these wikis. Wikipedia is a good example of what librarians are here to prevent – the dissemination of maybe wrong/maybe right or downright bad information. One of the things that we stress constantly in helping people use the computers is to find a TRUSTED source. The Wikis for information may or may not be trustworthy. And, the SJCPL seems to me to be totally useless. If you are computer literate enough to navigate through the wiki (for example to get to the tax forms) then you are computer literate enough to simply do a search using a search engine. Why go through more clicking? The Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton is another case in point. How do we know whether the person doing the review even read the book? Many of the reviews sound like cobblings from amazon.com. I think this goes back to what I said earlier; I don’t have time to read things my friends suggest, much less strangers.

I did like the Library Success wiki since it is a specific forum for a specific group to share ideas and we can always stand to look at new ideas. I think a system-wide wiki on ideas for bulletin boards, posters, reference, etc., would be nice except that (as has already been mentioned during the reference meetings) no one has the extra time that would be needed to setup and maintain it. And (as has also been said) each library is different in time, space and money restraints (although I think we all share the not enough of any of the three) as well as in patron demographics so what works at one may not work at another. I can see the point of specific group wikis to share information among a related group but I still don’t see the point of general wikis.

Week 6 #15

Library 2.0. I think that it means we change to meet the needs of the community. And the quote from our lesson, "libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming" is definitely not true. I think that the public concept of libraries (and to a great extent, librarians) is more of a bank that holds the information as opposed to a store where they can come get information. Some libraries are customer friendly and welcoming, but there are still libraries that are not welcoming and there are still a lot of librarians who want to withhold information more than they want to disseminate it.

Of course, one of the problems (as noted by others) is that the library is different things to different people. One of the problems we have at ours is that to be more welcoming to teens and kids means that a lot of our adult customers feel estranged. People who want to use the library for a quiet refuge are out of luck because our library is more of a community center. We cannot be all things to all people. At our library we offer computer classes but because of space restraints they are out in the library proper - so although we are providing a service for those wanting to learn, we are not providing a service for patrons who want some peace. I think that patrons (as well as librarians) need to understand that there will always be time, money and space restraints. The successful library is the one that juggles these restraints successfully.