Rick Anderson, of the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries, has an apt analogy of libraries as rowboats attempting to avoid icebergs. Especially challenging is the idea of a library "collection" which anticipates all the future needs of patrons.
In areas such as health, technology, and science, it is now a given that we will search for online and/or database information to supplement and update our printed materials.
Placing our library services and content on the web, and adapting to changes in the patron's marketplace, will provide further tools to assist our users.
As reiterated by one of my favorite professors, we should "Keep in mind the needs of the user." The principle remains the same, but the applications change, develop, and grow, and we ourselves with them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That is precisely why Learning 2.0 is important - because we are thinking about our users and we also in some way represent our users. They use and are familiar with these tools, shouldn't we be too.
i like to put what we are learning in the context of the five laws of library science:
1. Books are for use.
2. Every reader his or her book.
3. Every book its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.
and especially number 2 and 5 i think about. that every reader has his or her resources, whether electronically or in print. as a growing organism we are to understand the changes in information culture, perhaps even anticipate, shape, and/or influence those changes...
Post a Comment