Thing #31: What is the Future of Libraries and Librarians?

The presentation New Librarianship by R. David Lankes was a little long to listen to all in one sitting here at the library but nonetheless very interesting. There were some really great ideas/points that he made. Nothing was super revolutionary or new to me, most of what he said, you have probably heard something like it if you have taken any library science classes within the last five years. One thing that he probably could have gone into more was funding and how it needs to be increased inlibraries and how to improve libraries while also having limited funds.

It is always great to hear that libraries won't be obsolete any time soon and the idea of an ideal future vs a predicted future may help people have optimism is the profession versus the fatalism of just doing the same old same old everyday.

A great part was where he talked about how to keep people in the libraries when the recession ends and points out what many have probably see that use statistics do go up when computers are added to the mix of the library.

The most intriguing point he made was about knowledge and that it is not a thing it's how we understand something like with the example of the geologist and the rock. This philosophy is encompassed by his quote, "The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities."

Overall a pretty entertaining presentation that gives you something to ponder about the way you see libraries and maybe yourself.



Write a blog post responding to the video. Do you agree with Mr. Lankes? Is he way off base? What do you think?

Thing #30 Webby Wonders

Looking through the Webby Nominees and Winners was pretty entertaining. This eclectic list is full of something for everyone. I chose a site from the Youth section because it looked like it would be a lot of fun to explore. The nominee I chose was Marvel's create your own superhero at http://marvel.com/create_your_own_superhero.

Making your own superhero is indeed a lot of fun. I liked how easy the site was to use and that if you sign up it will save the characters that you make and you are able to download the characters. The template is easy to follow and you just go step by step until you are done making your hero. I could see this site being benefical in many library settings. The easiest place to use it would be as an activity in public libraries with patrons from children to teen. It could also be useful in all library settings as perhaps a fun team building activity. You could do this by saying make your version of a superhero and then explain about why you made them and what powers they would have etc. I made a whole superhero library team.

Overall the Webby Awards are a great idea and a place to find sites you may have never gone to before and http://marvel.com/create_your_own_superhero is a fun site whether you use it personally or in a library.

Thing #29 Book-Based Social Networks

I chose weRead as the Book-Based Social Network that I would join. It is a pretty interesting site and also easy to use. The profile section was simple to set up and the features like adding favorite books and books that you have read are easy to understand. It will even recommend more books for you to read.

Some interesting features of weRead is the never ending quiz which sounds like exactly what it is, a never ending quiz and their collection of books that you can read online.

I believe that services like weRead and all the other Book-Based social networking sites could indeed complement and not compete with programming offered by libraries. If anything it is a way to expand a libraries reach with patrons. It allows more of a personal feel or sense of community around what people read. Patron's could see a librarian's favorite books and the library can see what the patrons are reading and would like to read. It would make things like setting up book groups easier and reviews are readily available. Overall I see these services as a supplement to the library and not competition.

Thing #28 Google Reader

Google Reader is a very handy tool when it comes to organizing the information that you want to see everyday all into one easy to access place. I have used Google Reader since one of the earlier thing activities and have seen that it can be very helpful.

Google Reader would be very beneficial to libraries because it could allow patrons to be updated easily about what's happening at the library and for the library to be updated with the potential RSS updates of different organizations or patron groups.

My favorite feature of the Google Reader is the Send to feature. It is a great feature because it allows you to pick from a wide range of places to send whatever you find interesting like Blogger, Facebook, or Twitter but you can also add in other places to send what you want to share.

I'm subscribed to Books, News, and many different blogs and web comics.

Overall Google Reader is a great tool to organize what you wish to read on the web and to find new things to read about topics that interest you.

Expat Gentleman Seeks Companionship, from a great comic called The Abominable Charles Christopher. (using the send to option on Google reader)

Expat Gentleman Seeks Companionship: "

Thing #27 Facebook

I have had a facebook account for a while now. I think I first joined in college so I could keep in touch with the Forensics team and other students for class projects. There is always something new to do/learn about, all the different applications are a lot of fun. Facebook is indeed a great place to connect with people and share information. You can do a wide range of things on Facebook including: reconnect with old acquaintances, learn new things about people from what they post, and join groups that support just about any cause that there is.

I have joined many different facebook groups some for organizations, some for just fun, and more because they are a cause or something that I am interested in. I joined the Librarians and Facebook group because it looked to be pretty informative.

Our library could definitely use facebook to our advantage and it would likely allow us to better promote our services to students because they are very technologically apt but not prone to asking questions. Maybe being online would bring in more questions. Sadly though we would first need the approval of the college to start a facebook profile/group. So it is a good idea with a lot of potential but it is not quite yet a reality here.

Using a social networking site like facebook would allow libraries and patrons to interact more and make things like promoting new books or databases much easier.

Facebook is a great site because it can help you or your library make connections or keeps connections that are already there thus allowing communication to remain open.

Thing #26 WorldCat

Learning about the social part of WorldCat was indeed interesting. Using this feature of WorldCat allows more social interactions and makes the catalog feel more personal especially with the ability to add the WorldCat search widget to your blog or facebook.

Creating lists is a lot of fun I made one about gnomes. After making one list I went ahead and made a couple more. Having the lists be search able is also a great feature because you can see what is out there or add your own information. Watching lists is helpful so you can keep track of changes and get new information.

This aspect of WorldCat could be very useful to libraries and library patrons. The best feature for librarians and library patrons is the ability to make lists. I know these lists were helpful to me and would likely be helpful to library patrons or librarians who are searching for materials. Searching through lists may show someone a starting point to what they are researching or may even lead them to a new idea. Another use for libraries would be using lists to show patrons the wide variety of resources available on a variety of themes or topics.

Overall trying out the social aspect of WorldCat was informative, educational and even a little fun. This thing could indeed be very useful in any library setting.