[WEB4LIB] Re: "Generation shifts" and technology

[K.G. Schneider]

I recently saw a survey Rachel Singer Gordon had posted
(http://www.lisjobs.com/nextgensurvey.htm ) and though I thought it would
gather good information for her next book, I was surprised to see that the
"generation shift" was cut across the absolute age of the survey-taker, with
40 as a dividing line, rather than when the survey-taker acquired his or her
library degree. I feel (perhaps I am deluded) that my MLS graduation year
has a lot more to do with my comfort level with technology than my years on
this planet. The school itself had no small influence in that area either.
In 1992, it was very adventuresome for librarians to be dialing into a
bulletin board, playing with FTP, etc., and the school even offered a class
in Pascal Programming for Librarians. But I still feel I have more in common
with anyone who graduated after 1990 than I do with other librarians my age.

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com