[Web4lib] Re: Future of libraries

Mon Jul 7 18:56:07 EDT 2008

I am glad to see this thread, and I am glad to see someone challenging
the traditional roles of libraries.  I am an IT person who fell into
working for libraries and have had a secret mission of transforming
libraries to be more useful in this technological age. Just recently I
further fell into a position (Electronic Resources Librarian) which
might put me in a better position to secretly carry out my evil plan of
making libraries more relevant to tech savvy patrons.

Recently I was at a conference and the speaker was a web 2.0 leader who
made a gazillion dollars by selling a company to Google.  His whole
point was that he was an information addict, but yet libraries were
"conspicuously" missing from his information circle.  I make it a point
to talk to my tech savvy peers regarding library usage, and the sad
truth is, most of them do not patron the library at all.  They generally
purchase there own books, they most likely have better electronic
research skills than most librarians, and have come to expect a level of
technology service that most libraries do not offer.  I believe I have
evidence of the decline in library patronage by the younger crowd, as I
use to work at a community college and when I looked at circ stats
pre-internet, it was off by about 30%.

So, most libraries these days are geared for a) the technology
illiterate b) those that have limited resources and cannot afford books,
computers, etc. c)those with small children who enjoy the StoryTime
programs

Serving the above is a noble cause and one worth doing....but is this
all we want to do?  Currently I don't think public libraries are feeling
any effects of losing the under 30 crowd, as the overwhelming majority
of patrons only need traditional library services, but I expect there to
be a tipping point whereby the majority of patrons will be technically
savvy, and since libraries might not have been a part of there
information circle, how supportive of libraries in general will they be?
How will this effect funding? 

How do you fix it?  Actually not that hard!  Tech savvy people want to
talk about the books they read online...they want to know what others
are reading...they want to listen to podcasts of book groups....we just
need to facilitate these things...we either purchase these services from
vendors, or try and use open source tools (ex: content management tools)

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Christopher Kiess
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 2:49 PM
To: Bill Drew
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Re: Future of libraries

All right everyone. I'm going to play the Devil's advocate since I am
one of
those who set this train in motion. I've heard a lot of claims that
libraries are changing and that we "are doing this or that."

First, I want to delineate between the library and the librarian. They
are
two separate elements and I often hear librarians identify themselves
with
the library.  Libraries can only change if librarians change them.
Libraries
are the tool and librarians are the experts who use the tool - like a
sculptor with chisel and hammer.

For centuries, librarians have been responsible for the acquisition,
organization and dissemination of information. That is no longer so. The
internet has changed that. While I might agree that libraries (and
librarians) will continue to exist well into the future, my question is
one
of usefulness and whether they will flourish as they once did. Will they
thrive?

I take issue with the claim that libraries have changed and they are
changing. I ask: how so? Let's examine this claim. I propose the
following:

-          Librarians have not changed and they have simply reacted with
the
changing times; that is not true change

-          Libraries as a physical space have not changed with the
exception
of adding computer clusters and varying media to keep pace with the
times
(Did it take an MLS to make that change? How progressive!)

-          Librarians essentially "missed the boat" with the advent of
the
Internet. We play very small roles on the Internet and IT/IS graduates
(people who actually were progressive in their educations) snatched
those
roles (though there are a number of us working on taxonomies, intranets
and
in special libraries supporting those causes - the future)

-          The MLS is slowly becoming obsolete with cataloging being
outsourced, reference services being filled with non-MLS graduates and
fewer
jobs for the MLS (to some extent, academic libraries are the exception
to
this rule)

-          Our OPACs and digital libraries are largely useless since we
cannot market or sell them and, ironically, their search functionality
is
essentially a joke. (See:
http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/03/how-opacs-suck-part-1-relevan
ce-rank-or-the-lack-of-it.html
)

-          Finally, anytime this subject comes up, twenty librarians
jump up
and shout about how many changes they have made.

So, tell me: What exactly are all of those changes and how did the MLS
support them? Because I would propose libraries aren't really that
different
and the changes we have made did not require some special skill or
education
that gives us cause for our ritualistic "self-celebration" we love so
much
in this profession. Tell me - why are we so great and what changes have
we
made? I honestly hope someone can prove me wrong.

Signed,

Devil's Advocate

C.L. Kiess, B.A., M.L.S.
Information & Knowledge Specialist
Columbus Regional Hospital
Library & Knowledge Services

On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 5:05 PM, Bill Drew <dreww at tc3.edu> wrote:

> I wasn't singling out any one individual.  I was just commenting on
the
> general thread of the discussion.
>
> Bill Drew
>
> >>> "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2 at yahoo.com> 7/7/2008 4:56 PM >>>
>
> Bill,
>
> I don't know if you are including any of my posts on the ALA "futures"
> panel discussion in your "handwringing about all of our handwringing
> about the future of libraries" comment. If you are, that's not what I
> was doing.
>
> I was simply saying I was getting tired of the futurists' old "change
> or die" spiel. The futurists sometimes act as if libraries are not
> changing. Libraries are changing, although some are changing more/less
> than others.
>
> Bernie Sloan
> Sora Associates
>
>
> --- On Mon, 7/7/08, Bill Drew <dreww at tc3.edu> wrote:
>
> > From: Bill Drew <dreww at tc3.edu>
> > Subject: [Web4lib] Re: Future of libraries
> > To: "Chris Strauber" <cstrauber at gmail.com>, "Dan Lester"
> <dan at riverofdata.com>
> > Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
> > Date: Monday, July 7, 2008, 10:14 AM
> > It has been interesting to read all of the handwringing
> > about all of our
> > handwringing about the future of libraries.  It is a major
> > part of being
> > a librarian to always being forward looking and discussing
> > the future.
> > Why whine about that?  It makes no sense.  The only
> > constant in our
> > profession for the last 50 years has been change.  Just
> > deal with it and
> > move on.  Change is why I enjoy being a librarian.
> >
> > Bill Drew
> >
> > -----------------------------------------
> > Wilfred (Bill) Drew, M.S., B.S., A.S.
> > Assistant Professor
> > Librarian, Systems and Tech Services
> > Tompkins Cortland Community College  (TC3) Library:
> > http://www.tc3.edu/library/
> > Dryden, N.Y. 13053-0139
> > E-mail: dreww at tc3.edu
> > Phone: 607-844-8222 ext.4406
> > AOL Instant Messenger:BillDrew4
> > Online Identity: http://claimID.com/billdrew
> > StrengthsQuest: Ideation, Input, Learner, Activator,
> > Communication
> > http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill_Drew/
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Web4lib at webjunction.org
> > http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>
>
>
>
>
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>

-- 
C.L. Kiess, B.A., M.L.S.
Information & Knowledge Specialist
Columbus Regional Hospital
Library & Knowledge Services
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