#15

I read Away from the Icebergs, Into a New World of Librarianship and To a Temporary Place in Time.

Here are my thoughts, as a -- not quite green but still newbie-ish- library associate:

1) We have come a long way from paper card catalogs and microfilm (although still available at Central for those who cannot part with it). And the years ahead will bring new opportunities as we coast along the information highway of technology. But... (and this is a big butt), despite our advances, we will always have customers who still want you to teach them, who still want you to do things for them. I would call it assisted-self service. With Web 2.0, I'm glad to have some working knowledge for those customers who want the information even if I have to hand-hold them (after, of course, I finish holding my own hand;).

2. From ...New World of Librarianship: "Decisions and plans are discussed in open forums and comments answered." Ideally, that would be great. So would the Librarian 2.0 who "listens to staff and users when planning, tells the stories of successes and failures, learns from both, celebrates those successes ..." I implore you to rise to the occasion and live the dream!!

3. From To a Temporary Place in Time...: I believe as library associates we have a responsibility to our library as a community. It isn't simply about the books or documents ... or even the budding technology of Web 2.0, it's about community. About building experiences and mainstays for our patrons. For without the customers and community involvement there would be only books and no users.