Library 2.0

So here's my summary of the “Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?” article.

Rick Anderson had a couple of good points about library services: "We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need, so they can spend as little time as possible wrestling with lousy search interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning" and "...if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons." Spot on! What patron is going to know that our library catalog's subject search is garbage unless you happen to be a master of library of congress subject headings? Or that the best way to limit a keyword search to children's materials is throw the word juvenile on? Who uses the word juvenile? "So yesterday I was hanging out with some juveniles when I realized...." Ridiculous!

Chip Nilges the Vice President for OCLC might have had some good ideas, but he couldn't go 2 sentences w/ out tooting his own organization's horn (and acting like I knew what the heck OCLC is- I googled it, it's a "not for profit computer service and research organization whose systems help libraries locate, acquire, catalog, and lend library materials"). Anyway sorry Chip the topic was Library 2.0 not “What’s great about your non-profit organization, OCLC”, I lost patience w/ your article and so I skipped it.

John J. Riemer's article was good as well I like his comments about relevance ranking. "Relevance ranking techniques should be driven by much more than the mere prevalence of keywords in the bibliographic record and be fed by a wider range of metadata, such as circulation activity, placement of materials on class reserve lists, sales data, and clicks to download, print, and capture citations." I wish that good books came up first when I did a search. If I do a keyword search for caterpillar fiction The Very Hungry Caterpillar should come up not Arabella Miller's tiny caterpillar, a book which I hvae never heard of and probably never will. Also props to John on his awesome beard. I think his beard alone doubled the relevance of the article.

Dr. Wendy Schultz the futurist sure does believe in sweeping change. Also a rather utopian future, I hope the future is so luxurious, I mean check out the library of the future: "Library 4.0 will add a new mode, knowledge spa: meditation, relaxation, immersion in a luxury of ideas and thought. In companies, this may take the form of retreat space for thought leaders, considered an investment in innovation; in public libraries, the luxurious details will require private partners as sponsors providing the sensory treats. Library 4.0 revives the old image of a country house library, and renovates it: from a retreat, asanctuary, a pampered experience with information—subtle thoughts, fine words, exquisite brandy, smooth coffee, aromatic cigar, smell of leather, rustle of pages—to the dream economy’s library, the LIBRARY: a WiFREE space, a retreat from technohustle, with comfortable chairs, quiet, good light, coffee and single malt. You know, the library."

Of course how we go from underfunded inner-city urban libraries to exquisite brandy, aromatic cigars and the smell of leather is beyond me, the librarians of the future must be better fundraisers than the librarians of today. As for me, I'm still waiting for the flying cars and the futuristic unitards that the not so distant past promised me.