Well here we go...Library 2.0!
Well, it sorta feels the same as Library 1.0, or Library 0.1. And I'm sure it won't be that different from Library 3.0 or Library 666
Heck, I bet Library Papyrus or Library Clay Tablet or even Library Flayed Skin and Blood Tattoos didn't feel that different either. Not that I was there for any of those, although I did bump my knee once and the scratch looked like book trolley. Not sure if that counts.
Ultimately, while we might change the technology involved in providing library services, our purpose remains the same.
Spread information literacy
Offer access to resources
Promote our profession, both internally and externally
Um....did I forget something? [yeah ya nog, heaps]
Oh yeah.
Bitch about our patrons.
Why do they mess up the shelves, or rollerblade in the stacks (yes, I have had to ask a gentleman that if he wants to skate he will have to "take it outside' to which he answered that there were no signs up saying you couldn't skate in the library...go figure).
Or forget their library card (or any credible ID) and still demand to borrow. Or eat in the library, or use their bloody mobile phones...under the DO NOT EAT OR USE PHONES IN THE LIBRARY signs no less.
I have visions of a monk, robed and avuncular, complaining that his charges aren't putting the scrolls back in order. Or some dude at the Alexandria Library saying there's no smoking in the stacks. Or J. Edgar Hoover (did you know he worked at the Library of Congress as a cataloguing clerk, where do you think he got the FBI indexing system from you bleeding pinko) promising to 'get up in ya grill' for messing up the card catalogue. Or Mao Zedong (yep, a librarian from way back) saying to his boss that he's taking the book mobile out for a long march and might not be back in time for the next OPAC meeting.
But I digress.
Despite our love/hate relationship with those below us (our patrons) and those above us (the management teams which fund and perhaps don't fully recognise the contribution libraries make to the organisations they are a part of) we are not only compelled to operate with both of them, we must actively seek new ways of improving their lot.
For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health....blah blah blah.
It's up to us librarians to ensure that we are valued by our organisations and that our patrons have as full as access as possible to our services and resources. I bristle at the use of 'client' and positively loathe the use of 'customer' when referring to our users.
[exhale]
Here endth the rant.
I'm hoping to have less rant and more Library 2.0 in the next post, but I ain't guaranteeing nuffin'.
:)
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6 comments:
When the student answered
"...that there were no signs up saying you couldn't skate in the library..."
did you draw his attention to the fact that there were no signs saying you couldn't forced feed a student their own rollerblades?
It's students like these that make me think we should pool the money from the lotto syndicate and use it to by an electric cattle prod.
Purely to help tame the more disruptive elements of the student population of course. I'm sure none of us would get any personal satisfaction from giving a 10,000 volt zap to a smart alec student who deserved it...
Good rant but hey - students exist to push the boundaries & make our life interesting!
Does working in a library the training ground for authoritarian types or are authoritarian types drawn to working in libraries??
01Well, I looooove a good rant, and this is starting be be the blog to come to for satisfaction. None of that Stones 'I can't get no satisfaction', lets head on over to 'the Welded Dog' blog and shoot down those low lifes who dare to venture into our pristine fortress.
Oops, sorry, just forgot those lowlifes pay my wages...
Seriously though, keep on blogging, and we might teach old 'dogs' knew tricks.
finally a blog with no typos
I was searching for the welded dog
came across this
http://www.theweldeddog.blogspot.com/
this could be clinton's alter ego.
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