Week 6 #15 Library 2.0

After reading the OCLC articles, the Wikipedia article, etc, etc., I thought that while the intentions are inspirational and worth pursuing - or as they say, have to be pursued - that once more the assumption is that someone is going to pay for this. As we have found in the past, nobody wants to pay more for their public libraries. So what will we stop paying for in order to implement Library 2.0?

Implementing 2.0 is even more labor intensive than the "traditional" concept of a library. There at least the public had a familiarity with the tools - books, cds, dvds, etc. But much of the access for 2.0 is via the computer, which for in-house users in a public library, often means users that have to be instructed on the use of the hardware and software required to use the access we provide. And, it's no quick reference question - assistance is often on-going over two or three hours.

And it's the people we need to hire to implement things properly that's the rub - because I don't know that it's possible in the public library sector to effectively purchase the needed equipment, access to information, and enough bodies to hold the hands of the novice users.

Call me pessimistic, but I see a lot of great stuff for the computer savvy, and a slower (in fact as well as metaphor - since we have to purchase the physical lines, which are too slow already) road and less access for those who already are starting behind the curve. And I can see a lot of stressed librarians trying to hold things together with duct tape and wire.