After reading Rick Anderson's "Away from the Icebergs", I was a little concerned about his nonchalance regarding user education. Coming from a college library, I see so many of our patrons who are struggling to conduct the library research they need to do well in their classes. There is not a day that goes by when I am not helping a panicky student, especially with electronic databases. There is simply no way most colleges can provide all the journals their students will need and the electronic databases are the best way to meet this void. But these databases are not always user friendly. Using these databases can cause anxiety to beginning students. I disagree with Anderson that we need to quit spending so much time educating our patrons. In order for high school or college students to be efficient researchers, they need to know how to find the information they need and the web alone simply will not fit all their needs.
Library 2.0 means to me that we must always stay on top of new technology and web applications. It seems like we are fighting an uphill battle, especially with our younger patrons. There will always be a young person out there who knows a million times more about computers and the web than we do and there is simply not enough time or money to match that knowledge. But as long as we are doing our best and constantly striving to keep up, we are doing a good job. Gone are the days when the web was a solitary experience and we need to embrace this change or we are going to fall behind. If we are convinced that a library is only a depository of books than we are going to become antiquated.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think that there is a fallacy about the "digital natives". It is believed that because they grew up using technology, know how to social network,text, im , etc that they are actually effective users of the information that they have at their fingertips. As you note, many have never been taught how to search or evaluate effectively
ReplyDeleteAnn
I agree completely with the comment made by Ann. Your job as a librarian is still invaluable because of your ability to access information using current technology. In spite of the fact that students of the current generation have been surrounded by technology their entire lives, in my experience, they dont have a good grasp of how to use the technology responsibly or effectively. Rather than providing students with technology and just assuming they know how to use it, we need to make a more concerted effort in our schools to TEACH students the skills that surround using the technology to a meaningful end, and not just for social networking.
ReplyDelete