LIS 9763: The End of FIMS

“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.”
- Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Troublesome, troublesome news on the LIS front in the foreseeable future it seems. Why do I say this though? It seems with the advent of Web 2.0 technologies and the colossal support for Library 2.0 that there may become the largest disconnect ever between the physical and electronic library world. After completing some of the readings for this week, while there is some mention of Library 2.0 for the physical library itself, there is an overwhelming desire to create a virtual library world. The issue I am stuck here thinking about is how does Web/Library 2.0 benefit the physical library itself? What does this online library do to serve the physical library branch that it represents? I have lots of thoughts, ideas, and concerns, but no answers.

The first important issue that seems to be neglected is will Library 2.0 influence the physical library, or the inverse? There is so much potential in Library 2.0 services to recreate the physical library and bring more patrons through the doors however the focus seems to be to extend Library services into the electronic realm. This shift seems to be to bring the library directly into possible patron homes through the little magic box that most people now own which we have called a computer. I have some problems with this because I think there is an extreme reliance on technology to fill service requirements due to the inadequate funding of many organizations, libraries included. While this is every institution working with the funds they are allotted much of it is going into a virtual environment and the physical space is quickly being forgotten as its budget shrinks almost exponentially. By making the virtual library so responsive to user needs the physical library is bound to languish in its appeal due to the simple fact that it, as a real and tangible space, cannot supply the ever growing expectations that the user/patron would have of the library. This compounded with the huge inflation of electronic resources are bound to make the physical space of the library seem obsolete in comparison to Library 2.0. Why go to the library when there is a better alternative sitting in your living room, kitchen, or office, etc.? In this scenario the physical library will never dissolve because it will exist as a relic of time funded minimally to maintain the old services that it has done as long as time can remember. It will come to a time when those users who do not have a computer come to the library to get access to the Library 2.0 equivalent of the very library they current sit in. Is that a bit extreme? Maybe, but I swear I shall deal out a manageable scoop of hope for all of you librarians out there who love books and actually interacting face to face with people just as much as I do.

Instead of creating a Library 2.0 as so many suggest. Library 2.0 should be a tool used to supplement the physical library branch itself. If you are dealing in an electronic realm there will be bigger and better Library 2.0s out there to steal the users. It could become a fact that all libraries online become amalgamated into one giant Library 2.0 that is a giant collaboration between the libraries of the world which would take away any need for library branch websites in an electronic world. This is why Library 2.0 should be engineered in a more innovative way to create a physical library community for the branch and not just electronic. All of the social media we use and talk about can be used in a way to get the communities feedback about current books, movies, and other materials the library could obtain. More importantly it can be the greatest tool to promote the library branch as a place where the community wants to be by creating programs the community wants. Use the social media tools to create a library branch as a place where the community wants to be; the library: for the community by the community. Show an openness to new program ideas and give the community a place to discuss them, social media, and no matter how convenient Library 2.0 might be, and there will be some that will use it, the library branch will allow for a communal growth of individuals not just information.

There is one last issue I am going to tack onto the end of this and that is the transparency of Librarian 2.0 in these types of user/patron generated information structures. It is a very well known fact, especially after finishing your first LIS semester, that librarians want people to notice them and understand what they do. Librarians still are not noticed because librarians are facilitators between the user/patron/community and information. Librarian 2.0 will be no different because the librarian ensues a smooth access for all of these systems for the user in any given environment. Is Librarian 2.0 any different than any other librarian ever? No, because the public does not need to notice us and we should not care if they do. As librarians we should just take great pride in the fact if we bring individuals together into a community who can share and access information in the most efficient manner we can possibly imagine. In the end the librarian is nothing more than an active part of the community the only difference is we get paid for it.

This is my response blog to the class content and I hope at least some of it makes sense. I have a strong tendency to rant and I greatly resisted the urge to here a number of times. I will say while I love technology there should always be a strong connection to the physical world. This is the first online class I have ever taken and I must say there is something lost in not being able to directly interact with the other members of the class. It is that type of outlook that is the primary basis for my thought process.

Hello everyone reading,

My name is Joey Gale and I am an LIS student, and so are you all. I have completed 14 of 15 classes and this will be my final course to complete the MLIS degree, which is very exciting news in a way. I just moved away from the not so lovely city that is London, Ontario in order to move back home to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Needless to say life has been a bit hectic for the beginning of the semester due to moving and starting a full time job. (No its not in a Library but I’m working on that one.) I’m currently applying for various types of library jobs, primarily at the Halifax Public Library system. OK, enough about Libraries and all of that stuff.

Lets talk about blogging and RSS feeds. Have I ever used them before? Well no. Am I worried about using them? Certainly not. I feel very comfortable dealing with computers in almost any context. I have a pretty fast learning curve for these types of things; at least I think so, and honestly currently that is the only perspective I need for this. So blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, etc. etc. bring it on. You do not scare me.

As for myself I’m a bit slightly left or right from center depending on certain daily orientations of my mood and all sorts of things, but then again who isn’t? At least this is what I tell myself everyday I wake up… well sometimes anyway. I watch too many movies, listen to too much music, and because of that I don’t really read as much as I feel I should though somehow I do fit that in a considerable amount as well. As I write this I’m sitting here listening to the new Grinderman album titled Grinderman 2 and thinking about the 6 disc box set of Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski collaborative films I just bought and how awesome it will be once I have the time to watch them. I love SF in all of its amazing forums; everything from cyberpunk to swords and sorcery. I’m looking forward to this class and I’m going to cut it off here because I have to go to work in a few hours which is going to suck.

So to conclude: To all of my fellow classmates I look forward to reading your blogs and I hope you look forward to reading mine. Even though this is a distance class I hope you all can make this an amazing final experience for my personal end of FIMS. I shall “see” you all in the coming weeks through many different medium and interactions. Goodnight and good luck.