Week 6, Thing 15

Read the Horizon report. Applications and timelines are more relevant for university students and planning than for high school. At the high school level, preparations for the transition to the new uses of Web 2.0 technologies must be the focus.

Rick Anderson's "ice bergs" presents real food for thought. Let's remember why those "just in case" collections were built. My introduction to the wonderful world of library technology began back in 1985 when I assumed current post. I took instruction at Pitt, the mother of innovation, and remember my professor explaining the wonders of the internet. Of course, you had to type in commands of many letters, wait 10 minutes breathlessly hoping the connection wouldn't fail, usually disappointed when it did and begin the process again. At that point, I knew it would be awhile before the system was ready for the real world of high school libraries. There were years of failed efforts and improvements, but eventually the wonderful world of point and click came to pass. Of course, the price of the technology, limited stations, and unpredictable but inevitable loss of power meant that if you didn't have backup in print, classes would be dead in the water, waiting. Time is a precious thing in young people's lives. Mine, too, and I've lived long enough to have the long vision.

In the process, we came to realize that the book could never be replaced by anything tech, only supplemented. There is nothing that beats sitting with a real book. My students still read books, avoiding eyestrain from computer screens, weight gain and neck strain from sitting in front of it, etc. We still make time for person to person, face to face contact so important to our souls and minds.

We value technology as a tool, not a toy (despite the best efforts of some administrators). The relentless pace of technology leaves little time for real thought, processing, considering consequences. Too many of us have become technology junkies, driven by the need to be on top of the next big thing.

Interlibrary loan does not make a rich collection unnecessary. It expedites sharing of information and riches. We need a mix of actual print books and access to databases.

Second iceberg: training. I don't agree that what we need to do is simply provide info. Those research skills are brain skills for life long learning, exercise for the brain as much as manipulating information is.

Third iceberg: point of service. We value what we work for, not what's handed to us on a metaphorical plate. We can't anticipate every rapidly changing user need, but we can teach self-reliance, persistence, judgment as vital life skills.

Library 2.0. Ah, yes, wikipedia, where folks with inflated ideas of their own importance and understanding deign to enlighten us neanderthals. Oh, wait, others also use it to slander others and sabotage competitors. Wikipedia may be a worthwhile place to start research, to find info to challenge, to test one's mental toughness, acuity, and agility, but by no means is it the final answer some of us, especially the youngest, erroneouosly think it is.