#15 On Library 2.0

My first computer was top of the range. It was an Amstrad with two 5 1/4 floppy drives.....
I remember our awe when Tintern installed a new library system with a 1 gigabyte hard drive...
Now I'm totally blase about Web 2.0 and just frustrated that the technology available to me is slow and clunky. How long do you have to wait before the audio kicks in? Do you have to download the video clips in snatches and then watch the whole thing again to see it without frequent pauses? It is even worse on the Library machines. I know the technolgy is there but the Library is dependent on other departments for IT policy and budget and I don't have cable at homecome, only ADSL.
But back to the topic. I like Rick Anderson's comment that if our services can't be used without training, then it's the services that need to be fixed - not our patrons. Perhaps we should have librarians heading IT departments and IT managers heading the libraries.
His comment that the " come to us" model of library service "worked moderately well for those with access to a good library led me to the thought that the new web-based services will work moderately well for those with easily accessible internet access.

Constraints such as the following are some of the things that need to considered as we move forward.

strict time limits on access (one hour per day per patron in the library service I work in),

cost ($2.50 per half hour at my local library),

not enough machines to meet demand

slowness of system

cost of printing (time constraints make note-taking not an option)

Pity the people who have signed a two year contract with a major ISP who think their internet access is going to cost them less than $20 a month. The system is not shaped and the excess usage charges are high.

These are all just teething problems which soon will be in the distant past, just like my Amstrad.

John J Riemer has touched on one of my hobby-horses: "The features of Amazon and Google of interest to students and scholars ought to be incorporated into the services libraries make available". In particular, we should add a 'did you mean' feature to our public catalogues.

Finally, back to Rick Anderson:

"We need to shift direction, and we can’t wait for the big ship of our profession to change course first. It’s going to have to happen one library—one little boat—at a time."

Yarra Plenty is our little boat.