Nancy is away...

Okay, Jasper here...so mom asked me to post to tell everyone she will not be blogging for a couple of days since she is away till Sunday .

My First Podcast

I sound so NPR.

Click To Play

Response to Info-Maniac...

Kim Garnick wrote on her blog Info-maniac:

Libraries need to be up-to-date on technology. If the library is using cutting-edge technology, then peoples' perceptions will change. The library then doesn't just have resources, it becomes a resource. You can't become obsolete, if you are always one step ahead.

So true...as I already responded to Kim, that as we rethink our purpose as librarians and the role that the library plays in many various communities, the public will better come to understand our purpose. I like that Kim said we are a resource. The library where I work is not only a great repository of information, it is also more of a community center now with programs, classes, a place to meet and socialize even (with the requisite coffee shop too!).

My Lesson from the Brown Reading, "The Social Life of Information"

(by Nancy - Jasper is sleeping next to me on all of my school papers and has not read the Brown article)

Information cannot exist in a vacuum; it needs to be understood within a particular context, which hopefully, leads us to knowledge. I could not help but be reminded of that ladder of wisdom we learned about in Organizing Information class: data leads to information which leads to knowledge which ultimately leads to wisdom. If we, as librarians, are “information specialists,” we must seriously consider what that means; what is our role in the accumulation of information and how it is shared with others? This kind of reading always leads to more questions for me (or is this just a hangover from critical question assignments of Human Information Behavior???)

Something else that Brown’s chapter on “Re-Education” reminded me of - the changes in educational structuring are being mirrored in libraries. We are moving towards the virtual library, the library of the digital age: live chat with a librarian, remote access to databases, e-books, etc. As in education, where technological advances do not signal the end of the college campus, in library services these advances do not signal the end of the physical library. This is its movement into another phase, one that allows us more options and adapts to the evolving needs of our society.

Pop Goes the Library, a recommended blog - by Nancy (Jasper is napping)

http://www.popgoesthelibrary.com/One of the blogs I rely on is Pop Goes the Library. Honestly, I am partial to this one as a few of the contributors are respected colleagues from the system where I work. That said, I find it a refreshing combination of both the fun and the professional; too often blogs can veer into either extreme. With a team of intelligent contributors, this blog provides up to date information for good reads, trends, opinions, all with a clearly pop culture slant (they unabashedly state "We love TV, music, the movies, comic books, anime, magazines, all things Net"). The linked blogs should also be checked out.

If librarians and libraries are to stay current with their patrons/society/culture, this type of blog is a must. (It certainly helps this library student stay somewhat on top of things while juggling grad school, work, family, life).

I also want to include a blog here from the Ocean County Library system for our teens called TAB Space (Teen Advisory Board), http://tabspace.wordpress.com/. We have 20 branches in our system and as you will see, some use this feature more than others. There is a faithful core of teens who use this and as word gets out of its existence the numbers will grow.