Thoughts

Thing #15

I found the video A Vision of Students Today very poignant. I experienced those university classrooms at a time when there weren't options of the technologies, Web 2.0, Library 2.0, etc. that are available today. I didn't find it oppressive, but I did have some of the same complaints that these students have. However, knowing what is available to students today, it is apparent that higher education will have to undergo fundamental changes in the way it services its learners just as we in the elementary, middle and, to a lesser extent, high schools have undergone.

In reading Away from Icebergs, I don't think you can totally do away with a "just in case collection." Perhaps you could to some degree in school libraries, but at public libraries the age and techno-savy range is a much broader spectrum. How do you serve an older population that hasn't manage to "keep up" with technological advances and paradigm shifts? How do you service a disadvantage population that does not have access to personal computers? The computers that are available at most libraries are limited and can only serve so many people.

Into a New World of Librarianship makes a lot of good points, but it is always easier to write up a perfect plan that it is to implement it. As a guideline of objectives as to what the "New World of Librarianship" should be, it is good. I think as librarianship moves ahead, it will have to keep in mind all segments of the populations it intends to serve. As an older learner, I know how difficult it can be trying to keep up with technology.