Apparently all weeks in graduate school can be counted on to be crazy- so much going on that I didn’t get around to posting until this week. Sigh.
Michelle Boule’s discussion with the class gave me a lot to think about. Now, when you have a Library Journal 2008 Mover and Shaker come to chat with, you spend some time thinking about what she has to say, and how it connects with your perception of academic librarianship. Since her visit with us I’ve (1) set up a gmail account (2) added Jessamyn West’s, Michael Steven’s, and Jenny Levine’s blogs to my bookmarks, and (3) felt soooo guilty for not having time to set up my del.icio.us account (on my to do list since last year) or my googlereader account (also on my to do list since last year.)
What I did Not feel guilty about is passing on IM, flickr, and twitter. Look, I’m a borderline introvert, which means I enjoy working with people, but I have to be alone to regroup and reenergize. The idea of being available 24/7 through a vehicle like twitter is the worst of all possible worlds for me. Is that a function of my age? Maybe. Clearly I’m a digital immigrant, not a native. But I keep going back to what Michelle Boule and Meredith Farkas say – Technology must save you time! I’m the poster girl for the person who loves the idea of all our tools but can’t seem to find the time to use them effectively. It’s all I can do to keep up with the blog, and I loved the whole process of putting it together and the possibilities of professional discussion.
To quote Farkas: “I think Library 2.0 led to a lot of librarians losing their way and you can see that in the huge number of library blogs, Flickr account and MySpace pages that haven’t been updated in months or years. It’s valuable to know how to use this stuff, but the focus should never be on the tools. Never. I know they’re fun to play with and it’s exciting to see the cool things other libraries have done with them, but that shouldn’t impact whether you use the technology or not. We should always be focused on our patrons’ needs.”
With regard to the readings: the word which has been resonating in my head after the second week is relationship. What is our relationship to the faculty and to the students? What is the relationship between user needs and our services? I felt the UH Libraries Strategic Directions position paper was well thought out, reasonable, even self-evident. Why has it been difficult to implement? In order to effectively transfer our knowledge of information literacy there has to be a buy-in by faculty into the mission. How is that accomplished? Clearly I have a lot to learn-
Welcome to the digital world. Although growing up (in my teens) with internet when it was in its infancy in the 90s, I still have many things to learn about the digital world. You are not alone. Technology can be overwhelming. These gadgets are supposed to be servants to our needs, but often time we become their slaves. You got to be selective and choose the best ones to fit your needs. After all there are only 24 hours a day and our brains can only process so much information at one time. I agree that it is important to maintain good and healthy relationship with the faculty and the students because we are here to help them achieving their academic goals. However, sometimes things fall apart when you hit the bureaucratic wall.
By: dkl0039 on April 3, 2008
at 1:56 pm