per prompting for assignment number 2, i have given some thought to how blogs can be used in libraries. i think it's only a matter of time before professionally utilizing such tools of pop culture is not just an innovative concept, but a necessary function for doing business. looking ahead, how could this kind of progress not be an evolutional track for our industry? we have always been in the business of information technology...from the era in which library pages carved out their living by sleeping in the stacks of the monolithic Great library at Alexandria to the construction of the high-speed information superhighway of today.what's unique about blogs is they demand a kind of personal investment. all around the globe...it is understood that the thoughts/blogs/twitter that are blossoming daily
broadcasting people's current pontifications...all arise from a set of hands typing away at some keyboard/somewhere.
it's precisely that tête-à-tête reality that makes the medium an important consideration for libraries. let's face it. the simple wonders of technology put the miraculous power of learning into anyone's hands. sure, there is the age-old argument that given the proliferation of detritus, the responsible average Joe researcher should appreciate assistance from the learned librarian professionally trained to sift through and separate the chaff from the wheat. but in reality, how do we continue to build these relationships with the seeking public? i envision the library of the future, much less a simple repository for information [whatever the format], and more a hub for the community.
the realization of need for community is only now dawning with the mass appeal of virtual alterna-realities like Second Life. how exciting would the opportunity be for someone in the library to be so passionate about her interests, that the mere expression of her own discoveries would reach out and draw the public to interact and be inspired toward the same. it's not impossible that, say a love of reading, could ignite a spur of the populace to pursue titles a blogger has reviewed. [the music world sees this all the time with a groundswell of music blogs] and if said blogger were a hip, connected library employee, what a perfect introduction to draw potential traffic to the services the library could provide. it's a formula that's been known to work. In our own system, in fact. i've seen it myself, having worked at Southwest County Regional Library with Stacy Alesi, whose personal blog and website has long been a mainstay of local readers and those beyond [thanks to the universal audience of the internet] looking for a trusted voice and champion of reader's advisory. i have witnessed new patrons wander into the library after having made a connection with Stacy online, and established patrons ramble in waiting to ply Stacy with suggestions for the latest greatest read. she is obviously someone whose own passion has helped to ignite enthusiasm in others. and she regularly bridges the gap between the publishing world and authors and the reading public in one forum. what a community relations powerhouse she could be.
sadly, she remains a cloaked, [not always be-spectacled] library worker by day, blogging powerhouse superdiva by night, as the verbage in her long-held web persona doesn't fly with an [aherm] stodgier set of library system guidelines.
lastly, I've perused some of the following librarian blogs. here's just a start:
the shifted librarian [one of the more renowned]
librarians index
"shift happened."
"play more video games."
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