Rick Anderson's Away from the Icebergs

Library 2.0 and Web 2.0...Well, Mr. Anderson's writing and analogies seem to make the most sense to em. The “just in case” collection --back in the day yes, libraries were seen as the source and the be-all/end-all. But that has been changing over the years for quite some time now, not just with the info age. But also due to budgets and lack of them and the cost of printed materals and their availablity. We have many people that don't set foot into a library but surely know their way around Barnes and Noble and/or Amazon. That doesn't make them any less a reader of books but like shopping at Walmart vs. Macys perhaps? The end result is the same people looking for books to read for pleasure, information and knowledge. Try as I might...I still prefer to cuddle up in bed and read a book. Technology is great but late at night...you'll still find me in bed readying before going to sleep. As libraries with limited budgets we have become more selective about what we buy and how many copies. Reliance on user education--I still think of a library as an information broker of sorts. We can still show you how to find what you are looking for and also how to do it again once you get home and use our library website and databases. We still manage to make information seeking look easy. We have had a lot of practice and evolved as need be as well. The “come to us” model of library service --librarians in my humble opinion are still much more approachable than the IT folks...that is one of the reasons our pc classes are always booked...they quest and need for technology knowledge but in an instructional format that the average person can understand.