Lordy, lordy, lordy. I have beaucoup thoughts on the readings for Thing 15...many of them critical. The otter has claws...en garde!
In "Away from the Icebergs," Rick Anderson suggests it is time to "look skeptically at the very idea of a library 'collection.'" Well, let me just say that in my job in the COLLECTIONS dept., I see around 100 requests for materials EVERY week. And that is just for NON-FICTION. One can easily surmise those numbers go up for more popular formats like fiction and a/v. So, whose idea is it to look skeptically at physical collections? Not the hundreds of customers who demand items. I also got revved up reading Wendy Schultz comment that "librarians today are not just inventory management biobots." Those 100 requests every 5 days? Those are for inventory. And if we want to find it, we have to manage it. Is that all we do or "just" what we do? Certainly not, I am in agreement there - but let's throw it some attention before we breeze on by it as the mindless work of a biobot.
Which brings me to my next point. All of these 2.0 possibilities in the biblioworld - tagging, reviewing, acquisition/borrowing availability (there's that pesky inventory again!)....use of those functions by customers is going to require MORE participation, assistance, and explanation by librarians. Not less. I enjoyed reading about the possibilites mentioned in "To Better Bibliographic Services" and "To a Temporary Place in Time." But take a customer who linked to a source through a 2.0 interaction that indicates a copy of just the title they wanted is available for sale, and then tell them that you can't order that book for your library because that seller only takes credit cards and you are a government agency that only pays with purchase orders.
There are a lot of details in the mix here. And I accept that the look and format of our services are going to change. But our customers still want inventory. And if they are asking for titles from 1920 today (and trust me, they are), then I believe they will be asking for 2008 titles in 2035. And the author that wrote that 2008 book? I'm pretty sure they're going to be talking to their agents and publishers about getting royalties until their 75-year copyright runs out, so online access to material is going to cost somebody something in that time period.
So, looking at inventory as passé? Let's see, 100 requests X number of counties in NJ X number of states in U.S.A........icebergs, anyone? Call me skeptical.
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I think people get on the bandwagon of "new" and struggle for attention for it that they forget the "old" isn't irrelavent. I'm glad you remind us that "tagging, reviewing, acquisition/borrowing availability" will take more work on our part.
These new technologies have more ramifications for organizations than meets the eye. (e.g. purchase orders)
I think there's a balance between changing with the times and not giving up the bedrock of library services. There was a really good article in the most recent American Libraries that touches on this.
"French otter" caught my eye because I'm fascinated by otters. Did you ever play that game that asks what animal you'd choose to be, if you had to choose ? The otter is my choice since it seems to have so much fun, simply living. Even the way otters eat their food looks like fun. It's not considered so much fun by fishermen I guess. I think they go after oysters ? maybe conch ? Anyway, they look like they're among the humorists of the animal kingdom - and that makes them v. cool in my book ?
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