Technology - who needs it?

We do! That's the answer. We, as librarians, certainly do. I have been pretty surprised at the aversion and downright ----- expressed about technology by many of my classmates...who are earning their masters degree in a technological science...via the internet. I love books just like the next librarian and bibliophile, but if there are technologies that will make our libraries better let's use them danget.

On a similar note, I had this idea the other day that I think would be awesome for a public library to implement. Keep in mind that I have no idea what kind of cost or man power or equipment this might require, it's just pie in the sky at this point. So, you know how you can personalize your google account and when you log in it will not only look like you want it to (personalized skins and what not) it will display information in a way that you want? If not try it out, it's awesome. Or how Amazon gives book recommendations when you log in based on your previous purchases?

What if you could log onto your library account and it would would display all of your hold information, RSS feeds about your favorite authors and their latest projects, personalized reading recommendations from librarians, "shelfs" that you could create "to read" lists on that could actually link to the catalog, the list is endless. Anyway, the more I think about it, the more awesome I think it would be. I'll keep working on it.

Is Dewey Excluding Our Patrons?

As I led a very nice (and very loud) 15 year old over to the Oragami section of the library today, I wondered to myself “Is the Dewey Decimal system, for all it’s positives, an exclusive system that disenfranchises our patrons in the quest for knowledge?”

This might seem a little heavy for a routine trip to the stacks, but really, most patrons don’t understand Dewey and they have to come to us to 1) find out where the secret code says the treasure is and 2) help them decode the clue once we find it. I know its purpose isn’t at all to make patrons confused, but unless they know how to use it (and most don’t) that puts us, librarians, in the position of ultimate knowledge dispenser. But isn't that my job? Of course, I just wish I could empower patrons more in their quest for information. Perhaps the Dewey Decimal System (a series of numbers that correspond with various topics in specific locations on the shelf, oft times without really making logical sense – check out the 700’s) creates a system where patrons are required to access information via a map reader (us) instead of being able to navigate the system on their own. Marx would cry Hegemony! but that seems a little too far for me. …and patrons could just…you know…learn how to read numbers from low to high…

I’m not saying that I’m in favor of switching over to bookstore style organization for non-fiction as a few libraries throughout the country have done, but I am interested in ways of making libraries more user friendly.