Week 6, Thing 15. Thoughts on the future of libraries

Really, really thought-provoking. The video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" was really amazing. It's amazing how far we have come and how integral the computer is in our lives. I really enjoyed the article "Away From the Icebergs because of the three "icebergs" that the author identifies. In particular, the "just in case" collection. How do we get librarians to see that we don't need to keep print materials in the collection "just in case" someone might want them? Information is delivered in so many more ways that we can find it out there somewhere else. Circulation may be dropping but that doesn't mean we aren't answering the questions or that the public isn't going somewhere else for the information (and that's o.k.). In the article "Into a new world of librarianship" the point is made that the librarian needs to understand that the "future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consumer and create content." The librarian needs to guide the customer to the information through various library resources. Once again, this may well be something not in print format. For this librarian, who finished her MLS degree in 1974, it has been an exciting and challenging journey to get to this point in her career.