Icebergs and precious gems

Learning exercise #15: On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 ...
Where could Web 2.0 take libraries? Rick Anderson's perspective is that Web 2.0 could help steer libraries away from the "icebergs," or "the potential disasters that lie in our current path." One of the icebergs he points to is "Reliance on user education."

"We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need, so they can spend as little time as possible wrestling with lousy search interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning. Obviously, we’ll help and educate patrons when we can, and when they want us to, and the more we can integrate our services with local curricula, the better. But if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons."

Yes, yes, yes. That's an excellent perspective. Now how do we really get there?

I'm beginning to see more and more of my peers embracing Library 2.0. At least the technology part of things. They're excited about wikis and blogs, and they think, "All these new Library 2.0 tools are great! We can do so much if we just had a wiki!"

But there's so much more. These tools won't help if the underlying thought process ignores the end user (intentionally or not). Not only do libraries need to be willing to embrace new technology, but they also need to attract, employ, reward and retain people with some special thinking skills. I'm talking about people who think abstractly, are creative problem solvers, and who can skillfully manage projects. People who are naturally intuitive, who can easily put themselves into the shoes of an "outsider" and imagine just what a patron thinks and feels when using a library for the first time (or the 100th time) so that they can not only identify and eliminate barriers, but also take things one step further and make the experience enjoyable, or perhaps (*gasp*) downright fun. And here's a shocker -- not everyone with these skills pursues an MLS in college.

Now here's where I feel obliged to leave a small note to library managers everywhere (and a reminder to myself): When you do discover an employee among your ranks who possesses these skills and uses them well, please tell them they're doing a good job. And do everything you can to reward them and keep them. (And no, I'm not talking about "rewarding" them with the piles of work their underperforming peers aren't doing. Not unless you want them to start job hunting today.) Those creative problem solvers are precious gems. You won't fully realize what you had until they're long gone.
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