Thing # 14

"This librarian uses Instant Messaging to meet users in their space online, builds Weblogs and wikis as resources to further the mission the library, and mashes up content via API (Application Program Interface) to build useful Web sites" (OCLC Newsletter, Michael Stephens).  For librarians to use these Web 2.0 tools to meet the patrons in their space, librarians must first become proficient using these tools.  Just using these tools on an "as need" basis in the library will not be enough. Web 2.0 tools are evolving and changing daily. Librarians will need to spend a sufficient amount of time on the Internet learning about this continually changing technology.  We need to rethink how we allot our time.  In the past, librarians alloted time for collection development, reading book reviews, carefully selecting materials that met the needs of the patrons. As online data bases evolved, time was spent reviewing and selecting appropriate information. Now we need to incorporate time spent learning and using Web 2.0 tools.  Embracing this new technology cannot be casual: it must be intentional. 

As I contemplate how Web 2.0 tools can be used in the elementary school library, I would like to think that we could teach our students how to use these tools. But, until it becomes a TAKS tested subject, I don't think much instruction will be given this area. I hope that secondary teachers begin to use these tools and introduce their students to this wonderful technology. Too many times we assume that teenagers and young adults now more about the Internet than we do but they don't. I think that librarians can be leaders in educating students and teachers about Web applications. In the elementary school, I see these tools being use more as a means to organize and disseminate information for the faculty than as a tool directly used by the students.