The tutor and his pupil?

2006 August 24
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The latest version Michael Habib‘s Academic Library 2.0 Concept Model comes to me this morning by way of Jennifer. I find it one of the best and clearest explanations of why we, as librarians should care about the current online social trend. I wonder, though, how does it change when applied to public libraries of all sizes? My first inclination is just to point out that it gets longer. Communities that public libraries serve are so diverse – how can you reach both the house-bound elderly who’ve grown to use the library as their main social contact and now can’t as well as the college bound student? The tutor and his pupil? The answer is that Library 2.0 doesn’t mean that Library 1.0 (or Library B.C.?) stops – it simply embellishes. It provides tools for reaching out to more patrons in a way that you haven’t done before.

2 Comments leave one →
2006 August 24
Life as I Know It » Blog Archive » Responses to the Academic Library 2.0 Model permalink

[...] In another post, Remaining Relevant wonders about how this model would look for public libraries. I agree that the model may be much more complex since public libraries generally have a more diverse and larger patron base. [...]

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2006 August 25
Michael C. Habib permalink

I agree entirely. That is one of the reasons why I am looking at academic libraries first. Public libraries are much more complicated. My models are in some ways quite limited as they focus on the perspective of a traditional undergraduate student. Community Colleges and other institutions serving more diverse student bodies will need to examine their own student bodies to discover what iteractions they would like to perform on their libraries websites. Personally, I think library 2.0 services have the potential to make a greater difference in the lives of part-time and distance education students than they will for traditional full-time students.

I am not sure if a parrallel model can be developed for public libraries. That is why I am working to develop a general library 2.0 concept model that is broader in scope. I look forward to hearing your comments on that upcoming model and will be interested to see if you think it is broad enough to capture both public and academic library patrons while remaining specific enough to the ideals of library 2.0.

It is my belief that Library 2.0 is in no ways a replacement of traditional library services, but that it is instead both supplementary and evolutionary,

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