I *heart* my job
First, thanks to UNH for sponsoring this trip to LA, I made it safely here yesterday and spent a fantastic leisurely evening exploring, eating good mexican food, and planning my attack. One bummer, internet access in my room costs $10/day and I *really* wanted to be able to comfortably work from here. I'm over it, though, because I'm in an internet cafe drinking fabulous coffee and enjoying the comings and goings over my screen. So, maybe this'll get me into the world, instead of sitting in my room. Also, the conference halls themselves supposedly have wifi, although I wandered around with my laptop last night like some kind of crazed, internet junkie and couldn't find them. They gave me a sheet of paper at registration: We have wifi! Yay for us! Here's how to connect, here's the password… but no mention of where the hotspots are… sigh.
Today, I'll attend a day-long “Web Managers Academy: Building the Next-Generation Library Websites” and I have really high hopes that it'll help to focus my ongoing efforts to fill out my skill base. I'll blog about it later tonight.
In other news, this morning's mail included this piece Libraries: Standing on the Wrong Platform; Waiting for the Wrong Train? which has got me thinking a bit. Which is a bit critical of how libraries are changing to meet new demands. Basically, that they're a bit blind about it. I'm feeling like there author is not directly getting at the real issue - when it comes to technology and implementing it, libraries are not considering their users closely enough. Hmm, do I sound like a broken record here? I mean, perhaps, we're all so scared about predictions that we're going to become obsolete that we rush to jump on the bandwagon. We don't slow down long enough to think that maybe our users like us the way we are - in this swirling technological miasma; it's nice to know what to expect from your library. Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone - most academic libraries couldn't get away with it. Some public libraries could… how do we know? Get on the front lines, talk to the patrons, watch how they use your services… run pilot projects and DROP THEM if they don't work or are not used.
I beg to differ, somewhat, with this: “Already the web is affecting very core areas of library services: collections, preservation, and reference.” Why does it have to be that way? Shouldn't the idea of 'core services' be consciously included in all of a libraries digital initiatives?
I'm clearly going to be spending FAR too much money on coffee this trip…