Week 6, Thing 15

In exploring the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) posts about web 2.0, I discovered that this group is ready, willing and able to think into the future.
"Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs."

OCLC article, this article is the source of the above quote which has a link to OCLC's home page for more information but I could not easily find the above information on the home page. The homepage has a World Cat search box which is about the most amazing thing ever (OK, maybe not ever but great.) I searched "dinosaurs" very popular in an elementary school and got 14,032 results in .09 seconds. The really cool part is that when selecting a title the locations of the title are listed by how close they are to my computer. Now just how does it know that? Of course, not every library is linked with OCLC but they are working on it.

All of this was a footnote to reading the articles suggested to help put web 2.0 into perspective.

I skimmed the posts suggested and read these three:
Dr. Wendy Schultz
Chip Nilges and
Rick Anderson

Dr. Schultz makes the case for needing "real" librarians in all stages of library development. She goes all the way from Library 1.0 to Library 4.0 and completes the circle with a virtual library which simulates the "old-fashioned" library so many of us cherish from our youth.

Chip Nilges focuses on the power of the new technology to bring information to the library professionals and patrons alike.

Rick Anderson points out the potential problems in embracing the new technology without assessing where we are and what we need to change to make our libraries better and relevant in this new environment.

What does Library 2.0 mean to me? I need to continue swimming upstream and do the best I can to empower our students to use the amazing tools available to them. I know that when I go back to school, I will face many obstacles: 35 students in a facility that is just about right for 15 students, a network that crashes without notice (definition of crash), and many sites blocked. However, I will also face many wonderful assets: intelligent students eager to learn, a very supportive staff, and the backing of the site administrator.