Thing #15

O.k., this has been the hardest "Thing" for me, so far. It requires deep thinking and an ability to visualize the future. (Reminds me of chess, which I was never good at playing.)

The YouTube video was attention-grabbing and easy to understand, and I enjoyed reading the video creator's explanation. I had a lot of trouble focusing on and understanding most of the perspectives, however. I think they were written for an audience that is very familiar with this subject and the vocabulary related to it. Librarians, perhaps? The first and fifth perspectives were the only ones I felt I had a grasp on. (Sorry about ending that sentence with a preposition - but maybe there will soon be changes in grammar rules, just as text messaging has played around with spelling rules. Grammar 2.0!)

To me, if I am understanding this issue correctly, Library 2.0 refers to what the library needs to be today, to adequately meet the needs of our increasingly technological society. It should facilitate the exchange and organization of information. It should start with what a patron already knows and enrich the patron's knowledge base through collaboration with other sources. In other words, as Dr. Wendy Schultz said in her perspective, the librarian is becoming less of a steward and more of a mentor. I like how she talks about people collecting favorite librarians. The appearance of libraries will also need to change. (I'm picturing Internet cafes, but I'm sure the experts had something different in mind.)

Honestly, I cannot even venture to guess what an elementary school library is going to look like 20 years from now, or even 10 years from now. I can't even picture what an elementary school classroom is going to look like. I know that both will look a lot different than they do today! Probably a lot less paper, a lot more technology, more student-ownership of learning, and more collaboration with peers. Less "Shhhh!" and more "Hey! What do you think of this?!"