In the past two years of library school, I have been exposed to more technology than I ever thought possible...I have several blogs...I built a website...I can use words like "user experience" as well as bandwidth and processing speed with ease. I have over 100 friends on Facebook and have even built a Facebook page for my library branch to allow us to communicate with patrons that way.
And I have an Android phone. While I do use it to make calls, I also use it to go mobile with everything I can do on my computer. What freedom! What power! What efficiency. Questions can be answered instantly from anywhere, issues are easier to resolve and it has never been easier to communicate. Watching the news and wonder where some international location is? I can pull out the phone and check the Internet for the answers. Library accounts, the catalog and databases are all available 24/7 to anyone with a phone that can access the internet - reference services, too. According to the Pew Internet Project studies - more and more people are "going mobile" and they are doing it at younger and younger ages. Increasingly teens are using Internet search engines for information...but they don't have the experience and knowledge to effectively evaluate, organize and use the information that they receive. Libraries need to combine the convenience of the Internet with training in information literacy. Libraries have always provided meaningful access to library materials - we need to embrace mobile technologies and social networking to continue to reach members of our communities and provide services where and when they need them. For an increasing number of teens - that is out in the ether...
"I would have to say it's a toss-up between the wheel and fire." That sounds like something my son would say. Love it!
ReplyDeleteAnd I <3 my Android phone, too. I agree that libraries need to embrace mobile technology and social networking. Have you installed the WorldCat app? There are a few libraries with their own apps that I've been exploring. If you haven't already done so, do a quick search of the market and check them out.
I'm a librarian without a library right now, but I like to add/tag/review libraries that I visit to social networking/review apps like Foursquare and Yelp. Hopefully, the libraries are/will be claiming their identities on these apps and serving and engaging their patrons in new ways.
After reading your post, I am thinking it might be time to finally upgrade my 10-year-old phone. It is a flip phone that does not take pictures or receive texts (I blocked them), but it does make phone calls!! My library system is slowly embracing social networking, but mobile technology is an area we haven't explored yet. Also, I love the design you chose for your blog... :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree. We do a huge business in providing information literacy training to tweens and young adults at my library. Here's the thing, though. To provide real training, they have to be in the building. We cannot provide that to them remotely. We subscribe to a great service for our patrons, called tutor.com. The tutors are live and provide homework help through instant messaging with an interactive white board. I would love to provide that kind of online research help directly to our patrons from my youth reference desk. Money and time are always the problem.
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