Comments on: Stuck Here in Onepointopia

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:48:06 +0000

I can not stand listservs. No one wants tons of messages in their inbox every day. Discussion boards are much better. But they were around in the 1.0 era too.

By: Fat and Grumpy

Fat and Grumpy — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:15:31 +0000

@Barnabus I know I’m a day late and a dollar short here, but I got my first e-mail address in 1981 and e-mailed my first attachment in 1985. You can pretend it’s got 2.0ism to it, but it don’t.

By: Joneser

Joneser — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:17:06 +0000

Spencer,

Short answer – you don’t.

Except that too many libraries are so short-staffed that it’s not an option to not put librarians on the desk, where they can do their MLS-caliber activities in between everything else.

By: 20 yrs, 6 libraries, no MLS

20 yrs, 6 libraries, no MLS — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:10:58 +0000

@Barnabus:

“Email might have been around for the past ten years…” Oy vey — try more like forty. Thank you for being today’s thing that makes me feel old.

By: Spekkio

Spekkio — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:33:06 +0000

If AL had made similar derogatory comments involving race or gender, Library Journal would delete her blog and make a public apology. But no, AL made a derogatory comment about people with mental illnesses – and that means it’s *hilarious.*

::sigh::

By: Michael Collins

Michael Collins — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:39:54 +0000

Another great article AL;

Sharing this article from Australia. Some interesting comments at base of article.

“The Vulgar Modernization of our Libraries: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/30680.html

Views expressed in the article are not mine.

By: Anonymous Internet Commenter

Anonymous Internet Commenter — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:46:16 +0000

@Spencer

I think you are too quickly dismissing the axe analogy. Your reply hinges on the technology being an improvement.

I am not convinced twitter and 2.0 are chainsaws. Change is hard and not all change is useful. New technologies need to prove themselves and I do not see rushing to use whatever new technology has appeared to be the wisest use of our limited budgets.

@AL

I don’t often agree with you, but you nailed it this time.

By: spencer

spencer — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:56:20 +0000

Joneser,

I DO work at a busy public service desk. That’s what I do all day every day. I man the desk. However, I still have time to catch up on industry news and figure out better ways to get things done.

In my opinion, if you’ve stopped trying to do things better, you’ve just stopped trying.

Here’s another question- why in the hell does one need a library science degree to do any of those things you just described?!

By: Libraryman

Libraryman — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:41:39 +0000

I think Spekkio was reffering to the mental illness part…which I can see. I wouldn’t want to insult someone with a mental illness by comparing them to a teenager.

By: Joneser

Joneser — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:36:07 +0000

@Spencer – you obviously don’t work on a busy public service desk. There is no “improvement” to placing hold requests, walking patrons to the stacks, rebooting comoputers, breaking up fights, you name it. You don’t use Twitter to tell someone where the bathroom is (and to replace the paper towels). We’re not talking technology here – we’re talking working with people. The “high touch” thing that is always the latter – and underfunded – part of the “high tech, high touch” koolaid.