Thing 15: On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

For this exercise, I read all of the articles and thought that they each made interesting points about technology and the evolving role of libraries in our society. I liked what the article "Into A New World of Librarianship" said about the need for Librarian 2.0 to avoid getting caught up in "technolust" and "techno-worship." I agree with the author that technology needs to be put to the test to see if it is really meeting a user's needs and is in line with the mission and goals of the organization. It is too easy to chase after every new thing thinking that being "cutting edge" will make us a cool and appealing place to the public and that they will be awed by our mastery of the latest technology. If we aren't offering what people want and need, they won't come no matter how trendy and technologically advanced we may be. We certainly need to change to keep pace with our community and adopting new technologies will often be a part of this change. However, we also need to consider the relevance of new and emerging technologies in meeting the actual needs of the customers we serve.

When I visited my sister a few years ago in California, one of the local supermarkets was testing video monitors that were attached to the shopping carts. The monitor was supposed to do a variety of things including directing you to the correct aisle for a certain product and telling you what was on sale in the store. It certainly sounded like a great idea and like many shoppers, my sister was intrigued by the novelty of it and decided to go there even though it was not the market where she usually shopped. Sadly, the novelty wasn't enough to make her shop there again. We watched as a customer ahead of us expressed frustration to the manager because he wanted to buy soft drinks and selected "soda" as his search term. The monitor directed him to the aisle for baking soda instead. Many other customers seemed to be intimidated by the unfamiliar machines and simply refused to even use the carts that had the monitors attached to them. The cashier told us that they had already lost several of the monitors to vandalism and several more to a brief rainstorm that ruined all the monitors that were outside at the time. However, it wasn't just the poor performance of the video monitors that had many of the shoppers, including my sister, walking out and not wishing to return. The biggest problem was that they put all the effort into being flashy with the newest gadget and neglected to make sure that their shelves were stocked with the products that the customers were looking for. As one older customer was loudly telling the manager as we left, "I can watch the darned television at home, I came here for grapes and peaches!"