Last night the Davies Forum group made a trek to the main branch of the SF public library to hear a talk called Library 2.0: the Future of Libraries by Sarah Houghton-Jan, aka LibrarianInBlack.
What surprised me most about Sarah, and what has routinely surprised me thus far in the Davies Forum, is the level of tech knowledge that librarians have. Rather than a lecture about how awful it is that people aren't checking out books anymore, Sarah talked about making online card catalogs more user friendly, the necessity for libraries to fight for better Digital Rights Management policies when it comes to library materials, and the need to stop spending library money on expensive software when open source options are available.
Hearing librarians like Sarah and Ivan speak actually makes me want to use my library again, and maybe even speak to a librarian while I'm at it! Who wouldn't want to talk to a librarian who frequents Think Geek?
2 comments:
yes, this week has been WIRED LIBRARIAN week and it keeps going with brewster's talk tomorrow.
according to gleeson gleanings, gleeson is experimenting with a new kind of catalog. i haven't had a chance yet to try it out.
I'm coming in a bit late here, but I wanted to thank you for your kind comments about my talk. I am glad that I was able to convey the complexity and greatness that libraries have within them today.
Post a Comment