Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Release day for "Eclipse"! oh yeah, and Thing 15...

Stephenie Meyer's book "Eclipse" came out today. I've been waiting all summer for this book.

While I'm waiting for my copy to arrive, I'll share my thoughts on Library 2.0. I think there is a very real need for libraries to embrace some new technologies in order to better serve their patrons. One of the articles mentioned seeing a drop in circulation within the author's library system. I'm not sure that we're to that point yet in our system, but it's pretty obvious that our computer labs are a big draw to our patrons. I also hear from a lot of patrons who use the Internet to montior their library accounts and place holds. We already use sources from the Internet for a lot of our reference work. I think we're going to have to make more use of web-based technology in the future to improve our customer service. Some examples to consider might be teen-specific blogs/websites or even RSS feeds from the library webpage so patrons wouldn't have to pull up our page to find out about the latest programs.

I think the demand for actual books will continue to bring people into the library since many people people don't want to or unable to download books to their personal computers. However, if libraries are to continue to stay competitive in the literary and information markets they must embrace technological change.

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