Here's what I think

I've been reading other KCLS bloggers and there are lots of thoughtful comments on the topics of these articles we've been asked to read. Definitely a timely, tasty topic for our library world. Lots of directions we can go, lots of different needs to serve.

I had a couple thoughts on the Iceberg article. The "just in case" collection. I'm thankful that KCLS is a large enough system, a well-funded enough system to be able to have a "just in case" collection. I understand Anderson's point that books aren't circulating as well as they once did, there are other places to get this information. But it is nice, it feels good, to be able to pull up an obscure title a patron is searching for and KCLS owns it. So no, libraries don't need to be the print warehouses they were in the past, but if we've got them and space to keep them, it's a great service to provide our patrons this variety of informational materials. Not everything is online . . . yet.
And I agree whole-heartedly on Anderson's statement, "if our services can't be used without training, then it's the services that need to be fixed -- not our patrons." I mean, our KCLS catalog is NOT easy to use for the uninitiated. It takes practice and a good amount of wading to find exactly what you're looking for. Kudos to the Admin for exploring creating our our system with a consortium of other libraries and the intermediary step of redesigning our web page. Millennium is not the answer for KCLS. It's an awful, cumbersome system - not user friendly at all. It makes me think of discussions in library school about how, before, librarians were the tool makers of our trade -- librarians developed the Dewey Decimal system, card catalogs, systems to help people find information. Nowadays we are merely tool users -- we use the tools developed by software developer non-librarians and force them to fit our system as best they can. But libraries need to step back into that tool-making roll. We know our patrons, we know information, we need to develop systems that are user friendly and will link up our patrons with the information they are looking for with the least amount of effort. The new Explorer feature in our catalog is a nice step in that direction. You can actually get some pretty decent hits using as a patron, but it's still not perfect.


Finally . . . I got into library service because I love connecting people with the information they need. We have a diverse public that wants their information in different ways -- in person, on the phone, in the catalog, email, texting, virtually -- I am grateful for this web 2.0 training we are receiving because it is going to make me a more flexible provider. I've always thought of web 2.0 technology as being a variation of a different language. My language of choice is email. In my personal life, and in backroom worklife, I prefer communicating via email before the telephone and before face-to-face. I need time to carefully compose my thoughts and message and can communicate best if I can write it, re-read it, and send it. Even though I'm a librarian, if I'm a civilian in a library, I would prefer to email the librarian my question than go up to the desk and "bother" them, risk looking stupid in front of them, or risk not understanding their answer. If I don't have that email option, I probably won't contact the librarian at all. When I worked for Answerline it was not uncommon for us to get calls from people that had just left a library, or were actually still in the library, looking for items they weren't able to find. While working the desk at North Bend I actually watched a patron log-in to our Live Chat service at the computer right by the desk and ask virtual librarian a question. I promise you I was available, smiling, not busy, approachable, I had even made contact with her earlier, saying "hello", but this teen gal felt more comfortable chatting online than asking me even though I was five-feet from her.
If we can communicate with someone in the language that they are most comfortable using, then we are making ourselves and our services so much more accessible to them. Thanks to KCLS for recognizing and supporting this need for us to branch out to reach our patrons to provide them with information in a variety of ways.