There are many good reasons for libraries to support the web 2.0 ideals. Ease of access - be it online, in a comfortable friendly space, as a sancutary, as a place to encourage creativity is essential. Providing appropriate training and resources that aren't constrained by time or money and are in a format that is relevant to the user, having a mix of tradition (there are plenty of people out there who still want to physically come and browse a shelf and take an actual book home) and cutting edge technology is also vital. Essentially we need to know what's out there and it's potential, and make sure that we use it to provide our users and potential users, with what they want.
Increasingly my workplace has become more bureaucratic as we have developed a closer relationship with our funders. It is hard to maintain that friendly, edgy 'vibe' when decisions about future direction down to policy are so far behind what is happening out there now. Libraries shouldn't be this way. We need to educate those who fund us on some of these principles. Encourage them to trust that we know what we are doing and give us the ability to act rather than react. Until we are able to keep up with what's happening out there and deliver what our members want, when they want it, we can not deliver a Library 2.0 service.
Increasingly my workplace has become more bureaucratic as we have developed a closer relationship with our funders. It is hard to maintain that friendly, edgy 'vibe' when decisions about future direction down to policy are so far behind what is happening out there now. Libraries shouldn't be this way. We need to educate those who fund us on some of these principles. Encourage them to trust that we know what we are doing and give us the ability to act rather than react. Until we are able to keep up with what's happening out there and deliver what our members want, when they want it, we can not deliver a Library 2.0 service.
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