The best thing about this training that I observed was the collegial aspect. More than one exercise was approached cooperatively at the library I worked at. Even those that didn't often prompted conversations.
Most of what we covered I had encountered before, so there were no complete blow-me-away discoveries. But I am enjoying using an RSS feed again. And I really will try to be good about my del.icio.us account. I'm going on the theory that if I actually use it, the tool will become useful to me.
The biggest personal benefit was to think about all of these tools in the context of library service over an extended period. I still think we tend to want to use things because they are new and cool, and I think we need to be thoughtful about why we are choosing to use some of these tools - ask whether it is the right tool for the job. That said, in many cases we won't know until we try.
My biggest fear is that we will now go back to shelving our thinking and go on with business as usual. In this fast-moving environment we need to be acting quickly if we want to be a player and not be left behind. (See my comments on downlaodable media and podcasting.)
At the very least we have experienced the "Solitaire training". Increasingly the technology tools we use at work and play and in helping people find information will look like these 2.0 tools and be built around the kinds of functionalities they have.
Hopefully it will be more than that as we come up with innovative ways to use these tools, and to incorporate the best aspects of them in some fo the work we do (new ILS web interface anyone?)
No comments:
Post a Comment