The physical 2.0 Library

Continuing on the themes begun in my post Mobile Library 2.0, one needs to consider the community impact of the physical library space.

I'm excited by the access to information via the library website - i.e. fulltext magazine and newspaper databases, ebooks, directories, etc. - and once I fully get my head around the Web 2.0 elements we have been getting a taste of in the Learning 2.0 project - and then continuing with those things that suit my style - I will have a wonderfully honed desktop. My computer will keep me up to date with all my interests.

Selective Dissemination of Information was never like this in my mother's day, and we don't have to go to library school to become experts. And as everyone knows, Boolean searching no longer requires a professional to construct complicated search strings on a DOS based machine tucked away in a back room.

Librarianship has become something completely different.

The physical library is still the place to be though. The place to actually handle books and DVDs and flip through real magazines. The place to talk to people and obtain recommendations on good stuff, not to mention the sheer pleasure of stumbling across something new and interesting that could be potentially life changing. It is also the place to talk to writers about their work and on a particularly good day watch one of Melbourne's top chefs make tabouleh.

You can't smell or taste the parsley on your PC.