Blogophile at last

This morning the penny dropped. I’d been thinking about what was the most valuable thing I’d gained from doing this Web 2.0 project and realized that the sense of community I felt reading your blogs and corresponding online far outweighed the pluses or minuses of any of the sites or online tools I’d explored. Then I realized that this is exactly why we have online social networking, and that I belatedly have found an online social network that means something to me.

I’ve never enjoyed talk radio or even the comments that newspaper websites permit their readers to make. Too often people tend to forget their manners. So maybe it helps to already know the people you’re involved with online or at least to have something as important as your workplace in common. Thus far our fellow explorers have been generous with their knowledge and kind to their colleagues.

If our library started a blog for our patrons, would they have enough in common with each other and us to be able to build an online community too? As odd as it seems, we could even guide them through the some of the same explorations we’ve been doing. Or we could provide a forum for people to discuss their favorite books with each other or with us. We could even (gasp) provide a public forum for suggestions and complaints.
The key would be to stay involved ourselves: suggesting great new reads, plugging our reference services, and responding to suggestions with reasoned replies. Could we do it? I think we should try

BeepBeepBzzBzz

A colleague and I were discussing how satisfying it would be to track down those errant books and DVDs by sticking RFIDs in them and using tracking devices to find them. You would tune your tracker to the right frequency and be pulled magnetically to the correct location. And then five years later you'd get brain cancer and see lots of pretty pictures...

Today, though, was a time of being told off by frustrated patrons who were leaving the library because the computers were too slow... Two patrons in a row this afternoon. One woman, iced latte in hand (how'd we miss that?) first wanted to know where the nearest Kinkos was and then declared that she'd have to go to the law library, which was way too quiet but at least had computers that worked. She strode out, ice jiggling in her plastic cup and a wild look in her eyes.

Oh for a computer whisperer!

While I hope that we are just having growing pains, I don't get the sense that a solution is in sight just yet. I think we need to take a hard look at the level below which we must not sink. Maybe these patrons will come back. Or maybe they'll go to Kinkos...