Can anyone imagine a combination that could be any more fun? Well neither can I, unless of course it had been a private dinner instead of a conference. Well, dreams aside, David's casual and "conscious" presence was very engaging. He proved to be insightful, a natural speaker and gave me a lot to think about.
Something David mentioned about web 2.0, is it's interactive culture. I very much agree with this and I think it is something we all love. And yet, it seems to be missing in several places: the job atmosphere (employee/employer collaborative relations) and the student/patron atmosphere, in conjunction with libraries and/or library staff. This interactive culture needs to be promoted (thank you David), explored and improved.
Another point worth mentioning is that users of technology don't equal users of other technology (ie facebook is not like using databases); that consumers of information can be shallow and information is rarely transferred to knowledge. David was referring mainly to students, but I see the same phenomena with patrons at my public library. People, without direction and instruction, are not utilizing technology and information resources to the full potential; they are not transferring the information to knowledge. As information professionals we need to be aware of this problem and look for solutions.
The last point David made was actually a series of ideas for the new interactive culture in which we live. He asked "what would a library look like when students are giving?" He suggested we look for ways to use student driven data (ie a book list by students for other students after a study abroad), student book displays and student blogging. David mentioned he always gives his students "in library" assignments: observe book display, interview librarian, blog about the experience, students comment and librarian comment. WOW-librarian comment- this really drew the students in and made them feel apart of the library.
These student assignments, I believe, are key. Although I am no great blogger yet, I don't know if I would have even tried without being forced into it by my fabulous professor Doc Martens!
And yes, I will post more on the other parts of the conference later in the week.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
And I enjoyed telling David Silver that you were the first person in the class (and maybe in the entire state of Oklahoma!) to adopt Feevy from *his* blog! Glad you had such a good time in Tulsa learning all this from such interesting people!
yes! let's spread feevy around beginning with the great state of oklahoma.
thanks, billie buck, for the positive feedback on my talk. and thank you for picking up on the idea of what does a library look like when students give to it? i think this question deserves a lot of time from smart minds.
next time introduce yourself and let's snag a cup of coffee!
This is great info to know.
Post a Comment