Comments on: 10 questions about books, libraries, librarians, and schools

By: The Radical Patron – Speaking of the future of libraries –

The Radical Patron – Speaking of the future of libraries – — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:03:31 +0000

[...] professor Scott McLeod publishes 10 questions about books, libraries, librarians, and schools on his blog Dangerously [...]

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:41:44 +0000

Just from a philosophical point of view, point B is really intriguing. If you could create a wikipedia like environment with real time commentary on passages would be amazing. It would be especially helpful if you could create a ranking system so that the best commentary and reviews were at the top and you didn’t just get junk reviews all the time.

And now that I think about it, there is an electronic bible for iPhones called YouVersion that I think allows you to do just that. It’s all very cool and exciting for the future of education.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:19:45 +0000

I’m a library and information science student and a teacher for 15 years. Will books still be called books? Sure, in much the same way CDs are still called albums. Are librarians still necessary? That seems to be the gist of all the rest of your questions. Yes, and even more important now than in the past when there is so many avenues to pursue to find information. Too many of my students blindly accept whatever answer they find on Google first without any thought to the web source itself. Students must be taught to discern what information is accurate and what is not. In fact, schools with credential librarians (not textbook technicians or secretaries to babysit the building) have higher reading and test scores than schools who don’t. Volumes of research is out there to support that finding. In terms of technology, most librarians will embrace it when given the opportunity. I’ve gotten my best suggestions for tech in the classroom from my librarian. They are cut short by a lack of resources that are kept updated and constrained by school districts that limit web content. My district brags that it blocks thousands of websites. My students cannot access this site or any other wiki site because of it’s interactive nature, for example. The librarians are the ones screaming the loudest to bring the technology in and train the students to use it to their advantage. Does the nature of the librarian change? Yes, many librarians make themselves available via online queries or in places like Second Life all the time. I foresee that some librarians will remain in brick and mortar buildings while some become online sources for other groups. Schools for example need real people. My students ask each other about books but our librarian is out on the floor 80% of the time helping students find a book that is similar to another they loved. And as a previous writer noted, dealing with a class of students certainly requires a real time person. However, there are many librarians who work for places like Dialog that will search and find information for you for a fee. I doubt you ever meet most of those people face to face.
Overall, I think you have hit the bulls-eye of concerns for many people. They don’t SEE librarians as necessary anymore. It is our job to show why we are more necessary than ever before. And most graduate schools are addressing that issue every day. I know mine is- and speaking of school, I best get back to work

By: cara

cara — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:06:59 +0000

I think that using Kindles is a wonderful idea. Walk into any teacher store and you will see rows of books and ideas promoting “traditional” learning activities, but hop online and enter the tech world and it is amazing.

By: We thought we know medicine but we where wrong !!!? | Tea

We thought we know medicine but we where wrong !!!? | Tea — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:40:30 +0000

[...] 10 questions about books, libraries, librarians, and schools … [...]

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Thank you for providing a reality check to this type of blather. Note in his instroduction he admits he has only recently been focusing on libraries…it shows!

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Wow these questions really challenge the profession! I would say that some of the questions are very valid and worth being put into action and discussion. I don’t believe that my job could be done by only a computer or from afar, I actively teach a curriculum surrounding information literacy and firmly believe that building relationships with students is important. We are however going to be using moodle to make some of those lessons more available to our students in a new fashion and hopefully ease the time constraints on our teachers. One question though, are any libraries considering the issues being posed regarding eye strain and screen time? An all Kindle Library? How would a school afford that?

By: Wayne A.

Wayne A. — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

In regards to issue 4 regarding a school library being completely electronic. There are some negative aspects to such a library. The biggest one is missing the immediacy of seeing beautiful accompanying illustrations and photographs of images such as farms, flowers, spaceships, corn, city landscapes, people in traditional costume, and sea ships. Also, there can be something satisfying about borrowing a book to take home on one’s interests such as gardening, cooking, history of Oregon, or science fiction. There is also something nice about being able to browse through books on shelves in a library. Browsing through electronic media would not be the same adventure as browsing through book stacks. Browsing through book stacks provides an opportunity for students to find something that they might not have thought of at the time. In an electronic search, the keywords used will only be the ones that the student chooses to include. The emotional warmth of a real book seems not possible to replicate on an electronic device. A real book is free of all the complexities of electronic machinery.
There are many benefits to an electronic library. These would include: full text searching within books, portability, and quick access. Print and electronic media both have their strengths. I think real books are somehow a part of humanity. I would like to see real books continue to be a part of libraries.

By: Tiffany Brand

Tiffany Brand — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

The Cushing Academy boarding school in Massachusetts may be the first school in the country to have its library go completely electronic. In addition to using library computers, students now check out Kindles loaded with books. How tough would it be for other schools to move to this model (and what would they gain or lose as a result)?

With the implementation of technolgy, you have to consider a few things: whether the library has the budget to make the transition and perform ongoing maintenance for online databases. Software obsolence occurs at 18 months on average and libraries may not have the budget to implement software changes and may have to stick to physical books. Libraries and libraries must also consider user feedback in this issue, is complete digitization what users want? How many students will utilize online resources if made available to them? These issues must be taken into consideration before digitization projects begin.

By: Bill Ferriter

Bill Ferriter — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Librarian #4 wrote:
While open access may soon be upon us, I know that I must help students and staff while this evolution is taking place. I know the importance of being visionary and open-minded while at the same time being grounded.

Here’s the pushback that I always give to comments like these: Is the percentage of students and staff that need your “visionary, evolutionary help” likely to change in the future?

My guess is that the answer is yes. I already don’t need any help from librarians to do any of the tasks that are mentioned in this piece. In fact, I’d argue that I’m probably more prepared than most of the librarians I know to introduce information fluency, management and literacy to my students.

Won’t there be more teachers capable of this work in the future? And if so, doesn’t that mean we need fewer librarians?

Bill