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"Roots" of Technology

------------------- An Image from "BELOW THE ROOT" ----------------------

It's hard to imagine how much technology has already changed within my lifetime! It makes me feel "mature" to say it, but I was born before the widespread use of television, computers, lasers, and the Internet. Sunday's major event was getting the Chicago Tribune and reading the color comics with my Dad. Going to someone's house to view a black and white version of the Mickey Mouse Club was a big deal. I never touched a computer until I was in graduate school, and then it took the form of feeding punch cards into a mainframe. The first remote use was through a teletype machine reading paper tape.

When my son was born, we bought one of the first Apple IIE's at home. He and I read library picture books together, but we also played some of the first computer adventure games together (lots of text and monochrome graphics). Ironically,we later found that one of our favorites was actually based on a book: "Below the Root" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. This mother-son bonding experience is truly one of my fondest memories.

I have been blessed to be part of a profession that has indulged my dual passions of books and computers.

Library 2.0: Future Shock

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Do any of you remember Alvin Toffler's book "Future Shock", written in 1970? Toffler's shortest definition of future shock is "a personal perception of too much change in too short a period of time." I think that is how many of us (librarians and customers) are feeling right now.

Library 2.0 is just the current jargon to mean that the library is continuing to evolve and change at an even faster pace than it has in the recent past (see my previous post). That is the way of the Information Age, and there is no way to put that genie back into the bottle. Instead, we need to focus on ways to make this experience of change a positive one for all of us.

Some library memories

What will library services look like in 10 years? Definitely different than today in ways I probably can't anticipate. The changes I have already experienced have been spectacular.
I started my library career about 20 years ago. Not one single computer in the building. Stamping due dates on book cards. Filing cards and counting statistics by hand. Hand-writing overdue notices. Filmstrips. Phonograph records. Calling between branches to look for items requested. A microfiche catalog.
In 1997, staff had Internet access at a few computers. A CD-ROM catalog inhouse for customers. An automated circulation system on dumb terminals. Audiotapes. Videos. Receipt printers. Still calling between branches for requests, but the automated system gave guidance. A good print reference collection.
In 2007, computers everywhere for staff and customers with Internet access for all. Holds placed online by customers. Self-service pickup of holds. Self checkout of items. DVDs, CDs, downloadable audio. E-books. E-branch services available 24/7, including online databases. New libraries are more spacious, more comfortable.