Using Web 2.0

I'm fascinated by Web 2.0. I want to learn everything that I can about this awesome method of socializing, interacting, and conducting research. I think that it's vital that we learn to use tools like del.icio.us and LibraryThing so that we can communicate with many of our patrons (and keep them using the library, in their way).

That being said, I don't have much of a chance to actually use Web 2.0 at my library. Our township has a large senior population. Many of our patrons want to learn basic Mouse, Internet, and E-mail skills, but the concepts of del.icio.us, flickr, and other networking sites remain foreign, seemingly unobtainable. In fact, most of our patrons probably haven't even heard of most of them.

Admittedly, our small branch library (which, by the way, has limited computer access) does not offer "Web 2.0" classes (it would be interesting to know how many do). Is it that we are unable to teach the classes because we don't have the skills necessary to do so? Or is it that we are short-staffed? Or perhaps even we - who have worked with seniors for so long, and who would like to believe that we don't adhere to any stereotypes about seniors - are playing into the stereotype that seniors aren't interested and won't need to learn these things? Most likely, a bit of all.

Yet, every once in a while, the teenagers who use our computers will ask me something. How to save flickr photos. How to download items from their cell phones. Even how to elegantly crop and scan documents. And so, even in an environment in which I don't use 2.0 every day, I still need to be familiar with technological advances.

So - that's the reason that I'm trying to teach myself. I attend classes (Robert Lackie's were great!), I read articles, I practice. Sometimes it's overwhelming, because there is so much to know (and so little time to learn it, considering the amount of time that day-to-day library tasks consume). But at the same time, it's so satisfying to learn something new. And that, after all, is the reason that I entered the library profession to begin with - to have the chance to learn something new every day.