I've said it before, but a democracy needs an educated voting public. Not just people who finished grade school, but people who continue to develop a non-trivial understanding of environmental issues and energy, of our relations with the Middle East, of the economy, of whatever issues face us. You get that from books, because those are book-long lessons. Multiple books. More than a five-minute web page. Not stupid slogans from talk radio like "distracting attention from Obama's economy" less than half a year into his administration. And it would be perverse to ask people voting on stuff that affects all of us to buy those books themselves when we have enough trouble getting them to read free books.

More could be said about job skills and such. But, although circulation is something to look at, in the end I'd think there'd be a case for libraries that's independent of the number of CDs, DVDs, and romance novels circulating. Even if a branch is only open a few days a week, it should still be there for the continuing education function. Luckily the users can take the books away and read them somewhere else.

"They think they've mastered something important and they think what they do is the most central thing about being a librarian, but really they're just playing with shiny toys and distracting librarians from more important things."

While these "shiny toys" do distract, they do add some value to the services provided by the library. Otherwise, the above comment succinctly explains the problem with the twopointopians. Thank you!

I was thinking as I read this blog about all the library tools that were left out of the video. What about Google Books or Scholar. Yes I dislike Google but they are at least library tools. World Cat is another. All of these are important things for the public to master. The idea of divorcing ourselves from our key patronage like lawyers, doctors, dean's and other "educated" folks just seems annal inverted. Sure as a public librarian I get ton more teens and 20 somethings using the computers. Using, though, is the key point, like umm sure I ll call you type of using. These people do not support libraries. I might also mention as any twopointopian should know by now cell phones will soon be the dominate way people get information not clunky desktops. What you going to do then have twopointopian vans?

I don't have a problem with shiny toys that are actually used in a useful fashion-- for example, a library that has a Twitter account to update its webpage quickly (e.g., "Your Local Public Library will be closed on 11/22 due to severe weather.") But people who get all excited about shiny toys today are just like the same people who got all snitty about the Dewey Decimal system twenty years ago. Good for you-- you're so specialized that you're practically irrelevant.

Yes, the system is fabulous and Hulu is great, whatever. But is any of it getting people the information that they need? That's the importance of libraries and why libraries are indispensible. That is what is going to "put bums in seats" and keep people coming in the door.

Thank you for pointing out Library 101 is just a gimmick. If I have one more friend become a fan of it on Facebook, I'm liable to puke a kitten. That video/stories did absolutely nothing productive, and I pity the libraries where the contributors work because they were wasting valuable time on that project. It is just a marketing gimmick for all involved. Look at me, I have an essay that said nothing new! Read my blog!

Others have said it, and I agree: if we are to maintain a democracy, we need an educated, informed citizenry. As long as we have librarians more worried about whether people can "master" Hulu or YouTube, that is just not going to happen. Your line about a children's librarian is indeed perfect. We need more good children's librarians. If nothing else, they will help make my work as an information literacy librarian in college a little easier. Plus there is that whole continuing education thing that allegedly libraries help with (but that it seems the 2pointtopians gave up on). To be honest, I get a little tired of those attention grabbing whores making the rest of us look like we lack substance or are barely in touch with the real world. Not all librarians want to, need to, or spend all their time playing with some shiny toy. And let's not even get into the fact that, in many communities, a lot of the people lack the access to such toys (at home or in their local library). I don't see the 2pointtopians talking about that.

It is frustrating to be a public librarian who is trying to stay true to the idea that the library is here for public education. My library system feels it's more important to have Wi game night and manga movie marathons. The few times I tried to offer interesting writing seminars only a few people showed up. I guess people would rather play than learn.

When I take a walk around my public library I usually feel an intense desire to weep.

One 360-degree scan around the entire library will always show me 1) at least 3 men watching anonymous butt-shaking videos on YouTube (if not full-fledged porn), 2) at least 2 people playing online poker, 3) at least one bum washing him/herself in the restroom, and 4) at least one cop having an altercation with a problematic patron.

I think what librarians need to pride themselves more on, rather than their silly mastery of MySpace and YouTube (which, SUPRISE! so does the rest of the world know how to use), is their ability to have basic competency skills as corrections officers and social workers, because that's what today's public librarian job consists of the most.

The AL just struck a silver stake in the heart of the ALA's vaunted "digital divide."

Anyone discussing the "digital divide" who does not at least raise the issues the AL has just raised is just blowing smoke.

While I agree with the analysis of the twotopians, or oneohonians, there is something to add. Each public library serves a different public and each knows the type of programming that gets a good response (and if it doesn’t, that’s when it gets into trouble). The most successful programs we have at my library system are those that relate to the public’s interest. For instance, at my library we get more people to gardening programs than anything else, while at another library downtown they have a very successful book & movie program.

The key question is: what is the end goal for these programs? Are we changing the library to accommodate these people, or are we using these programs as a gateway for the public to be introduced to the other services that our library offers? I am not going to say that we will never have a twitter program, or that we will not ever incorporate some social networking into our online presence, but the AL is right. We don’t change the purpose of the library because of the technology available. We improve the means of access.

The things that the twotopians should be concerned with now are job searching sites and databases that serve as a replacement to the material that is going out of print. I just did a review of a horrendous online financial database and listed the many areas that it desperately needs improvement in order to meet the needs of a community used to high quality print content. I doubt my fellow librarians saw the database in the same light as I did, as most of them are still in the pre-2000 “the Internet is a fabulous information sharing mechanism” mind set. The 101’s suffer from the same faulty greed-driven blind-sight that led to the Internet bubble in 2000.

We can’t keep devoting time and energy to some quirky new technology thinking that it’s a fool proof get-quick-rich scheme. You cannot replace the library with Kindles, Ipods, and Twitter and think you still have a library; instead, you will just be holding on to the next crap to go obsolete.

The sad thing about this video and the accompanying essays is that they do nothing to support the value libraries claim to provide:
- finding relevant information
- protecting democracy
- public education

The essays aren't informative or insightful. They don't reference "relevant sources". In fact, altering a photo and faking a statement by President Obama would be cute if an 8th grader did it ... but coming from library "visionaries" it's kinda pathetic.

In defense of the video and essays, they're way better than the stuff coming out of the ALA. The ALA website, American Libraries and ALA Direct are really sad.

I agree with Jane the Jailer. I spend half my day playing IT tech to people who can't even use the registration software to get on the computers! If I had wanted to be an IT tech I would go get Microsoft certification and make a hell of a lot more money than I do now! And I wouldn't mind so much if people were trying to type resume's, but mostly they are complaining that we don't have enough bandwidth for Myspace and YouTube.

You're basically hypocritical fool who BLOGs under a cowardly pseudonym. But once again, I 1/2 agree with you.

We can promote services to ourselves as much as we want, but we have to promote our services and worth to the people that matter (taxpayers & politicians) in a way that matters to them.

On the other hand...
What has the highest circs in most libraries? Get your head out of the cobwebs! It's not the books, it's the DVDs and CDs. What sucks up the computers bandwidth on a daily basis? Youtube, MySpace, Facebook, and Hulu (and pr0n). It's not the electronic databases.

You're obviously just as out of touch. These things you speak about are changing the world around us and changing the way we communicate with each other!

"Plus there is that whole continuing education thing that allegedly libraries help with (but that it seems the 2pointtopians gave up on)."

I taught in an online history graduate program for a university at which the distance learning librarian was for several years a prominent twopointopian.

Making a graduate degree in history credible in the online environment is VERY difficult and labor-intensive. The superficiality of most twopointopian hype did not help.

The particular twopointopian note above, though, did mean well though.

Oops, sorry for the repetitive "though" above.

anon.librarian commented: "You're basically hypocritical fool who BLOGs under a cowardly pseudonym."

What difference would it make if the AL blogged as her real-world self? Would it give you a name to point at - something to write on the wall?

"But once again, I 1/2 agree with you."

... followed by...

"You're obviously just as out of touch."

It's like you can't make up your mind.

I understand the argument. Give the people what they want and what they want is DVDs and CDs. I don't understand what you think we can really provide people as far as Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, and Hulu are concerned, aside from more bandwidth.

"These things you speak about are changing the world around us and changing the way we communicate with each other!"

What is it that we are communicating? You sound like those CNN people who think that in order to remain "in touch" they need to spew out the latest Internet garbage. If that's what I wanted, why would I watch CNN? The same thing should be asked of the library. What are you so desperately trying to communicate, and why would I bother using the Internet to hear about it?

Listen, at the end of the day, I understand using another means of communication to get your public into the library. Just don't make the mistake of thinking that this isn't just a fancy billboard or flier that you post on the Internet as compared to inside the library. Remember, people don't read those signs either.

Don't know where you work, but where I am, books still out -circ media. And we have as many people job searching and writing papers as we do facebookers. All that stuff is shiny and fun, but most of our patrons aren't that interested. My head is nowhere near the cobwebs, tyvm. I don't need these clowns telling me to be "jazzed" about being a librarian - I already am.

What depresses me as a gov doc specialist? Tens of thousands of young librarians are running off to "master" twitter. How many would voluntarily learn SuDoc system? 4?

And what's sadly comic is that twitter/hulu/etc. has just as much confusing lingo as GPO. Just, you add "government-run" and a numbering system and twopointopians stomp their feet and cry foul.

"You're basically hypocritical fool who BLOGs under a cowardly pseudonym." Just to let you know, I stopped reading right there. You communication skills really need some development. Maybe you can take a workshop or something. Just some friendly advice.

What too many librarians tend forget is that these technologies are just promotional tools. They should be treated as such, and not made into an end unto themselves. They should be regarded as yet another means of communicating to their communities what libraries have to offer. It's content that people want/need, after all. If we're going to get obsessed with using youtube we might as well get obsessed with sandwich boards.

'The twopointopians play around with simple tools that any halfwit could master and think they're techies. The real techies in librarianship aren't proselytzing for social media; they're building tools to help libraries do their jobs better.'

Excellent point, AL, and one I have made before (to fellow librarians and library school students.) I cannot STAND it when librarians master something any elementary school student already knows how to use, and they think they are so technologically advanced. This idea that libraries are on the cutting edge of technology is ridiculous... they're usually late-adopters of some sort of basic information retrieval system or social media application.

I might be the one you were referring to when you said that one commenter said the message of the video was that libraries must adapt to technological changes or die. I do think that was the message they were trying to advance, but you are correct in saying that the technology they're touting isn't the serious information technology that is changing libraries. The audience for this video could only have been public librarians, and apparently these public librarians have to give the public what they want - video games, social media, hulu, etc. - in order to lure them into the library and thus boost number of visitors. But you're so right that it is NOT access to social media and the like that people support when they support and fight for libraries, and I never hear anyone say that. Librarians, and particularly public librarians are so misguided in their attempts to make libraries 'relevant.' They offer up these frivolous (yes, I dare say frivolous, and I am only in my early 30s) things like video games and access to social media sites in an attempt to attract more people to the libraries and make the libraries seem necessary, but instead that only makes the libraries seem like a stupid waste of money!

anon.librarian said:

'What has the highest circs in most libraries? Get your head out of the cobwebs! It's not the books, it's the DVDs and CDs. What sucks up the computers bandwidth on a daily basis? Youtube, MySpace, Facebook, and Hulu (and pr0n). It's not the electronic databases.'

Quite frankly, I think that libraries should block social networking sites and offer only a small number of DVDs. Seriously... so WHAT if these things are the most popular? If we offered free pizza to all patrons all the time, THAT would be the most popular thing in the library. We do not need to cater to the lowest common denominator and completely lose sight of why libraries are here.

My parents live in a small town with a tiny public library that is only open about 15 hours a week. It doesn't have the money to offer many DVDs or CDs, and it only has a couple of computers with strict time limits. They have a story hour for kids, and a book group, and it's the BOOKS get circulated on a regular basis. Patrons (of all ages)still go the library for the reasons that I used to when I was a kid in the 80s. I think that libraries, which years ago now wanted to be on the 'cutting edge' and started circulating movies, and then started offering computers, have basically created the problem they face now. I think that removing the movies and other things that don't promote literacy (REAL literacy, not gaming) would be a radical experiment, but I think we might find that the public would still use the library.

These aren't bad things, but do they justify public expense at all? It seems to many of us that the very things the twopointopians see as basic to librarianship just do not justify public expense.

Right on, AL! My brother-in-law asked me why should he pay taxes for people to borrow (for free) the same DVDs he pays to rent at Blockbuster, I honestly couldn't come up with a good reason!

One real shame of the whole shiney gimmicky twopointonian thing is that so many library administrators have bought into it. Believing that Wii program attendance will top a book club. Or DVD's are a better value since they give more checkouts per $ spent. Hey more show up to Wii so it must be better. All checkouts are the same aren't they? Uh no - any City Manager can figure that out. Newsflash - people that vote for library funding tend to be ones interested in books, the people's university function of the library. People that vote against library funding tend to be ones that think the library is a frivolity.

Not that there is something wrong with DVD's or libraries having gaming night - but have these libraries heard of moderation and good judgement?

These public library leaders that have declared libraries to be in a crisis the last 10 years and that we need to change .... and this is what they have? They should be ashamed.

"Right on, AL! My brother-in-law asked me why should he pay taxes for people to borrow (for free) the same DVDs he pays to rent at Blockbuster, I honestly couldn't come up with a good reason!"

Well, you could always tell him to save his money at Blockbuster and visit his local library since they already have those DVDs anyway. Let's be honest, Blockbuster is dying much more quickly than our public library systems.

The exchange between Sensibly Shod and Sonny Hill bring up an interesting question. If the purpose of the public library is educational, how to we justify feature films on DVD? If we say, the public library should stock educational DVDs only (e.g. documentaries, instructional, etc.) then we must ask, why do libraries stock fiction? What is the difference between recreational reading and recreational viewing? I personally incline to the educational mission of the public library taking precedence over the recreational mission, but is there a rational argument that would be consistent for both reading and viewing material? Or is the primary mission of the public library reading only? Is literacy and the development of good reading habits to be preferred to viewing?

Libraries should be somewhat late-adopters of technology. The technology we provide should be proven to be useful and long-lasting before we jump on the bandwagon.

The all-I-can-watch option from NetFlix is affordable, buying all the books I read is well beyond my budget. The former is entertainment, the latter is part of a lifelong education process. It would be great to get all my reading material at my library but sometimes I've got to go to the public library. My public library system (praise God) hasn't bought into the Shiny Toys nonsense. They continue to think of themselves as a University for the People. And have to serve as a hangout for pervs, drunks, the mentally ill, the stinky, etc. Pity they can't send all the icky patrons over to city hall - might end those problems lickety-split.

"These aren't bad things, but do they justify public expense at all? It seems to many of us that the very things the twopointopians see as basic to librarianship just do not justify public expense."

Try teaching graduate classes in a subject that relies heavily on the library, when said academic library is twopointopian.

I'd be interested to hear about the experiences of those who have. I doubt, however, many with those experiences read this blog. There is at least one exception though.

'Libraries should be somewhat late-adopters of technology. The technology we provide should be proven to be useful and long-lasting before we jump on the bandwagon.'

This is a good point, but the libraries should not be late adopters of technology that is really in no way helpful to the library or library users (or is not used in a helpful way - think Twitter, or Facebook pages for libraries.) And, when said technology is adopted after everyone in the world already knows how to use it, librarians should not pretend to be cutting-edge.

I should say, they shouldn't be adopters AT ALL of things like I just described. But the most irritating thing is when librarians and stupid articles about libraries and librarians pretend that librarians are using high-tech skills and are on the cutting edge of technological change. A few are (for better or worse), but the vast majority are not. USING an already-developed technology that a 5-year-old can use does not make one techy. Librarians always mistake USING a basic technology for having any real IT skills.

What a joke. 'Shiny toys and glossy gimmicks?' as if crass judgements under a cooshy-safe pseudonym wasn't the glossiest of glossy gimmicks around.

And the idea that the so-called "twotopians" do not care about the education role of libraries is stupid. The idea that anyone sits on one or the other side of the fence of 'twotopianism' is even stupider. In fact, that is the annoying thing about the annoyed librarian - include something that is reasonably logical amongst a whole lot of vitriol and fluff appears to the modus operandi. '2+2=4 and that's why all Rhinocerouses must be invited to ALA.'

Social media is important because the _public_ is using social media en masse. Execution of a social media strategy can be an issue, for sure as can a whole slate of things including the delivery of books. Just today I saw a tweet from someone commenting that they wanted access to wireless, but did not want to get a library card (to go get those all important books you seem to think everyone wants). As a public institution, public librarians need to be relevant to all needs (community-based, educational, cultural and, yes, even business/economic needs) from all walks of life.

But what makes me so sad and fearful for the professional as a whole is that the main professional journal would pay money to give this anonymous nonsense the tiniest bit of creedence.

Having your name posted on something is one of the foundations of educational research. That someone might face consequences for the veracity or lack of veracity of what they say is one of the key components of a civilized society. That a group of librarians with the will and drive to raise an issue in librarianship would be derided from behind a veil of anonymity by a journal that espouses to promote the concerns of librarians in general is a sad sad irony.

While I am at it, I was going to add 'courage' to the list of things new librarians need to learn. I guess the number of anonymous snide-swipers on this thread speaks to that need quite strongly.

Ryan Deschamps (if that is your real name) - anonymity allows folks to keep their jobs. Forums like this help us realize that others are facing the same problems and obstacles. If I wanted a relentlessly cheerful outlook I would limit my professional reading to American Libraries.

I would really like to see all of those twopointopians assigned to the public desk fulltime for, say, a month. They would find that their most important skills are trying to troubleshoot the (*SF&OG(* printer, PC assignment terminal, and so forth. Not to mention showing someone how to "find" the Internet because the library PC doesn't open to what they have on their home PC. Or tell someone that, yes, they MUST have an email address to order something, or apply for a job just about anywhere, or do anything else, and then try to balance that with helping everyone else. Or show someone how to use the mouse, or type in their barcode number, or explain SOMETHING when the customer INSISTS that it's the exact obvious. To many of our users, Twitter and Hulu and whatever are of no consequence whatever. It might instill a little knowledge, not to mention humility, and a better idea of why libraries are so badly needed.

Fedup - If someone cannot engage in a civilized discussion without losing their job, then the issue is still courage. a) Courage to stand by their words in a civilized discussion or b) courage to leave an employer that would seek to stifle a reasonably civilized conversation.

FedUp - I have over 10 years front-line experience and I still think Twitter is of considerable consequence. Maybe not to the public use computer user, sure - but not everyone using a library is a PUC user. Just because you can't see the benefit from your position doesn't mean a benefit does not exist.

Remember most of the 'book' users follow this pattern of use: go to the library website, click catalogue, search for a book, place a hold, get the hold, check out the hold and leave. They spend lots of time ONLINE accessing the catalogue from home (while they use Facebook, Twitter, Email whatever), go to the hold shelf and then leave. At the front desk you see only a small fragment of library use - while the web sees much more. With overdrive and tumblebooks etc. that online component is going to be even more significant.

@ Ryan Deschamps

All written material is <i>de facto</i> pseudonymous, unless I happened to see you write it. Did Shaksper write his plays? Was it Albert or Mileva who wrote Einstein's <i>Annus Mirabilis</i> papers? No way of knowing, since I wasn't there. And did Shaxpur, the writer, even exist?

And "...courage to leave an employer that would seek to stifle a reasonably civilized conversation" is not courage but foolhardiness in a labor market where there are many, many applicants, but very few jobs.

You "think Twitter is of considerable consequence." Why? Any studies? Surveys? Six millions Tweeters worldwide (Compete.com) does not point to a significant bite into 204 million library card holders (ALA, 9/08). And who knows what the correlation between Twitter users and library users is?!

Likewise, the holds versus visit pattern you describe does not match any analysis I have seen in the literature, let alone the analysis I have done of my system's use patterns. Any source for your claims?

Believe me, I want to see the grunt work lifted of my back, but all I see are assertions and marketing slogans. That's all for now.

Oy, not the tired old "anonymity" argument again. If anything should be clear from the comments on these last couple of posts, lots of librarians think this "Library 101" stuff is ridiculous. There may be a "group of librarians with the will and drive to raise an issue in librarianship," but that doesn't mean the issue isn't foolish. Maybe folks are coming here because the willful, driven librarians who posted the YouTube video keep deleting negative comments.

"Having your name posted on something is one of the foundations of educational research." Oh, and since when is the Library Journal (or American Libraries for that matter) "educational research"? It's a blog! You don't like it, don't read it.

Thank you for this blog and all the substance it brings. It helps us less gimmicky librarians feel less alone.

Ryan dear, I do have a clue. I don't know what this "courage" line is, but trust me, I've had so many chunks taken out of my backside that I should be a size 6. As far as knowing the uses of Twitter, or whatever tool you mention - and they are just TOOLS - I have a clue about that as well. Likewise people using the catalog (and yes, I get the keystroke/click part too). Is everyone a PC user? No. But when that is a HUGE part of your business, the last thing you need is to be lectured about 2.0 or 101 or public service (as DLK has done) by someone who has no clue as to how much face-to-face work is done in our system. Don't give me the "in my position" line - I have plenty of "positions" in my job and what with layoffs and budget cuts I'll be seeing even more of them. I'm too busy helping the many Luddites actually coming in to the physical library wanting physical items and personal assistance from, like, an actual person. That's why we're so highly supported in this community.

I remain anonymous for the same reason that I don't walk up to my coworkers and call them idiots, even though for the most part, they are idiots.

I have noticed that most of those people who criticize AL for using a pseudonym do not, themselves, post under anything but anonymous handles. Those who DO use their real names (if they are, in fact, real names) are only those who espouse messages that are cheery and 'popular' among the ALA and its self-promoting self-back-patting followers. I don't see that as courageous.

Thank you so much for your courageous and articulate rant, AL. The constant droning and biting of these twopointopian gnats has driven me mad.

You have given me hope to believe that there are saner days ahead if our library administration will wake up and realize that the twopointopian antics make us look desperate and foolish, not cutting-edge and cool.

Again Ryan I object to that video. It insulted the profession, my intelligence and not to mention my ears. If the ALA considers that a professional message then I am glade I am not a member. You made a point that 101's do not ignore the educational role of libraries. I put it to you the opposite is true as well. I can speak with some confidence that everyone who do not like this video knows about, can learn how to use and probably have used everything talked about and we say big whoop not impressed. Anybody can go to Hulu and point and click on their favorite show or movie. Its so easy that if that was the focus of the library I would hire a bunch of 18 years olds for min wage and call the profession dead. As for my ears thats just me and my good taste. Answer this if this wasnt pandering or playing with shinny toys why weren't Google Scholar or BookSearch mentioned. Even the Digital Reference List serve would argue these have far more value then Twitter. What about the new ILS that have web 2.0 technology built in? Why were they not mentioned in the video. I also want to point out that 101 msg is nothing new. The ALA and 2.0 crowd have been selling it for nearly a decade. If you have to repackage to try again I would say you got the wrong message. So here we have a message that didnt talk about anything of true value very poorly done. That is a failure and that is what the video so awafull.

"Just today I saw a tweet from someone commenting that they wanted access to wireless, but did not want to get a library card" Yes we all know how hard and painful it is to obtain a library card. Give me a break.

As far as holds versus checkouts, in October we checked out 51,500 items. Of those 3,002 were filled holds. That's less than 6%. Yes, holds are increasing every month and yes they are vital. But, 48498 items were checked out by people coming to the library, finding the materials and checking them out.

So I play with the shiny toys. So what? Different libraries have different ways of communicating to their respective users. I play with the shiny toys AND work to generate advocacy via promoting our literacy and educational resources. The shiny toys are just another way of attracting users. Are you telling me how to talk to my service community? I think I know my users better than you. We have rabid public support at my branch because we have proven our worth here. And now we have a facebook and twitter account to reach out to more people. So what's the problem? Let each library do what it feels is best for its users, shiny toys or not.

It's becoming conventional wisdom that social media tools are valuable to libraries - though personally I haven't see evidence of it. Facebook is full of library groups with hundreds and sometimes a few thousand fans that seem to have used the platform for little more than clicking to become a "fan" and giving a few electronic "thumbs ups" to an inane wall post. There are at least half a dozen library NING groups that are digital ghost towns. As for Twitter, I must be missing the valuable tweets because what I've come across is banal and annoying ... like a mosquito buzzing around my bedroom when I'm trying to fall asleep...

Where are the reports of libraries that have set a specific and measurable goal and used one of these tools to achieve it?

SadButTrue, why do you need measures for Facebook, twitter, et al? Are there any for library marquees announcing events or pdf attachments of program flyers to schools? What about my whiteboard in the lobby for our announcements, do you want the measurable value of that too? These are all promotional tools. They have value in attracting more library users. I'm all about making libraries more usable to people, so I'm in favor of utilizing popular tools (traditional and new) to achieve that goal. Myself and others try different things as part of a larger effort to get more people to use the library and to make it a good experience for them. I consider announcing our storytime schedule on twitter the same as putting it up on our marquee.

I can always tell I am winning when someone (Anthony) tries to go the postmodern route to disprove what I say. No wonder the kids have stopped taking BA degrees.

All of you can trace the name "Ryan Deschamps" find out who I am and say hello to me at a conference or whatever. I cannot do the same for a good lot of you who seem to revel in a wide range of assumptions about the so-called 'Twotopians'. I have built a reputation for myself both online and in person and the people who know me know that this is me. Look at my twitter stream. I am listed on 54 lists and a good half of them are from local people wanting to know what I have to say. A quick look at DLK's twitter stream shows over 150 of these lists (at least one of them saying 'education'). Those are real people - and each and every one of those people has a workplace, a family, a group of friends and people they meet on the bus. Then my stream goes to my Facebook account that reaches another few hundred people from all walks of life. No, it's not the be all and end all of promotion, but it includes an extra thousand or so people who are paying attention to what I do and that adds a good chunk of Google traffic to the website and so on.

Of course Twitter etc. are tools. Why would you assume that David and Michael do not already know this? And guess what? If you were a carpenter harping about how a 'nail gun is just a tool' I'd be harping just as much about the necessity of using the nail gun instead of a granite stone as well.

And my lukewarm attitude towards alot of what DLK says is well-documented too.

Measureable? Absolutely. If I link to something using bit.ly, I know immediately that I draw up to 60 new eyeballs to a single resource whenever I send a single tweet about it. I organized a podcamp that had 250 registrants (we had to stop) and 173 attendees just by tweeting about it once in a while for a few months (all traceable on the web, I assume you know how to use google). If many of you had the guts to send me an email, I could show you the rise in stats for our website ever since we started using a blog, twitter and other methods (SEO, for example) to increase use.

To Techserving You - if you think most of your co-workers are idiots, then I guess you have bigger problems than I do. Perhaps you are also too cowardly to get to know some of these people and find out that they are not idiotic as you may assume? Just a thought.

It isn't even this cowardice that has me in a snit though -- I think there are plenty of cowards out there -- but that the Library _Journal_ would sponsor this cowardice is an outrage.

An outrage! Somehow I doubt you'd be outraged if the AL only said things you like.

"Of course Twitter etc. are tools. Why would you assume that David and Michael do not already know this? And guess what? If you were a carpenter harping about how a 'nail gun is just a tool' I'd be harping just as much about the necessity of using the nail gun instead of a granite stone as well."

This is a weird comment, but I think I know what you're saying. I just don't like how most people here are knocking so-called twopointians just because they like using twitter for the library. While I agree with them that the 101 video thing was horrendous & embarrassing, I didn't appreciate the subsequent criticism against those of us who like using 2.0 technology. We're not deluded tech idiots and I don't like being told what to do, especially after 16 years in this profession and running a good library in a difficult urban community. Smugly mocking us for using these technologies makes them as annoying as the library 101 dudes.

"An outrage! Somehow I doubt you'd be outraged if the AL only said things you like."

Why do you assume this? I do agree with a lot of her blogs. So now we can't disagree and be "outraged"?

Sorry, I was referring to the previous comment, which claimed that LJ hosting the AL was an outrage. I've never believed the people attacking the AL for being "anonymous" care about that at all. If the AL was a happy librarian heaping praise on Library 101, no one would protest the AL on LJ.

That's right. When AL says something I agree with, I pay little attention to it because it's still under a veil of cowardice. I could say alot of things about other people if I knew I could be having beers with them the next day and they'd never know I had just trashed them in public.

But I've had my say now - I'm going back to what I love - serving patrons in the best way I know how using the best tools I know how to use. Soyonara mes amis.

Oh, thank you so much Ryan for your bit of social advice.

Maybe there's MORE to Newman than meets the eye.

No, there's less.

The most I get to know them, the more idiotic they seem.

The MORE I get to know them, that is.

Believe it or not, sometimes people really ARE idiots and sometimes the're no measurement of performance and no accountability. This idea that one has only to get to know people in order to find out that they are all interesting geniuses (or something) doesn't hold much water.

Ahh, typos and no way to edit posts...

Sometimes THERE'S no measurement of performance and no accountability.

And what is your deal with this word 'cowardly'? I might be too 'cowardly' to get to know my coworkers?

Ryan Deschamps, why waste your time defending your own good honor? Why waste your time reading AL's blog if you think she's so cowardly? Can you simply accept that several people here disagree with you - and that we're not simply sheep, blindly following AL? We have minds of our own. We have our own opinions, you have yours, whatever. I particularly appreciate Not Marian's comment that "Forums like this help us realize that others are facing the same problems and obstacles. If I wanted a relentlessly cheerful outlook I would limit my professional reading to American Libraries." Ha!

Whatever, Ryan. "veil of cowardice," sure, sure. You're not a hypocrite at all. You'd have exactly the same complaints if the AL were praising this crap. That's why you're so concerned with the dozens of "anonymous" library bloggers out there and not just the AL.

@Ryan

I never mind losing when I'm right. Which I am. I mean, who else would one claim to be but a leading light of the party if one were striking a blow for the cause. See the authors of the Apocrypha, none of whom claimed to be an unknown figure or less than an eyewitness.

But again, I ask (and I know you're not here anymore, but since you saw fit to ignore the real issue, I'll ignore your absence) where's your evidence that any of this technology is doing anything but making you and yours feel good about each other? Are you working on determining that your efforts are time well spent, or are you committed to a program, come Hell or high water?

I devised a macro to automate spine label printing from data from OCLC via WordPerfect. I introduced live chat reference to a large university library in 1998. Technology is not my enemy. But I demonstrated time was saved with the label automation, and abandoned the live chat when it wasn't getting used.

Where's your data? Your "thoughts" and assertions, your beliefs and commitments are of no use to me without facts.

@Anthony
Your live chat wasn't being used because it was 1998.

Thanks RCN. One of the biggest obstacles in our line of work can be the idiots we have to work with. And I just read the November issue of American Libraries. AL is a much better read, no doubt about it.

Tell me, Ryan, are you the poster we used to read here as Mr. Kat?

"Quite frankly, I think that libraries should block social networking sites and offer only a small number of DVDs. Seriously... so WHAT if these things are the most popular? If we offered free pizza to all patrons all the time, THAT would be the most popular thing in the library. We do not need to cater to the lowest common denominator and completely lose sight of why libraries are here. "

Thank you for pointing this out. We have gluttoned our public library with so many just-released DVD's that the local video stores are being hurt by it -- how does this help the community?

As my husband, frutsrated when I told him that the library I work for had made a large cut in book purchases in order to have this glut of DVD's, " Well, of course if they're free, people will want them! That's not what libraries should be spending their money on! They're hardly edifying!"

I agree. Furthermore, it would be nice of we would stop buying erotica drek.

ConfusedByItAll, it is so valuable to have a husband to let you know when you should be outraged. We are not all so lucky as to have such a guiding spirit in our lives. Is he also against erotica?

If you are against DVDs and erotica, what types of materials are you in favor of? Something good, positive, and all-American, I hope.

No, no, no. She said "erotica drek".

Good erotica, though, is fair game.

This is a really interesting debate. I think there should be room in the public library for all of the things that have been discussed.

I am the AV librarian in a small public library. We have a community that works hard to support their public library. I am very proud of the fact that my department provides around 50% of total circulation month after month. I am proud of my diverse collection that includes instructional DVDs, documentaries, television shows, performances of operas, plays, and bands like the Who, films that are great works of art, controversial works, stupid comedies, terrible horror movies, and Barbie videos. My music collection is fantastic and just as diverse. I like to think there is something in my department for everyone.

Why is this so important? Because even when people are coming to the library for music and video, they are learning. What I do is important, because this week, when a little girl wanted to find a certain movie, she demanded that her mom take her to the library, "because the librarian knows everything."

That's why I do what I do. Because I help people find what they need or want. I show them how to use technology. If I use a shiny toy like Twitter to let people know I have some popular new movie, or what tonight's movie is going to be, or that we're doing some games for the kids this week; that's great. But Twitter is not going to be around forever. Great films and music will be; just as great literature will be. They will be able to survive because of libraries.

I think the twopointopians are so distracted by the shiny, they lose sight of how we can use the shiny to further our mission of preserving the historic record and educating the populice (and maybe entertain it once in awhile too).

P.S. - Did y'all see the good news? ALA is dropping their membership rates for unemployed and underemployed librarians!

Oh good that means half of us might be able to afford being in the ALA

When I received my ALA membership renewal form yesterday, I promptly threw it in the trash. Well, okay, I shredded it along with my other junk mail.

This month's "American Libraries" features a title, "HOW TO BUILD BUZZ"!
Instead of building buzz, why don't libraries focus on building value. Now some will argue that they do have value and yes they do. But I mean value to people who are willing to respect libraries and pay money to keep them afloat. Instead of having to constantly beg for people to use them, not to mention the useless self promotion to stay afloat to provide services to the homeless, how about some fabulous cutting edge services that support the middle and upper middle class as well as profitable businesses. Then maybe, just maybe they will stay afloat and get some respect and funding.

Oh who am I kidding. 3/4 of all librarians would need to be let go and smart business people and real techies would need to be brought in.

Oh ho ho, More than Annoyed, you hit the nail on the head! We should be ignoring the homeless, elderly, and the young. Let us support the upper middle class man, he will save us. He has money to spare for all of us.

Oh I like it. So ingenious.

I'm disturbed to see little or no mention of public libraries as levelers of the class divide (not just digital). One reason to provide entertainment is that it makes commercial pop culture available to those who have no discretionary funds. Why should financially straitened citizens be denied the chance to see a feature film or hear a hit CD? For that matter, why should I be forced to buy mysteries that I consume like candy? I'd rather spend my taxes on giving myself, and others, access to these ephemera, as well as to enduring works of literature, technical manuals, and encycplopedic tools, print or online.