READIT - 2009 - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

Proceedings of READIT-2009, Kalpakkam - 603 102, 29-30 Dec 2009
7. ARE WE READY FOR LIBRARY 3.0?
We can put this question in the high of the explanations given in the previous pages. If we
analyse this question like this, the answer for this is no, still we are ready for library 3.0? The
reasons are as follows:
Many of the leading libraries are not in a position to adopt library 2.0 and many of the
libraries are not automated because of lack of manpower, infrastructure recognized and so on.
So the answer for this is no we not ready.
8. CONCLUSION
Library 3.0 is just around the corner and with foresight and planning we are confident that
libraries will overcome the barriers. Current experience suggests that librarians will spend an
increasing amount of their time in the electronic frontier. Many dimensions and properties of
this electronic frontier is unfamiliar and uncharted territory and our survival depends on well
we adapt our values and skills. With digital collections "remote access", and virtual reference;
access is on point of need so the issue is function and service not people and service. Services
will be in a variety of forms and places. So what does that mean for Librarian 3.0? Ability to
collect and provide information and to offer instruction in research techniques and
information use rather than by physical presence as somewhere people go. Librarian 3.0 will
also have to offer alternative services such as help at the ‘point of failure’ and other value
added services. Librarians or library staff of the future will have to be prepared for lifelong
learning. Some library staff may not be library trained so continual professional development
will be part of their everyday work. No one person can be expert in the vastness of
cyberspace and librarians will seek new alliance and develop new talents. Those libraries or
librarians that don’t will not be around to work with Library 3.0. Those that will be would
have taken heed of the following words from the naturalist Charles Darwin- 'It is not the
strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to
change.
References
1. Baker, Stephen. “Web 3.0”
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2006/10/web_30.html
(26 April 2007)
2. Bailin, Alan, and Grafstein, Ann. “From place to function: Academic libraries in 2012”
http://alpha.fdu.edu/~marcum/bailin_grafstein.doc (12 May 2007)
3. Choi, Youngok, and Edie Rasmussen. “What Is Needed to Educate Future Digital
Librarians”, D-Lib Magazine, September 2006.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/september06/choi/09choi.html (27 April 2007)
4. Choi, Youngok, and Edie Rasmussen. “What do Digital Librarians Do?” Proceedings of
the 6th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. June
2006. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=4119118 (27 April 2007)
5. Davis, Kate. “why Generation: the Millennial Librarian, or the future of Library
Management”. ALIA New Librarians Symposium 2006. UNSW, Sydney, Australia”
December 2006.
http://e-prints.alia.org.au/archive/00000135/01/davis%5Fk%5Fpaper.pdf
(4 May 2007)
6. De Rosa, Cathy, et al. Perceptions of libraries and information resources: a report to the
OCLC membership Dublin, Ohio : OCLC, 2005 (18 April 2007)
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