Rant 2.0

Hey there, it's me, Librarian 2.0. I call myself that because it's, like, Web 2.0, but only I'm, like, a librarian. Get it? It makes me cutting edge. Try as we might, we librarians still have a complex about seeming to be on the outside looking in when it comes to our desperate struggle to be relevant to our users. Now it seems we have coopted "2.0", a meaningless designation if ever there was one, to signify our with-itness.

Come on, people, it goes without saying that we continually strive to anticipate our users' interests and needs, to keep pace with technology, to contemplate our changing role in society. We've always done that. You think that back when the 'brary had nothing but books, microfilm and vinyl lps we were just sitting back feeling smug and satisfied? No, man, there's always some new development just around the corner to replace the new development that just sucker-punched you. You can make a game out of anticipating it, but you'll never win.

I agree with these essays, for the most part. We ought to be proactive in packaging and delivering information in a manner that best suits our users. That is, and has always been, our area of expertise. Therein lies our value, and that is how we are, and will continue to be, relevant. Let's not pretend that we're right there at the forefront, on the very crest of the latest wave. We reflect the latest interests and needs, we respond to them. We do not determine them.

What I'm saying, I guess, is that this is nothing new. Even the stodgiest, stuffiest, crustiest old geezer librarian in the mustiest, shushiest, dustiest library-of-old recognized that the mission of the library as an institution depends on the needs and interests of the user. Without that, it's just a big collection of files and records, a tree falling in the woods with nobody around to hear it. The reality of change is constant; only the pace of it is different, thanks to technology. But the essayist/bloggers here think they've discovered it themselves, kind of like the teenager who believes he/she is the first to every have a certain thought or feel a certain way.

If it makes you feel any better to call the latest evolution in library service something like "creating an experience," well, fine.