As a mom of a college sophomore, A Vision of Students Today, made me think how different learning today is compared to my college years. I love how the information was presented in the video however, the overall tone was that these college kids are powerless to make changes...I'd like to see a follow up video where the message focuses on the solutions and possibilities.
Great quote from The OCLC website by Rick Anderson and I couldn't agree with him more: "if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons." As librarians we need to work hard to get our services and resources easily accessible for teachers and students. Michael Stephens discusses "technolust", that as librarians we need to be always mindful of what our mission and goals are to to be sure that the technology we're considering are meeting the needs of our patrons.
On Diane Chen's School Library Journal blog, Practically Paradise there has been a very emotional exchange of comments to her post "get out of my profession" in which Chen discusses her frustration with librarians who are afraid to try something new or embrace the possibility of change. Chen isn't saying that every librarian needs to be totally immersed in the web 2.0 world but that we need to be willing to look at new things, be open to possibilities and be willing to try. Complacency in any profession leads to stagnation.
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Thanks for the mention. I think librarians need to do more "thinking" about our profession and the professionals in it. A librarian who is constantly whiny, unwilling to try new things, and not serving his or her patrons fully is a detriment to our profession. The impact is profound as principals and teachers share their feelings about these placeholders. It has made for lively conversation.
ReplyDeleteDiane, your comment certainly led to a passionate discussion!! I think there are people like that in every profession. I love what Ab Lincoln said about attitude, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" Bold of you to say what many people were thinking!
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