Week 12: Wrap up; social networks and catch up

Well, here I am huffing and puffing into the end of this journey - what do I really think about it? It's been a fasinating experience. All these things we can do, learn, experience and be part of from the comfort of our own home. It's nothing short of amazing and we as information people really need to be abreast of it. For this, a big thank you to NSL for the opportunity and the efforts of it's staff - it's been a challenge but also lots of fun.

As for social networking and the library, well..... it's certainly a form of communication and as such it can/should be embraced by libraries as an inexpensive form of advertising for upcoming events whatever they may be. Maybe we could have book club groups and writer's groups and short 'How to' course groups - look at how much have we've learnt through doing this. What about downloads to ABOOKS, EBOOKS don't seem to have a great interst but downloads to audio books, that would take off. Of course all the pesty things like copyright/creative commons and inappropriate contacts would be sorted for us. Who knows where this brave new world will take us but we must be bold. With one foot in the new and the other in the old we'll have the majority of out community catered too - wouldn't that be wonderful.

I guess what I really think is - this is the way of the future and whether I like it or not its happening and I need/want to know about it and be comfortable using it. As much as I love sitting in my backyard with the sun on my back reading a fantastic book, I love the ease of checking out Wikipedia to find the meaning of something rather than trawling through endless pages in an encyclopedia or dictionary. So... at the end of the day they're all just more resourses to help us on our destination and for that we should rejoice. A little deep - possibly, but its late and I'm finished - so good night. Did I say it's been fun? Many thanks...