Library 2.0

After reading through the perspectives on the future of libraries, I was most struck by the first perspective, "Away from Icebergs," and the last perspective listed, "To a temporary place in time."  I thought Rick Anderson's views were the most blunt and brutally honest of the perspectives, especially in his discussion of the future of collections.  I must admit, although I agree with most of what he had to say, I always find myself feeling a little sad at the thought of diminishing library collections.  While more and more sources of information are available in formats other than print, and we may not need to collect as many print resources, I still believe things need to be available in print to a certain extent.  I know Web 2.0 and all it has to offer needs to be embraced, but I don't think we should ever let the traditional library just slip away, as it seems Anderson is suggesting.  The "Reliance on Education" section was also interesting to consider as Anderson suggests, libraries need more of a focus on eliminating barriers, rather than on educating users on how to properly use research tools and learn research skills.  At first when I read this, I seriously had a tough time with what he was saying as it seemed he was arguing for librarians to stop spending so much time teaching information literacy; however, after I read it again, I don't think he was actually quite that harsh.  There are many barriers, confusions involved, and necessary trainings for acquiring the proper research skills that do seem a bit excessive, and if more effort was put towards creating easier ways to operate services then yes, maybe some of these research problems students regularly encounter could be solved.  However, teaching is a major aspect of librarianship and will always involve the teaching of information and research skills in some way.  I think there is a happy medium that can be reached between devoting time to teaching students research skills, and also improving the actual services themselves.