Chris Potter and I are having a discussion about a list of library information tech skills I am working on. See the comments section on my post plus Chris’ latest post.

We are both web 2.0 fans, but we are disagreeing on the value of library websites in a web 2.0 world. It surprises me that someone who is a book reader himself, doesn’t see the same value in library web sites that I do. But then, I wonder how anyone can exist without a library – physical and virtual. Libraries are like air and water to me.

I understand the points Chris makes. But ultimately I disagree. If you are suffering from insomnia, keep reading. The sheer length of my response will send you off to dreamland in no time. Consider yourself warned.

I am not saying that libraries and library websites are the ONLY way to find information. I am not even saying that they are the best way to find information in all circumstances. Just for SOME things – mainly books and databases, and finding a real live person to help.

Yes – database information might (someday) be available from Google – but not anytime soon. For the most part information from books and periodicals is not available on the free web. Yes – many magazines will give you a few complete articles on their websites – but often you find only a few paragraphs – followed by a button to pay $ to get the rest of the article. Libraries pay for the databases, so the public can get the articles for free. Can you get good info just surfing the net? Of course you can. But the library is a good source of a whole category of information that is just not available there yet.

Visionary libraries are creating websites that will become destinations in the same way the physical library is a destination. For instance, for book lovers, I see a library as a physical place to go where you can join a book discussion group and then continue the discussion online with the library website. Can you discuss books online without a library website? Of course you can. But then, is MySpace the only social networking site? Is Google the only search engine? It’s all about choice. For those who like books – the library is one of the best choices.

Chris questions the need to teach kids online citation programs such as EasyBib…. EasyBib is just one of many tools. If you work for Kodak, or the University of Rochester etc. and need to attribute information (and you better believe that you need to), you have a couple of choices. You can use the citation 1.0 method – laboriously type the information into MLA or APA format, using a handbook to guide you. OR- you can remember that your friendly school librarian taught you EasyBib (or one of the many other bib makers on the web). From there you simply type in the info, and let the program put in all the punctuation, alphabetize your list, & save it as a word document, all in one easy step. Your choice. Our English dept. has always taught MLA – but has been careful to let kids know there are other formats out there. Now we teach them EasyBib and let them know there are other programs out there.

Chris mentioned our lovable content filter (BESS). BESS is just something that will block kids when they are in school. College websites and public library websites (for the most part) don’t have to deal with that. If it were up to me – BESS would not exist (at least in the high school). BESS certainly is not going to stop me from teaching kids the benefits of using a library website.

Library pages are centered around books and databases. They even point folks to Google and other search engines. If you don’t want books and databases, and Google is all you need or want – fine. You don’t need libraries. But if you do love/need books and/or need academic journals – library web sites are the best place to find them for free. I go to my public library website 3 or 4 times a month to put books on hold. I am not a fan of audio books – but if I were, I can go to the public library site and download free audio books. I don’t have to buy them from Borders or a garage sale, or even iTunes. If I want to read an ebook – I don’t have to go to Amazon and pay them for it. I can go right to the public library site and download an ebook for free. Libraries have been the source of free books for years. In spite of the popularity of the web – people still like to read – young and old. Books cost money. Libraries provide them for free. And they provide them via library web sites.

Without a doubt – virtually all non-fiction will be web-based one day, but not all of it will be free – at least not for quite some time. That’s where libraries come in. Right now, if you go to Google Book Search and you find a book you want – you are presented with choices. If the book you want is in the public domain, you can read it on Google (can’t print it though). If it is still under copyright, you get a choice too. For instance, I just looked up “The World Is Flat” on Google Book Search and here is what I saw:

Buy this book

Amazon.com

Barnes&Noble.com

Books-A-Million

BookSense.com

Google Product Search

Borrow this book

Find this book in a library

So – I can either spend my hard-earned money on the book (new or used – it still costs money) . OR – I can click the “find this book in a library” button and World Cat (the mother of all library websites) will tell me which libraries own it in proximity to my zip code. I can then click on the nearest library’s website & place a hold on the book. Yes – I have to go to the library and pick it up. But guess what? There are still plenty of folks who enjoy going to a library. I know – crazy talk.

Chris mentions finding a lot of information on Wikipedia and the Massachusetts Historical Society. Those sites certainly MIGHT be just the right amount to satisfy my information need. But then again, they might not if I am obsessed with the role of women in the revolutionary war and want to write a book about it – or just can never get enough of the topic. I would really want to go to a library website to find out what books my local library has to offer, order some books from surrounding public and academic libraries, and print out some scholarly articles from the databases on the website. Not to mention go to the Library of Congress website to search their American Memory site for primary documents, etc. The MA Historical Society puts a lot of information on their site and provides access to other sites of interest. So do libraries. I suspect one goal of the MA Historical Society or Smithsonian etc. is to promote their websites as a portal to information. They are not saying they are the only way – they are just a very good way. Google is great. Libraries are STILL better for books.

When movies came out – it was going to be the death of books. When TV came out, it was going to be the death of books, when VCR’s and DVD’s came out, it was going to be the death of books. It has never happened. I’ve been following the chatter about the Kindle. The books lovers of the world like it OK – but only as a convenient hand-held way of making printed material portable, and mostly for non-fiction. The vast majority say that they prefer a print book for recreational reading.

Chris mentions finding books he wants at second hand books stores. Used book stores are great. $5 is a terrific price for a book. But – do book lovers have room for every book they want to read? Do the landfills have enough room for every book read once and then tossed out? Do book nuts have the money (even at bargain prices) for every book they want to read? Not a millionaire? The library is the place to go.

I would be doing a disservice to the kids if I did not promote library web pages. I would certainly do a disservice to them if I did not teach them how to use databases. Yes – I also need to teach them effective search strategies and evaluation skills for the free web. That’s on the list too – although the list is not done yet. The biggest complaint I read from college profs about the research skills they see are “They are satisfied with the first 3 results from Google”; “they believe everything they read on the web”; “they don’t know how to locate scholarly, peer-reviewed journals”; “they don’t know how to construct a good web search”. We need to concentrate on all those skills – for the college bound AND for the lifelong learners and lifelong readers.

Eventually, everyone (well – almost everyone) finishes with school and rarely, if ever, walks into a classroom again. They will no longer need school or college websites. Hopefully teachers, professors & librarians will have made SOME impact over the years. Hopefully our former students will have enough knowledge and curiosity to be able to come up with effective key word searches for Google AND databases. The skills are very similar.

Hopefully they will enter a library again during their lifetime, and maybe even use a library website. If they don’t – oh well. It won’t be because they were never taught.

And hopefully the next time they want to read the latest hot best seller – they will know that they don’t HAVE to pay for it from Amazon. They have a choice.