LIS 701 – Fall 2007 Discussion Blog

This week you have three discussion questions to respond to:

http://lis701fall2007.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/online-discussion-1-professions-do-not-stand-still/

http://lis701fall2007.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/online-discussion-2-the-information-revolution/

http://lis701fall2007.wordpress.com/2007/10/27/online-discussion-3-perceptions-of-libraries/

Aim for 2-3 paragraphs per question and revisit the posts often to see what your 701 colleagues are saying. Respond to their opinions as well. Sign your name to your posts!

Please explore http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm Here are some of the findings about libraries reported in the study:

Information consumers use the library.

They use the library less and read less since they began using the Internet.

The majority of respondents anticipate their usage of libraries will be flat in the future. (Parts 1.1 and 3.7)

Borrowing print books is the library service used most.  (Part 2.1)

“Books” isthe librarybrand. There is no runner-up.  (Part 3.8)

Most information consumers are not aware of, nor do they use, most libraries’ electronic  information resources.  (Parts 1 and 2)

College students have the highest rate ofl ibrary use and broadest use of library resources, both physical and electronic. (Parts 1 and Part 2)

Only 10 percent of college students indicated that their library’s collection fulfilled their information needs after accessing the library Web site from a search engine.

Then read about the new OCLC study here:

http://freerangelibrarian.com/2007/10/24/oclcs-report-on-privacy-and-trust-the-nut-graf/ 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/esc10/blogs/E-Tech/2007/10/the_state_of_the_library_web_s_1.html 

As a new librarian, what might you make of these findings? What should librarians DO to improve perceptions and use of their institutions? What core values are threatened? How might we change our list of values to balance these feelings?

Respond with two – three paragraphs summarizing your thinking on this data.