InfoSpeak: Volume 3, Number 2
The Librarian in Black: Sarah Houghton-Jan on Web 2.0
Length:17 minutes
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Topics discussed:
- The "Librarian in Black" blog
- Web 2.0 practicality
- Social networking as a sustainability tool
Sarah Houghton-Jan:
Old library values, new web technology
Sarah Houghton-Jan wears black, but her vision of the future is bright with the promise of social networking software. She may be far from the traditional image of a librarian, but her motivation of service for the patrons of our public libraries is wonderfully traditional. The model she advocates for this service however is not.
Sarah is quietly passionate about helping libraries succeed by adopting Web 2.0 social networking software. In four years of persistent advocacy, Houghton-Jan has created a well-known and credible platform for her sustaining belief that libraries must adapt to this new trend, sharing her web 2.0 experience with her Librarian in Black blog.
In the 1960's, Marshall McLuhan identified a paradox that is robustly manifest now, that our unconscious nature impels us to employ new technologies to regain an essentially pre-technical state. McLuhan asserted that people have the deepest subconscious longing to return to a society that mirrors a tribal village community, a place where we are know for who we are, and predicted that humankind would use every new communication technology as the extension of an instinctive effort to serve this great need. In 2007, seeking community has come to mean using blogs, wikis, podcasts, Myspace, Facebook, and more iterations to come. The Librarian in Black suggests that our community libraries do the same.
I hope you will enjoy this conversation, and Sarah’s authoritative perspective, in this Volume 3 Number 2 of InfoSpeak.
~Michael Wood
...You will see that they are using these technologies in every aspect of their lives now; if the libraries don't keep up with that, the library becomes disconnected from a major part of these peoples lives... and if we are not there with them, we will fast become irrelevant to their lives..."
Sarah Houghton-Jan
Sarah Houghton-Jan holds a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois, and a Master of Arts in English Literature from Washington State University. She works as the Information and Web Services Manager at the San Mateo County Library in San Mateo, CA. In 2006 the Librarian In Black was named one of the top ten librarian blogs. She presents internationally on libraries and technology, and her articles have appeared in journals such as Computers in Libraries, Online, and Public Libraries. She is the author of Technology Competencies and Training for Libraries and the LibrarianInBlack.net.