With a changing society and new technolgogies the game for libraries has
changed - we are now on a second level of the game (having spent the past
150 years on level 1). We are though still largely playing as if we were on
the level 1 game, and so not doing so very well at level 2 yet.
There are various strategies that we can use to get the hang of gameplay at
this second level (the last time I bounced this off a colleague I thought of
at least half a dozen). One strategy is the opportunites created by new
technologies, another is to develop Reader Development ideas further than
they have been developed so far by libraries (the Reader-Centred approach,
there is plenty of scope to work on the quality of the reading experience in
society, something that I'm sure everyone's personal experience tells them
that there is plenty of room for improvement in -- it has always been
assumed I think in the library world that DDC and fiction generas would
suffice - maybe because libraries have believed that it is not in their
power to do more). I'm interested in the development of Reader Development
(a mission which I place on the libraries!), and in particular through the
use of the opportunites of new technologies.
I've posted a post over on READER-DEVELOPMENT for which I'd appreciate any
comments from anyone interested in Reader Development and the Reader-Centred
approach, I'll post back to the list on any feedback I get:
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=READER-DEVELOPMENT;zqskOg;20091219212651%2B0000
I hope no one minds my somewhat poetic account of the current context of
libraries :)
Gareth Osler
http://libraryweb.info
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