Learning 2.0-Arizona style

For those of you who couldn't attend the MCLD Library 2.0 program Thursday, it was very interesting.

Our speaker, Michael Stephens, is a library school professor and proponent of Library 2.0 technologies. He spoke about the OCLC perceptions report of libraries, the changing mission, purpose and role of libraries in our communities, and how we might be able to fulfill those roles using a variety of new technologies. He argues that the library should work to take back the role of being the center of social and cultural networking in our communities.His website Tame the Web: Libraries and Technology features two postings about our session in Phoenix and some of the feedback from the participants.

He certainly brings a different perspective than we've heard before, and his comment below has implications for the future of libraries (emphasis added was mine).

Talking about a Shift & Putting Up Barriers

Yesterday I spent four hours with 70 Arizona librarians at a workshop sponsored by the Maricopa County Library System. We talked Web 2.0, trends guiding technologies and the shift toward a collaborative and social networked society. It's apropo that while catching up on my edubloggers, I discover this quote posted by Will Richardson from the new book Wikinomics:
These changes, among others, are ushering us toward a world where knowledge, power, and productive capability will be more dispersed than at any time in our history—a world where value creation will be fast, fluid, and persistently disruptive. A world where only the connected will survive. A power shift is underway, and a tough new business rule is emerging: Harness the new collaboration or perish. Those who fail to grasp this will find themselves ever more isolated—cut off from the networks that are sharing, adapting, and updating knowledge to create value.

His session was thought provoking and it would be great to have him as a speaker for a wider group at our library at some point in the future.

Thanks to Marshall Shore and his vision in putting this workshop together and opening it to Valley librarians!