Thing 15 (or, 2.0 or 2.No?)

From the frivolous to the frightening in only 5 Things!
We're talkin' Library 2.0, y'all - and if you believe these folks, the times, they are a changin'.

But are they changing for the better? I don't know - there are pieces of the Library 2.0 puzzle that really appeal to me - the idea that patrons could interact with our catalogs and offer their own tags and comments (think Library Thing, but in our OPAC)? I love it! But the idea that the library as a place is outmoded or less important than our web presence?
I don't think so.
Sure, we need to offer information to our patrons where they want to find it, but guess what? Some of them actually WANT to find it here in the library! Lots of them come in (and no, they're not all just schoolkids with assignments) who ask us for "a book on ___" - did they ask for "information on _____"? Sure, some do, but you know what?
There's safety in them there books, y'all.
Why? I know, I know, just because it's printed and bound doesn't make it true, but once it's made it into print and paper, it's pretty well locked in - take it or leave it, doubt it or believe it, do what you want with it. Is there that finality with anything on the Web? I don't know - call me a dinosaur, but if government websites can get hacked, who's doing the security on my blog or any other "informational" website? And when everybody can 'publish' anything they want to on the Web, who's fact checking? Sure, we know that editors and publishers don't fact check EVERYthing (think about that James Frey mess a couple of years ago), but at least you know that it had to get through at least a couple of other sets of eyes before it got to yours and proclaimed itself to be true.

And don't even get me started on the folks who don't have internet access at home (yours truly included) - what about us? I'm lucky, I have a PC sitting right here on my desk at work, but when I go home - no internet for me... we can't get hi-speed at my house yet, and dial-up just isn't worth the trouble. What about all those folks who don't even have the luxury of a work computer? And all of those who tell me "I can't do those computer-things like you do" - hey, if they don't want to learn, that's their perogative, right? We can't force them along, but it doesn't seem fair to just leave them on the side of the road, with no assistance either, because we've all gone speeding down the information superhighway with nary a glance in the rearview mirror, either.

That's it for now - I'm tired of all this deep thought. Where's my Pony Generator?!