Why I Luv Web 2.0

As I was demonstrating Google Books to my dearly beloved late last night, I told him just how much I luv this era. All the things I dreamt of as a kid are right here, right within my reach... I was showing him the full text books available now that support our hobbies. By extension, I am also able to add to our library's offerings...

Okay, let me back up. I'm learning about heraldry for my persona in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). I've been using World Cat and Delicious to bookmark the necessary resources for onomastics and blazonry. So, as I was wandering around, I decided to put some items on my Amazon wishlist... and that led to, I wonder if these are available through Google Books? Sure enough, some of those prized resources are available to me through GB. Then I noticed that wonderful link: add to my library. One click and they were added to my Google Library.

And because I am a curious workaholic, I decided to type into Google Books those magic words, "south carolina". To backfill, we are digitizing our state documents collection; and we have this marvelous and sorely underused collection of books published prior to that magical year 1923. However, we don't have (and don't have the money for) a digitizer with a book cradle. (I know... time to write a grant or something.) I did a search in our catalog for items published in the 19th century. Then I did a search in Google Books for "south carolina", full view. Don't you know that many of our "rare" items have already been digitized by Google?? Quite frankly, I find that pretty exciting! We will now be adding an 856 field in our MARC records. Less for us to digitize... and more immediate access for our patrons. (Our cataloger is going to love me on Monday. LOL.)

I just luv this time (provided our elected officials don't FUBAR). I went into the sacred art (philosophy) -- naively, I might add -- because I was in luv with the art of wondering and of knowledge. I continued, some years later and no less naively, into library science, for the very same reason. I know we can't make people wise (not quite that naive), but I also feel we can provide the tools people need to discover knowledge, and hence to develop wisdom.

I still have the days when Socrates is buttonholing me, hounding me even, asking me exactly what is wisdom? what is the common good? ... and all those other questions he and Moses are so fond of asking....

Today, I can say. leave me alone, you old cherubed cheeked geek, and you bright horned prophet.... Just stop and look at how far we've come...

And yet, how far we have to go. Isn't it beyond thrilling??

Can they ever intersect? ...

I still think they can....