Talis

This is the final version of my conclusion (basically only rewording the conclusions posted before this) to my submitted assignment criquing the Talis white paper entitled Do Libraries Matter?: The Rise of Library 2.0.

Does Library 2.0 matter? Although the answer to this question is “Yes,” it is far less technologically-oriented than the answer provided by Chad and Miller. To paraphrase Chad and Miller (and Newton!) a library is worth far more than the sum of all its information sources; it is a community source of information. To be truly successful in meeting the needs of library patrons, Library 2.0 technologies must be a financially viable forum for the development of the library’s staff and must serve (and protect the privacy of) library patrons in both real and virtual library environments – both of which lack the “musty book” atmosphere which Talis has wrongly associated with libraries.