Thoughts on "Away from Icebergs"

I read the perspective on "Away from Icebergs" by Rick Anderson. Anderson feels that there are 3 "icebergs" in the paths of even the most well-intentioned librarians, that could prevent us from most effectively serving our patrons in the future.

The first iceberg is "The just in case collection". Anderson believes that trying to stock a library with print resources that anticipate a patrons every whim and need is a futile task. He points out that patrons are going to (if they already don't) expect electronic and online access to everything. It sounds like Anderson feels that since they're (patrons) are going to expect unfettered access, we should forget print and instead focus on providing unfettered access to electronic resources. Personally, I am on the fence about this. As a student, I cannot express how grateful I am to be able to access scholarly resources online, even in the middle of the night. However, for some information resources, even though I have online access to them, I definitely prefer looking at the print resource component because it is easier for me not to lose my place when I'm looking in a book. I can flip back and forth more easily between pages, and I think that even in the future, some patrons may still want this flexibility.

The second iceberg Anderson talks about is "reliance on user education". I was a little confused by this point because Anderson says that "We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills, but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information that they need." Anderson gives the example of teaching them how to navigate "lousy search interfaces" as an example of a "barrier". However, I fail to see how a search interface can be considered a "barrier" if we are supposing that most of the collection is going to be available electronically. If we were talking about a print collection, maybe a barrier would be not having a way to physically access the library. When we're talking about an online collection though, a search interface (and lousy ones at that) don't seem to be as much of a barrier, as a research skill. In library school they teach us about aspects of search engines in general and how to look for and exploit them in the research process. Thus, learning how to approach different interfaces becomes part of the research process. I just think its important that we identify navigating search engines as a research skill that we need to teach to patrons because as we increasingly rely on electronic resources, it is going to be this "skill" of navigating different interfaces that helps them with the research process.

The third and final iceberg Anderson identifies is, "The 'come to us' model of library service". I think Anderson is right on target with this notion. In terms of libraries of the future, if people have unfettered access to everything they need right at home, then why come to the library? Virtual branches of libraries may provide electronic access to books, magazine subscriptions, etc., and thus people may not need to physically set foot in the library to access these resources. However, I still think the library will exist as a "place" where people can go to find a peaceful environment where they can do their work, etc. Sometimes people need to get away from the distractions of home or work to get things accomplished and I think the library has been, and will continue to be a necessary place in that respect.