# 18 AID LEARNING 2.0

Started AID Learning apprehensive, even a little hostile. It was obligatory.
I am not so young. I dont use the internet, except at work, and only when neccessary, which is increasingly often.
Struck a number of technical problems regularly, because I am not at all familiar with the widespread technical jargon, buzzwurds, acronyms etc.
I had to ask for assistance when stuck.
I was most surprised and gobsmacked by what I found was "out there".
For a while I saw things through the eyes of a sociologist/anthropologist.
"Out there" was a major subculture of technology addicts, electronic junkies, hurriedly consuming a barrage of dumbed down "stuff"- the world of blogs, feeds and tags re food recipes rock bands,shopping fads, consumption of junk culture, junk news, junk commentaries, junk conversations.The endless consumption of gimmicks,by people communicating in a lingo of their own.Not unlike that of street gangs, pop groups or drug addicts.
I thought; What has this to do with libraries?
Was this some kind of American youth sub-culture incomprehensible to me?
But then I began to have second thoughts .
I had to change some of my views, adjust some of my attitudes.
Through masses and masses of junk, some items of substance began to take shape.
I was impressed by FLICKR.
I saw some limited uses of tagging.
I sensed some limited value in wikis.
I discovered podcasts.
I was impressed by Worldcat.
I was pleased by ZOHO WRITER.
I was delighted by GOOGLE MAPS.
To me the conclusion is obvious.
We need to cherry pick the array of "applications" available, where there are gains to be made.
What we must avoid is to slavishly impose on our library all that is new, as a crude form of ideology. Dumbing down worries me most.
Unfortunately , like everybody else, I have had to hurry through the literature, cut corners, skim read in all sorts of circumstances, all whilst doing regular duties at work.
I was not always able to think things through thoroughly.
I was only able to give brief passing comments. I was overwhelmed by so much strange technical jargon.
But I have definitely benefited from participating in this learning program.
I feel chastened, somewhat subdued, and have experienced some shift in some of my attitudes.
P.S. I am still haunted by the prospect of dumbing down of the SLV by the ideological concepts in "Library 2.0".