09/04/07 Merlin & other Library Related Blogs Exercise #9

Merlin and other library related blogs are very useful for librarians to keep up-to-date with what is happening in not only their library system, but others throughout their state and national systems. Technology changes very rapidly in today's world. It is important that libraries keep pace with knowledge so that they will remain an invaluable information and reference source for patrons. If we want to maintain the existence of libraries into the future, libraries and librarians must remain informed about the latest technological advance. As an employee involved in the circulation, I do not see the benefits of the blogging technology as much as I see it for the librarians. The one use that I see for MERLIN is to possibly gain knowledge of how other libraries function in the areas of circulation. In this way, we can eventually have all state systems be streamlined, so that we can become more flexible for use by patrons. I do not spend a great deal of time on the computer. Other than to occasionally browse various blogs, I do not see this as a valuable resource for me at this time. On further thought, however, perhaps if I had a question about a related health matter, I could discover a blog which would allow me to find an article or latest medical advance, or blog with others who may have the same condition. Information sharing such as this helps, because you then know that someone else is out their who may have similar experiences.