There was the couple of women in their 50′s that I met on the “Kiwi Adventure Bus” (that was stacked to the rafter’s with backpackers in their 20′s) that were backpacking around New Zealand and Australia after both being widowed by cancer.  What a lesson in resilience, positive attitude and deep friendship!  A woman on her way to Houston to have carpal tunnel surgery who offered me a job in the HMO she worked for as soon as she learned I was a pharmacist.  Coincidentally, she was also in the airport for my return flight and yelled “Canada hey Canada” across the crowd to gain my attention since she couldn’t remember my name, but was in need of pharmaceutical advice.  Then there was an elderly gentleman that I passed every day as I walked to my internship site in Victoria, who one day grabbed my arm on my way by to say that he appreciated that I smiled and nodded at him and walked with purpose and determination. We went on to have great conversations about the war and what is was like to be a German in Canada at that time.   The cleaning lady in the NASA bathroom was the best travel guide to the area I’ve ever met!  I’ve been treated to stories of mischievous brothers feeding green oats to a horse destined to ferry a couple on their first date… and the disastrous results!  Anecdotes of kicking someone’s behind so hard they “wouldn’t know if they had piles(aka hemorrhoids) or tonsillitis”.

I count myself fortunate to have had these interactions and others too numerous to recount.  Experiences that have presented themselves because I Twitter — Twitter unplugged that is.  No matter what situation I’m in, I tend to throw out some kind of 140 character statement that indicates “I’m open to conversation and an exchange of ideas” even if it’s only a .  Sometimes it’s frostily rejected, sometimes it goes nowhere and other times it leads me into conversations that rock my world and change how I view something or everything!

I guess that’s why I enjoy Twitter (the online kind).  If you can get past the guy trying to sell something, promote something, or push an agenda and find the real people who are willing to share their stories, their perspectives, and their insights you will stumble across conversations that will enrich your life, change your thinking and sometimes even rock your world.

So I encourage everyone to Twitter away — online and in real life — on the plane, the ferry, public washrooms, or a city street.  Inspiration, insight,  information and connections can come from many places — the person sitting right next to you or even from the world that lies on the other side of your screen.

PS — as I completed this post @courosa tweeted this video a funny skit on “real life twitter” — please note that I do not suggest this approach…

As I’ve guided/assisted people in their exploration of the social web, I’ve found that people have various levels of engagement and acceptance.

1. Complete rejection — Some people do not, for whatever reason, wish to participate in the online world at all.  Others give it a try but have difficulty adjusting to the differences in communication, the way relationships are built, the different norms, the seemingly different language or any combination thereof.  They find the landscape to difficult to navigate and revert back to their original way of doing things.
2. Participation — Just as a visitor to another country may fall in love with the food, the music, or some other cultural artifact, often people identify the social web with a specific application such as Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube.  They are present in the online world but tend not to participate fully in the culture.
3. Xenophilia — According to Zuckerman “Xenophilia is broader than the love for a specific culture or an aspect of that culture – it’s a broader fascination with the complexity and diversity of the world. Xenophilia changes your behavior…” In the digital sense this translates beyond a love for Facebook or Twitter.  It is about a different way of seeing the world, a realization that there may be other ways to frame problems and find solutions.

I believe that, in the digital context of bridge figures and xenophiles, some xenophiles do go on to become bridge figures.  Sharing their knowledge and passion with others to create a better understanding of the possibilities offered by the social web.  It is an interesting and sometimes challenging dynamic but one worth exploring.

The challenge bridge figures face is in finding people willing to listen; the challenge for the xenophile is locating and listening to these different voices without being overwhelmed by the roar of the internet. — Ethan Zuckerman

As I listened to the interview, which was on a podcast usually devoted to technology, I couldn’t help but wonder if those same principles could be applied to the social web.  I have never been a big fan of the whole digital native/immigrant model, mostly because it seems to give the so-called “immigrants” an excuse to give up, but the idea of the social web as a separate culture still resounds with me.  The social rules are different on the web, the way we interact, who we interact with, how we define relationships, how we build relationships, what is considered appropriate behaviour…. it’s all different .. just as it can be in a different country, a different culture.

I certainly feel like  a “third culture kid” in regards to  digital world.  I grew up when home computing was just taking off.  I’ve had one foot rooted in the “offline world” by my parents (and my early) culture and the other has been dangling in cyberspace culture since first learning  BASIC in grade school (come on — at least some of you remember those circles, triangles, rectangles and/if/when arrows!!).  It is something that I’m passionate about — on both sides of the equation.  I guess that is why I identified with Zuckerman’s “bridge figures”.  I have been spending a lot of time lately “bridging the gap” between the on and offline cultures, for friends, family and lately a few teachers in our school (and beyond). It is extremely rewarding but can be exhausting as well!!

The thing to remember about bridges is that you don’t just cross one way.  I feel as a bridge figure my role is not only to facilitate an appreciation of digital culture but also to facilitate an understanding of culture firmly rooted in the “offline” world.  At this time, and for a long time to come,  those that can communicate, function within, and appreciate each culture equally will certainly have an edge.

What about the people that cross those bridges?  Well that is another post…

With my cell phone in hand, I have access to more information than I would have ever found at my local library when I was a child (or probably even today).  The problem today is not a lack of resources, it is a problem of seemingly limitless information.  There needs to be a movement away from information retrieval towards information synthesis.  We need help distilling the mountains of information into a molehill!

The digitization of all types of media (print, video, audio, etc) is increasing exponentially and libraries need to keep ahead of the trend.  Today I went to pick up a hold for my 8 year old daughter.  She had ordered Harry Potter on Audio book.  I took one look at the 18 CD collection and promptly sent it back.  We don’t have a “discman” for her to listen to them on and I’m not about to rip 18 CD’s in order to load them on her MP3.  With other devices such as the Kindle and other e-book readers emerging we need to prepare to meet the needs of patrons embracing these new (not so new?) technologies in order to stay relevant.

If e-books (and readers) and various other digital media readers continue to rise in popularity will that make the need for a brick and mortar library obsolete?  If libraries continue in their current incarnation it might.  They need to reinvent themselves as “vibrant community learning and information centres”.  A hub of the community where people gather in a social ( and learning) environment.   Some suggested we needed to open a Starbucks in each library — and I think they were only half kidding!

As e-learning opportunities continue to rise, libraries have to be responsive to the needs within their communities.  Act as a bridge between the post-secondary institution programing  and the members of the community that require access to those programs.  There is an untapped resource of members in our communities who would like to futher their studies but because of various factors, such as family life, cannot move away to pursue their education.  Facilitation of these connections should be a part of a rural libraries mandate.

It is an exciting time in the evolution of libraries.  The opportunities for expansion of services are fascinating especially in a rural setting,  however I’m not sure we are in a position to capitalize on the opportunities at hand.  The majority of participants in our session yesterday were adamant that the “traditional book” will always be valued above any digitized version, most didn’t know what a Kindle/e-book reader was, even more lamented that “once a kid gets on the computer we’ve lost them”.  Councillors, trustees, librarians and citizens need to be made aware of the changes in media, education, and content delivery that are happening right now before we can map a plan for the future.

There is sure to be struggles ahead as we try to strike a balance between the traditional role of a library and the new possibilities for growth and revitalization but it is a struggle worth undertaking to ensure that rural communities continue to realize benefits from their local library.  What will the future of your library be?  A community gathering place? E-learning centre? On-line resource portal? Early literacy centre?  Teen hang-out?  Seniors outreach?  E-book download site? Without my crystal ball I can’t tell but I can guarantee it’s not just about books anymore.