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1st impressions are priceless


When I first tried to read the selections for the subject of this blog, I got weighted by all the research jargon. So I switched the order of the readings, and presto, I actually understood something.

First impressions are important, no doubt about that. I hate to think that I'm going to meet someone for the first time on those days when I roll out of bed on those mornings which follow a night of over-indulgence: too bad.

Sometimes a first impression is all you get. So, for a library to make a good one, especially to the online world, seems paramount to its' existence and flourishment. Lingaard, et al write that 50 milliseconds is all it takes for a web user to evalute the appeal of a web page in Attention Web Designers, (Lingaard 2006, 115). Apparently we are hard wired to respond emotionally much quicker than our ration works. I'm thinking of Ralph Kramden shouting, "One of these days!" or George Costanza yelling, "George is gettin' angry!"

The good news is that this study shows that people aren't so quick to pass judgement when they purchase items. "Consumers apply both holistic (emotional) and analytical (cognitive) judgement in the decision to buy a product" (Lingaard 2006, 117). Good to know. People only judge with the quickness on the web in regard to aesthetics.

So what does this mean for libraries?

Ross Atkinson states that libraries are perfect to be the keepers and producers of information, regardless of whether or not it is in print or electronic. But to compete, libraries must give a good impression, or continue to defy the general public's stereotype of libraries' outdatedness. People trust us with books, with their children, with learning and teaching in general.

What this article, Transversality and the Role of the Library as Fair Witness suggests, though, is that a library should do the job of those critical users in the web enviornment, essentially communicating value or evaluate the appeal and usefulness of the electronic info, AND be the researchers who design the information. "The library, to be a library, must always embody oth of these attributes simultaneously" (Atkinson 2005, 174).

Libraries pulling double-duty, in this case, must happen, has to happen. The public deems it to happen. Ideaology du jour. Flattering as it may seem, the library must also compete; not only with itself, but with other libraries. The "library is itself ultimately a kind of publication" (Atkinson 2006, 176) therefore it must be up to date to keep up that good first impression. Not just for aesthetic beauty of pleasure, but to validate its' very essence and really, hold itself accountable. (I also think it's great that this 2nd article was #12 in a result from searching Google for "first impressions")

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