This essay reflects on librarians learning new applications, whether for ourselves or to assist others. Because of the variety of applications we use and the need to keep up with them, we have developed the ability to figure them out, even when particular changes are frustratingly buggy. This paragraph sums it up: Many of us did not get into the library business because of a love for gadgets and whiz-bang technology. And yet, we do end up playing around with the technology. Why? At root it's about our commitment to service, and using the technology helps us serve our patrons. Twenty years ago, we served our patrons by acquiring resources (books, journals, Westlaw, LexisNexis), organizing the resources (cataloging and classification), making the resources available and keeping track of them (circulation, shelving), helping people use the resources (reference, instruction, finding aids). Now we perform the same basic functions, but new technology affects how. We acquire more electronic resources. Changes to the catalog (online catalogs, personalization, RSS feeds) affect how we organize the resources. We make resources available in the old way (books on shelves) but also through portals, online guides, IP authentication, federated searching, patron-initiated borrowing from other institutions, and other applications. And we use all sorts of new applications - e-mail, chat, blogs, screencasting, online tutorials, and more - in helping people use resources. We have had to learn a lot of new applications, but it's been for a good reason: to help us provide service
