Messages about libraries on TV
Recently there have been two advertisements on television that are funny, but irk me because of the messages they are giving or not giving.
The Telstra Bigpond ad “Too many rabbits” has a voiceover at the end “Give your kids the right answers, get them broadband.” Will someone please grab that Dad and tell him that he doesn’t have to spend $30 a month or more to help his children get the right answers for their homework. He just needs to visit the public library. Not only will they most likely have a broadband connection there, they will also have a pile of books on China and the child will be able to take some of them home for nothing, zip, nada. In addition to the resources there will be someone who can guide him in the right direction and help the child assess whether the answers he has found are likely to be correct. More than likely the class teacher who assigned the research would probably have taken the class to the school library anyhow.
I wonder how many kids will one day be searching the Internet looking for answers about the Great Wall of China and find this on Youtube and not make the right assessment as to its accuracy.
The other ad, is Optusnet. The Library finds itself in competition with the Internet and is found lacking. At least this time libraries are in the same boat as banks, playgrounds, garages and shopping centres in this series of Optus broadband advertisements featuring wild animals.
A tiger wandering around the library mutters “it’s hard enough finding the right books, let alone someone to help” or something to that effect. OK, I know it’s a tiger and fair enough the library staff don’t want to be mauled to death, but I really hope that the public aren’t put off by the message that things are hard to find in libraries. I know that many find it hard to find the right stuff on the Internet — maybe we need a library ad selling that message.
Writing this post I found this comment by Deanne about the same ad on Ruminations
“The ad suggests that when you have the Internet, you don’t need RL libraries. Your comments reminded me of the ad, and how people are lead to believe that if you have the net, you’ll find the information you need independent of a librarian.”
Both of these ads send this message. Often people do find the information they need - but there is no admission that information-seeking on the Internet can at times be very challenging, the information found can be highly dubious and that online does not always suit everybody.
Are there any other TV ads that have a message about libraries?
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