Week 6 / Thing 15: Web 2.0 and the future of Libraries

I read Tom Storey’s OCLC article: Web 2.0: Where Will the Next Generation Web Take Libraries? (http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/1.htm)
I think it’s noteworthy that the OCLC articles are from 2006. Tom Storey’s predictions that the web is changing are pretty accurate. The web doesn’t just provide content, it connects us and not just with our computers, but using our other many toys as well. Consider the recent run on iphones. With an iphone, one could leave the computer at home and do most of the tasks you need to do: email, surf the web, play music, watch videos, oh, and talk on the phone.

I don’t think that libraries will be the cutting edge necessarily since in this class we’re playing with every tool the 2-year old article lists: Flickr, MySpace, FaceBook, del.icio.us, YouTube, LibraryThing. Storey calls these the first traces. I’ve been aware of many of these tools, but my patrons are far more adept at using them than I.

I was thinking about this idea of how to keep up with my patrons and apply these new tools to library services so I can best serve them in the world they prefer, I read Michael Stephens article: Into a New World of Librarianship (http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm). Stephens lists some traits of Librarian 2.0. The first trait, plan for your users is universal and should underlie every decision a librarian makes in any century. We should include our users in any plans we make, our policies should be based on improving access and providing for our patrons’ needs.

Trait 2 is to embrace Web 2.0 tools. We should be using them to promote our libraries and to communicate with our patrons. Stephens suggests creating Library MySpace accounts. This of course is not feasible in a school district that blocks myspace, but we should be looking for other ways to engage and woo patrons.

Traits 3 – 5 include good advice. Control tehnolust and buy technology that fit into your mission and goals, not just for the sake of the latest, cool stuff. Making good, fast decisions that provide for ease of use and user involvement is just good advice in any service industry. Being a trendspotter can be valuable if you don’t get overwhelmed and can pull out and apply those trends to your particular library needs.

Finally, Trait 6: Librarian 2.0 gets content resonated with me. Stephens writes that content is a conversation and patrons will want to “create their own mash ups, remixes and original expressions and should be able to do so at the library or via the library’s resources. This librarian will help users become their own programming director for all of the content available to them.” We have to let go of this idea that the collection is contained within library walls and is static. This is exhilarating and terrifying. I hope I’m up for it.