Week 6 #15 Library 2.0

About 2.0
February 26, 2007
In the spirit of the academic librarian 2.0 - Alejandro Chiner Arias

"There seems to be an implication that librarians should avoid being over-cautious, or perfectionists, and that they should be more willing to make mistakes. I suppose she means to take risks and manage those risks.
The universal truth that any trainee librarian soon learns is that one cannot keep everybody happy all the time. To please one impatient user by imperfectly releasing a resource, often cannot be done without causing mayhem and disadvantaging other users."

Above is an opinion on being in beta at all times.

I think there is much to be said for Library 2.0, but let's not change for change's sake. Are we really improving service to all of our patrons, or benefiting one set at the expense of another?

There are some road blocks on the way to Lib 2.0, which one of the authors called icebergs. These include "Just in case" collection; reliance on user education; and a "come to us" model. There is no point in having a large "just in case" collection with so much information available online now, but we still need collection development, it just may look different. As far as user education goes, if a service can't be used without training, then it is the service that needs to be fixed, not the patrons. We need to be more in the space where our users are. They won't want to come to us much longer. We are trying this with chat and IM. The libraries may need to push out information to users in the future.

From Wikipedia:
The Librarian 2.0 listens to staff and users when planning, talks about successes and failures, allows staff time to play and learn, and dream of the best library services. The key principles of Lib 2.0 are innovation, people, community building and participation through social computing. It is not a closed concept, it is beta forever.

Some librarian bloggers have argued that the key principles are not new and have been part of the services suggested by library reformers since the 19th century. Others would like more concrete examples on how to implement Lib 2.0. Walt Crawford indicates that it incorrectly places libraries as the appropriate source for all users to gather all information. The proponents of Library 2.0 argue that while individual pieces of Lib 2.0 may not be entirely new, the convergence of these service goals and ideas with many Web 2.0 technologies has led to a new generation of library service.

One thing I would like to see happen with 2.0 is in library architecture. Since we have so many more people on computers and phones rather than studying quietly, buildings need to be designed for quiet areas where the noise from the computer areas and circulation doesn't penetrate. I think the most complaints we get around the amount of noise in the building. Some people are amazed that libraries aren't quiet anymore like they used to be. Maybe this will call for more computer lab type rooms or more individual study rooms for groups of different sizes. This may not be considered 2.0 because in isn't technology driven, but it is important to me, and to the comfort of the customers who visit the library.

Yesterday I came across an article about the World Digital Library. It will be the ultimate, multicultural tool for researching and retrieving information about knowledge and creativity from any era or place. The WDL (http://www.worlddigitallibrary.org/) will provide free access to original documents, films, maps, photographs, manuscripts, musical scores and recordings, architechural drawings, and other primary resources through a variety of search methods. This sounds like Library/Web 2.0 to the max!