Why should we care about Web 2.0? Here are 6 reasons:
Just look at the public computer screens at your library. What sites are the younger crowd visiting? YouTube? Wikipedia? Facebook? Bebo? Patrons will ask us about using these Web 2.0 sources. Are we serving them well if we say, “Sorry we only know about information in traditional formats?” If we know how to use these resources, we can offer better service to our patrons by connecting with them where they are and using their chosen methods.
The heart of our organization is connecting information and people. Web 2.0 allows us new ways to do this and we need to know how.
Online tools are continuously evolving. What often starts as a seemingly pointless diversion in the beta version can become an effective information source when it reaches a higher level of development. As we know, the best tool for the job can shift anytime. We need to be experimenting with these tools to gain new skills and adapt to the changing online environment.
Maintaining community is essential for our organization. Having a presence in these online spaces keep us in contact with patrons and allows interactions in new ways.
Libraries have a culture of sharing resources and ideas with each other. Emerging technologies enhance this. For example, print journals and conferences are no longer the best way to find out about the successes and failures in other libraries. With blogs, wikis, podcasts - all harnessed into an aggregator, you can keep up and have a means to discuss ideas with colleagues anytime.
Web 2.0 is an extension of skills we already possess. Tagging, metadata, data-mining, and indexing are our old skills applied in new ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment