[Web4lib] Using Web 2.0 in a library setting

[Mark Costa]

I apologize for any rambling, but I needed to get this idea down on "paper"
and out to some people before I forgot about it.

I've been thinking about the practical applications and impact of Web 2.0,
particularly as it relates to libraries/ knowledge organizations. I
definitely believe that collaborative tools are having an impact on the way
organizations are run as well as on the development of communities of
interest. I asked myself a question - how would I use a collaborative tool
to improve the information seeking process for people in a community, as
well as to manage a group of librarians?

This led me to another thought - a significant number of people working in a
library are reluctant participants. That is, they work in a library because
it is a job, not because it is a passion for them. This presents a real
problem, because Web 2.0 tools require eager participation, not reluctant
participation. However, if we expand the population that we can draw from,
to say the population of an entire university, we should easily be able to
recruit enough people to participate in collaborative research.

Here is what I have in mind - A library web site that allows users to post
open research questions. Anyone who is registered can post suggestions on
how to conduct the resources, which databases to use, or even which
articles/books to read. The site would have a feedback feature that allows
users to rate the response. In order to promote quality research methods, we
could have 3 distinct rating groups: users, professors, and librarians.
Having the professors and librarians rate the responses separately may help
students see which methods and resources are really considered acceptable.
If you can aggregate that data and highlight the people who provide the best
response, that would create a reward system that motivates people to
participate. Maybe you can even give tangible awards yearly to the most
active students, faculty, and librarians.

Here are some additional site features that I feel would be of some use:

   1. You need a way to integrate citations quickly and easily into the
   body of any response.
   2. A link resolver. The site would definitely need a way to get people
   to the relevant source within 1 click.
   3. A site search engine that suggested answers from the knowledge base
   4. A master list of resources, plus the ability for users to create
   pages or links to those resources within their responses. It would
   definitely need a way to get the resources to the point of need.

My guess would be that you would need a medium sized university to get this
thing rolling. Either that, or a really high participation rate from a
smaller institution. I attended a presentation given by David Passmore. I
believe his ideal number for a collective system was 400+. If you can get
400 active participants, the system will produce enough internal
communication to become self sustaining. So if you an an institution that
has 20,000 members, including 1000 faculty members, the site would need a
minimum of 2% participation to become viable. Would a 4% overall
participation rate be achievable?

Does anyone know of a library or organization that uses something like this?

 /mc


-- 
Mark R. Costa, MLS

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable man."
--- George Bernard Shaw