[Web4lib] Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders

Mon Apr 30 17:33:49 EDT 2007

I agree with Ron. Catching up with the technology is fine, but being
ahead of the curve is better - that is, understanding user needs and
goals and responding to them is and always will be the goal, whether
Web 2.0 or Web 3.0.

Let me take a stab at one of Ron's excellent questions. Do users
really want to be involved in the creation of services and products?
Probably not. But I know tech-saavy students (my university library
experience talking here) would love to pull and push and squish the
data into ways (or devices) that they prefer. "Web 2.0" gives us some
light-weight tools to do just that. RSS, for example. Library news,
saved searches, etc can be packed into a RSS feed. Social bookmarking
is another example. Users tag websites; users create a pool of
resources they deem valuable. A library blog? I really don't know.
What makes a blog successful? What makes us return daily or bookmark
it? Find that out and see how that recipe can be applied to a library.
Podcast? Again cool technology. But used incorrectly, could just die
with a whimper.

It's important to take a risk, albeit a calculated one, when
considering these technologies, I think.

Someone had a nice quotation in their footer, something about helping
people connect to ideas, be they good, bad or ugly. I'm paraphrasing
here, but that is the core, really. And the web tools we have and will
have should always remain subject to this core.

David
Archivist, Web Services
IMF Archives

On 4/30/07, Ron Peterson <ronpeterson39401 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I don't think catching up is a real goal.  We should be looking past
> the technology and trying to come up with ways to use it to anticipate
> and meet the needs/goals of our users.  Do users really want to be involved in the creation of services and products?  Don't they want to use them?  I think libraries are trying to catch up to what some of the web is doing in creating participatory environments -- and succeeding.  But I also think a lot of people are putting podcasts and blogs on their website without any thought as to what value they provide to people.  So I think we really need to give serious thought to what we are trying to accomplish.
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Mark Costa <markrcosta at gmail.com>
> To: Web4lib at webjunction.org
> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 4:09:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders
>
> What are we really trying to accomplish? Perhaps we are trying to catch up
> to the rest of the web by creating participatory information environments
> using these neat tools? I think we are seeing a general trend where
> people no longer want to be passive consumers of anything that they care
> about. If you want to develop a passionate user base, you need to get them
> involved in the creation of services and the products you offer. Wikis,
> blogs, etc are the best tools we have for that, at least for now.
>
> On 4/30/07, Hutchens, Chad <chutchens at montana.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Hmmm...as a passing fad I guess I meant that I think the level of
> > attention in libraryland to Library 2.0 will pass.  I do think that
> > there will be things from Web/Library 2.0 that will stick, just not all
> > of it.
> >
> > It just seems that we're focusing on the specific technologies (e.g.
> > blogs, wikis, podcasts, and RSS) themselves in the broad discussion of
> > Library 2.0 (not just on this listserv) instead of focusing on what
> > we're really trying to accomplish.  And in some ways, I think we might
> > be losing sight of what our real goals are...you know, the old
> > technology for technology's sake (something of which I'm quite guilty I
> > must admit).
> >
> > Chad E. Hutchens
> > Electronic Resources Librarian
> > Montana State University Libraries
> > P.O. Box 173320
> > Bozeman, MT  59717-3320
> > (406) 994-4313 phone
> > (406) 994-2851 fax
> > chutchens at montana.edu
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> > [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of David Kemper
> > Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 12:41 PM
> > To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> > Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders
> >
> > What a great discussion!
> >
> > I think everyone has brought up some very valid points and critical
> > observations about the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon. While I do not
> > believe Web 2.0 is a passing fad, as Chad mentioned, I can see where
> > he is coming from on this.
> >
> > The terminology to be adopted by the public to describe and define
> > "Web 2.0" will surface in due time. Someone mentioned the death of the
> > term "Information Superhighway." I cringe when I hear those words
> > nowadays. But back in 1995 or so, when I remember browsing the web
> > using something called Lynx (I think), those were the coolest words to
> > hit a computer screen. It eventually became what we affectionately
> > call the Web.
> >
> > Right now (at least for me at my level of understanding), the term Web
> > 2.0 still works, still describes in essence what I feel will not pass
> > or fade away: the participatory web, the user-created web experience
> > and the enabling of better search and discovery and collaboration and
> > connection among users.
> >
> > As information professionals with an affinity for the Web and
> > technology, I think it is tempting to run amok with "Library 2.0,"
> > offering 2.0 solutions to every user need (well, I know I feel that
> > way sometimes). But the real answer--rather, real strategy--still lies
> > in listening to user needs and then responding to them, whether with a
> > blog, podcast or a plain and simple Library 1.0 solution.
> >
> > David
> > Archivist, Web Services
> > IMF Archives
> >
> > On 4/30/07, Stevens, Julieanne H. <jhsteven at law.stetson.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > Like most everyone else, I think that more advanced programming type
> > > skills are nice, but not particularly necessary. A little Dreamweaver,
> > > Front Page or a WYSIWYG editor and I think most of us are good to go.
> > > (Obviously depending on how much help you get from your IT department
> > > and what branding applies to web pages, even intranet pages)
> > >
> > >  We're in the process of making some basic additions to start with;
> > > we're adding pertinent RSS feeds and Blog links to subject
> > > bibliographies. My big project this summer is linking "lessons" for
> > each
> > > database to the database so that students can learn on their own how
> > to
> > > use it. Scope notes alone  are no longer enough information.
> > >
> > >  I'm also not seeing a "perfect world" solution to the interface of
> > > databases and serials holdings. Serials Solutions is  awesome, with
> > > their Journals A-Z list, even being able to incorporate bound
> > holdings,
> > > but   a database web page is LOT of information for 'one' page.  The
> > > primary issue is accessibility; pop-ups, mouseovers and related
> > > gimmicks don't work in a world where your web pages have to be
> > > accessible.
> > >
> > > We want an intranet WIKI for both the library staff and a separate
> > one
> > > for faculty. (In the early planning stage; we're not sure whether and
> > > how these should be separated; faculty doesn't need to know  how to do
> > a
> > > task in Millennium, but both groups would do well to see our new
> > > acquisitions.  Faculty need quick access to passwords for services
> > they
> > > only need occasionally ( Pacer, NYT, Wall Street Journal, etc.) and to
> > > special announcements, services and contact information particular to
> > > them.
> > >
> > > We're in the process of setting up an RSS page for just our library
> > > professional and paraprofessional with  news/feeds. This way, all of
> > us
> > > can catch up on our reading from a similar starting point. I know who
> > > else is on a routing slip for a particular journal; I don't know who
> > > else is reading a particular blog.  With a common page, we can all
> > > assume  the rest of the staff has read something.  We  have a yahoo
> > > group for Library employees, for both emergency contacts and soon,
> > > perhaps for the RSS access.
> > >
> > >
> > > I think one of the stumbling blocks to the infamous Library 2.0  is
> > that
> > > it's LIFE 2.0; it's not particular to libraries, or any other
> > > institution. As many other people have said with much more finesse,
> > this
> > > all is still about  what our client/patron base needs and wants.
> > >
> > > Juju
> > > Julieanne Hartman Stevens, MLS, JD
> > > Electronic Services and Reference Librarian
> > > Stetson University College of Law
> > > 1401 61st Street South
> > > Gulfport, Florida 33707-3299
> > > Direct Line 727-562-7304
> > > Internal  Extension 7204
> > > JHSteven at law.stetson.edu
> > >
> > > If librarianship is the connecting of people to ideas - and I believe
> > > that is the truest definition of what we do - it is crucial to
> > remember
> > > that we must keep and make available, not just good ideas and noble
> > > ideas, but bad ideas, silly ideas, and yes, even dangerous or wicked
> > > ideas."
> > >  Graceanne A. Decandido
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Web4lib mailing list
> > > Web4lib at webjunction.org
> > > http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
> > >
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>
>
>
> --
> 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
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