| Introduction: Participation in a 2.0 World | |
| Michael Stephens | |
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| Abstract |
Social software, more ubiquitous than ever, continues to have a profound impact on information and communication in the Information Age. From the American Library Association to social software news aggregation, it's clear the trend toward utilizing “Web 2.0” technologies for information and communication in the 21st century is growing stronger. In “Web 2.0 & Libraries, Part 2: Trends and Technologies,” librarian and educator Dr. Michael Stephens continues his 2.0 work and re-emphasizes the importance of libraries embracing this world of conversation, community, and collaboration. “In this issue [of Library Technology Reports],” he writes, “we'll revisit some of the social tools presented in ‘Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software,’ address some trends guiding social technology in libraries, take a look at some newer tools, and cover some best practices for using 2.0 tools in your library.” With the “Presence in the 2.0 World ” foreward by Jenny “The Shifted Librarian” Levine, this 80-page issue of Library Technology Reports covers a broad range of Web 2.0 topics, tools, and considerations, including:
About the Author Michael Stephens, Ph.D, is an assistant professor at the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois. A frequent speaker at library conferences around the world, he was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2005. He has been the keynote speaker at many conferences, including the Iowa Library Association Conference, Ohio Tech Connections, the Rethinking Resource Sharing Conference, the Mississippi Library 2.0 Summit (Mississippi State University), and the Ohio Library Council. He also spoke at Internet Librarian International in London in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and at the August 2006 TICER Innovation Institute at the University of Tilburg, the Netherlands. He serves on the editorial boards of several major journals, including Internet Reference Services Quarterly and Reference & User Services Quarterly. A prolific author, Michael wrote “Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software,” the July/August 2006 issue of Library Technology Reports published by ALA TechSource (a unit in the publishing dept. of the ALA), and he writes a monthly column, “The Transparent Library,” in Library Journal with Michael Casey. His blog, Tame the Web, is read avidly by many librarians. Michael holds bachelor's and MLS degrees from Indiana University and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of North Texas. He divides his time among Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. |
Participatory. Open. Playful. Transparent. Make these part of your motto, your vision, and build services and staff with them in mind. My hat is off to the libraries that create teams—made up of employees from all levels—for planning, that allow staff members to blog about those plans, and that take time to experiment and play with new technologies and tell their users exactly what they are up to. We can't control every little thing that happens in our libraries, and really, should we even want to?
—Michael Stephens1
Welcome to “Web 2.0 & Libraries, Part 2: Trends and Technologies.” In this issue, we'll revisit some of the social tools presented in “Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software,” address some trends guiding social technology in libraries, take a look at some newer tools, and cover some best practices for using 2.0 tools in your library.
“Some see Web 2.0 as hype and hyperbole. Others can see beyond the buzzword to a set of ever-evolving tools that can benefit online citizens.”2 That passage from the introduction of “Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software” sums up the promise of the social Web that I see for libraries: online spaces that bring people together with personal connections and the information they need, guided by a skillful librarian.
Time and technologies have not stopped in the twelve months since the last report. We've seen tools such as Twitter, Meebo, and Ning receive notice and discussion—as well as use in the library world. We've seen projects such as Scriblio and the Social OPAC add 2.0 goodness to the library catalog. And we've seen the advent of a number of books, articles, and conference presentations devoted to bringing a social component to the virtual library.
As we shift to a landscape of what Wade Roush called “continuous computing” in Technology Review, there will be many unique opportunities to build participatory resources and make connections online—to guide our users to the information they need, to put our library data out there to be shared and mashed up, and to invigorate the image of what libraries are in the 21st century.3 So don't be shy. Don't be timid. Trust!
Try out a few of the social tools described in this report or last year's, if you haven't already. Blog the process. Wiki that rewrite of the policy manual. IM a colleague and brainstorm your next technology development seminar. Follow what the folks at PLCMC are doing with their excellent Learning 2.0 program—librarywide for all staff, open, and free. Play!
If our users are now experiencing a living, social Web, shouldn't they find librarians waiting for them? Involved. Savvy. Creating conversations. Building community. I urge the groups I speak to not to be afraid of these tools and to look for ways to incorporate them into their work flow and professional lives.
The best thing any librarian can do is to learn more about these tools and how they figure into our professional lives and our libraries. Learning to learn and taking time to play will benefit not only our libraries and our library users, but us as well.
Notes
| 1. | Stephens, Michael. , “The Culture of Trust: One Year in the Life of Library 2.0,”. ALA TechSource blog, Sept. 29, 2006, www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/09/the-culture-of-trust-one-year-in-the-life-of-library-20.html (accessed July 10, 2007). |
| 2. | Stephens, Michael. “Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software,”Library Technology Reports 2006 July/Aug;42(4) |
| 3. | Roush, Wade. , “Social Machines: Computing Means Connecting,” Technology Review. 2005 Aug. available online at www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/14664/?a=f (accessed July 10, 2007). |
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