Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

I've heard the term Library 2.0 bandied about for a while now, but never actually heard a decent definition of it. My take on it is that it's a means of user-centred change and interaction. In practical terms it seems to be having greatest impact on OPAC and web design. The Library Catalogue has come a long way from cards in a drawer - I'm glad that I am part of a Generation that remembers working that way though. I remember using my first OPAC when studying at Newcastle High and it was just so...DOS. Eww. Unfriendly and dependent on using the correct function keys to perform the search you wanted. So much has changed. I have to wonder - if it's changed this much in my reasonably short lifetime, how much more is to come? Certainly the new-generation OPACs are taking a lesson from Google and Amazon in both functionality, look and feel. By making them as user-friendly, intuitive and interactive as possible, Libraries are going a long way towards cementing their role and increasing their 'approachability'. So many new possibilities for engaging with users.

It is funny though, there are some means of engagement that seem so natural for a Library to promote, but there are others that just seem really naff. Taking up new technologies for the sake of looking to be doing the right thing without actually having any sort of useful purpose is silly. It's a bit like those people who create an island in Second Life purely for appearance.

"This librarian does not buy technology for the sake of technology. “Techno-worship” does not exist here. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status. Technology is put to the test: Does it meet the users need in a new or improved way? Does it create a useful service for putting users together with the information and experience they seek? These are some of the questions this librarian asks when planning for technology. This librarian creates and nurtures a living, breathing technology plan." (Stephens 2006)

I really like that. Michael Stephens makes a lot of sense to me. An understanding that the "future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content. Content is a conversation as well and librarians should participate" (Stephens 2006) - LOVE IT!

One thing I've discovered in recent years is that I love tagging. The concept of creating a blog entry and tagging it is just so good. It appeals to the cataloguer in me and yet it is part of this new wave of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 stuff.

Really when it comes to Library 2.0, isn't integration part of the key? Integrating technologies, integrating people, skills, knowledge?

I think this is going to be interesting...






References:
Stephens, M 2006, Into a new world of librarianship, OCLC NextSpace, viewed 17 October 2008, <http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm>