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ViewsWeb 2.0 and Public LibrariesFrom IPL WikiA report by LaToya M. Davidson
[edit] IntroductionThere are general misconceptions about what Web 2.0 is and what it is not. Web 2.0 is a technological revolution that is innovative and creative. It is a medium in which the creator and the user have a dialog, an exchange of ideas and concepts. It is "an attempt to conceptualize the dramatic changes the web has brought to society" (Black, 2007). What Web 2.0 is not is "a new standard or version of the Internet [nor is it]...a specification with which an application or system must be compatible" (Black, 2007). It is more than a buzzword or another entry in the dictionary, it is also not just a fad that will fade as user trends shift. The embodiment of Web 2.0 is in "building applications and services around the unique features of the Internet, as opposed to building applications and expecting the Internet to suit as a platform" (Web 2.0, 2008). Web 2.0 applications or networks are all around you despite ones likeliness to recognize it within the Web 2.0 context. "In alluding to the version-numbers that commonly designate software upgrades, the phrase "Web 2.0" hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web [and include]...technologies such as weblogs (blogs), wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds (and other forms of many-to-many publishing), social software, and web application programming interfaces (APIs) which provide enhancements over read-only websites" (Web 2.0, 2008). Even if you have never used any of these web improvements, there is no doubt you are aware of their existence and increasing appeal. Black (2007) also writes that the 'harnessing of collective intelligence' that is the dispersed 'wisdom of crowds' is a key part of Web 2.0's going beyond the page in order to deliver rich user experiences. Coined in 2003, the term Web 2.0 continues to evolve and with it so too does the informational and educational psyche of its users. Public libraries, not shy to information access or retrieval, have also come to incorporate the use of the Web 2.0 technology into their services, user education, promotion, and advocacy. Twin Lakes Library System Director, Barry Reese states, "I use it (Web 2.0) everyday. I not only use Wikipedia and blogs daily for my own personal use, I am frequently going there and to others when assisting patrons or answering reference questions" (personal communication, April 15, 2008). Reference Librarian, Kell Carpenter adds, "because so many of our patrons are online, it's hard not to get sucked into what it is that interests them" (personal communication, April 15, 2008). Despite fears of obsolescence and entrenchment in the past, libraries are actually one of the few public sector institutions or agencies responding fully to the pressure of change that is Web 2.0 (Berry, 2007). "Leveraging the approaches typified by Web 2.0's principles and technology offers libraries many opportunities to better server their existing audiences and to reach out beyond the walls of the institution to reach potential beneficiaries where they happen to be" (Curran, Murray, & Christian, 2007). [edit] Social Networking Sites"To say that you are starting a social networking site in your library may draw either enthusiastic support, vehement opposition, or simply confused looks" (Lankes, Silverstein, & Nicholson, 2007). In the current online environment one would hardly be able to talk about the Internet without mentioning any one of the list of social networking sites. These sites are ones in which people are the content as the sites are not populated with information for users to consume, rather, services are provided to individual users for them to build networks of friends and other groups (Lankes et al., 2007). Presently, according to Wikipedia, the number one social networking website with over 110 million members is MySpace. MySpace is advertised as "offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos for teenagers and adults internationally" (MySpace, 2008). Like its counterparts MySpace has garnered a great deal of praise but equally so, an exhaustive amount of criticism. Misrepresentation of age, sex, and other facts are not uncommon. Other concerns include that of information security, privacy, and censorship. However, with a reported 230,000 new registrants per day arguably the controversy does little to dissuade its users. Social networking is about making connections. Much like meeting an individual face-to-face and becoming friends, the online environment not only speeds up the process, it also allows the individual to make a global friend connection. In the case of MySpace, it is in nine of the top ten Internet markets in the world with about 45% of its users being outside the USA (Swartz, 2008). Most social networking sites, like MySpace, are free to use and have a specific niche. They are "communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others" (Social network service, 2008). Libraries are also paying attention to the popularity of these websites whether they want to or not. Although some public libraries filter or restrict the access of social networking sites, others are embracing the technology. [edit] The MySpace Experience at the Twin Lakes Library SystemIn an April 2008 interview Twin Lakes Library System's Youth Coordinator, Lisa Morgan, discussed her concerns and attitude toward social networking sites such as MySpace: We have a MySpace page for our teens. At first I thought it would be a great idea to create one since so many of our teen patrons hang out on the website. It would show that the library was "with it" and give us an opportunity to showcase our events and pictures of both the library and the teens who get involved here. However, despite our efforts to promote the page and even networking with a number of authors through the site, the page was not getting a lot of traffic. And, in light of age appropriateness concerns, I have reconsidered maintaining the page. You have to be over thirteen to use the site and many of my young adults are just twelve. Not only that, there is some very questionable image content that is on the site. Not to mention that many parents do not like their teens getting accounts on MySpace, especially after some of the recent occurrences of predators reaching young girls through the site. Finally, there are adults who want to get more information on the YA program here who aren't familiar with MySpace or simply don't want to deal with it. They are put off by the necessity of going there to get information. I'm not saying that MySpace is bad. Quite the contrary, I think it's a great idea, but I know that realistically you can't police everything that happens on sites like that (MySpace) and the last thing I want is to have to explain to a teens' parent why there was a nude picture or a spam advertisement for marijuana on the library's MySpace page. The teen MySpace page, HIYA Milledgeville, created for the Twin Lakes Library System, followed in the footsteps of other libraries that were using it to post announcements, events, and activities. The sites are generally being used to promote and advertise libraries and their services and has shown to be a low to no cost alternative. Examples of libraries using MySpace as a way to remain tapped in to its patrons include the Los Angeles Public Library, the Lansing Public Library, and the Albany County Public Library. Additionally, the American Library Association, the world's oldest and largest library association, has a MySpace page devoted to promoting literacy and other library issues. They are also present on a number of other social networking sites. Of additional note and consequence to public libraries and the use of social networking sites is that of their technological resources. "The deluge of user-created media beyond simple text has proven to be extremely popular" states Twin Lakes Library System Network Administrator, David Smith (personal communication, April 21, 2008). Mr. Smith continues, "this content empowerment popularity has already strained the limited resources because of its bandwidth intensive nature" (personal communication, April 21, 2008). What this has meant to the users of the Systems computer resources is slower page loading times and frequent buffering on these types of sites. Even with fast access such as T1 lines the strain of graphic and media intensive sites have caused implementation of load bearing strategies that give priority to more traditional library resources such as access to its online catalog and databases. Nonetheless, the overall use of MySpace "is growing among public libraries and is an attempt to reach out to users in their preferred online environments" (Lankes et al., 2007). [edit] Blogs"I have been using blogs for years for personal entertainment and education and they translate well into a library setting" says Lisa Morgan (personal communication, April 21, 2008). Blogs and the act of 'blogging' is, according to Wikipedia, "a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video" (Blog, 2008). Blogs are also a form of social networking but is generally individually distinguished as they are primarily textual. While many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries" (Blog, 2008). "It is a great opportunity to get the word out about what is going on in your library to a wide group of people in a non-invasive way," continues Ms. Morgan (personal communication, April 21, 2008). Like their other social networking counterparts blogs are also controversial. Areas of concern include the issues of bloggers releasing proprietary or confidential information, personal safety, blogging and defamation, and employees who write about aspects of their place of employment or their personal lives (Blog, 2008). Libraries, a part of the participatory network can "not only read about blogging applications, they could try them and even roll them out to their community members" (Lankes et al., 2007). The Twin Lakes Library System also makes use of this initiative, its blog is also used to share information on its events, staff celebrations, and is an avenue for it to share articles and blurbs that are either of interest to the library profession and/or its patrons. "When you log into your LiveJournal account for instance, and your library is part of someone's Friends List (flist), your news becomes part of the reading they are doing for entertainment, part of the day to day activities of their "friends"" adds Young Adult Coordinator, Lisa Morgan. Recently the System faced a possible financial crisis and used its blog in conjunction with other media methods to get the word out to the community. On a lighter note, the System also posts about its 'staff engagements.' "Updating [the blog] frequently is a big necessity though, because if you stop posting, people stop looking out for your next update!" (L. Morgan, personal communication, 2008). The System has also found that there has not been a great deal of use of its blog and while seeing the need and appeal in having one, does not as frequently update it as it could. This Web 2.0 application may be one that is intended to stimulate conversation by enabling "the user to give their view of the service been provided and thereby encouraging feedback," however, without the necessary user traffic it's more like a neglected billboard or an unwatched television program (Curran et al., 2007). That isn't to say that blogs don't work. Successful blogs, those that impact a large user base, can be found in libraries. Curran et al. cites Temple University Library as one that "uses a blog to provide a place for news, events, and discussion." A list of public libraries making use of blogs can be found on the Blogging Libraries Wiki. [edit] Online Message BoardsSome of the earliest online communities grew up around message board systems that had once been the center of social interaction (Web 2.0, 2008). Now more commonly known as Internet forums, they are "a web application for holding discussions and posting user-generated content" that allows for "full anonymity or pseudonymity" online (Internet forum, 2008). Internet forums are still widely used in the online gaming community as well as special topic groups including those that are about politics, technology, and sports. "As far as message boards, again, if your goal is to reach the widest number of people in an inexpensive and friendly way, they are terrific" says Lisa Morgan (personal communication, April 21, 2008). Ms. Morgan (2008) continues: In the past we have had teens write book reviews as part of the vacation reading program. I have put the reviews in a binder and set it out, but I am not certain how much use that binder sees. This year I am having the teens post their reviews on the library's message board, Book Club on the Go. This way, they can get literate with a part of Web 2.0 they may not have tried out before, we can increase awareness of the library message board, and teens can access the reviews from whatever computer they find themselves at and decide if these are books they might be interested in reading! Certainly a very important component to the success of message boards is getting the word out initially about your web presence. The more visitors that go to your message board, the more traffic a site sees, the more new content will be generated as conversations are started and discussed. Then people will have a reason to keep coming back to visit. Message boards are a budget-friendly way to get users involved in book talks or other community events. Most often the only cost associated with having a message board is the hosting costs. For public libraries like the Twin Lakes Library System, all of its web applications are stored internally on their servers. Companies like phpBB offer free open source software for creating forums. However, like other web applications, library patrons may not come in droves to use the resource. "It was sad to see the Book Club on the Go message board get off to a terrific start but then flounder when patrons didn't pick up on its many uses," adds Ms. Morgan (personal communication, April 21, 2008. The Young Adult Coordinator continues, "only the staff was posting and commenting and the board quickly grew stale with infrequent new topics to read or discussions to take part in" (L. Morgan, personal communication, 2008). [edit] WikisA wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content and are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites (Wiki, 2008). Characteristics of wikis include (Wiki, 2008):
"Wiki websites achieve functionality as an online community by providing user pages (where participants can describe their personal interests) and an assortment of forum and discussion pages where wiki participants ("editors") can participate in community discussions" (Web 2.0, 2008). The most famous Wiki is Wikipedia, the Free Online Encyclopedia. Wikipedia is built on free and open source software and is made available through MediaWiki. "We thought that creating a wiki hosted by our System would be a great idea," says System Director, Barry Reese (personal communication, April 15, 2008). "The hope was to tap into other interests of the community and so we made a Milledgeville wiki, Millipedia, and encouraged users to post information about the town," he continues (B. Reese, personal communication, April 15, 2008). The result, an unforeseen but prevalent problem with wikis, spamming. "The wiki has been offline for months now," a frustrated Network Administrator, David Smith adds (personal communication, April 15, 2008). "That's something to think about when you are planning on running one" he concludes (D. Smith, personal communication, April 15, 2008). In the case of the Twin Lakes Library System they are seeking out spam prevention methods in lieu of monitoring the wiki daily. A CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart) is a program that can generate and grade tests that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot and is commonly used with moderate success (Carnegie Melon University, 2008). This is presently an option that the System is weighing. [edit] Does Your Library Need to use Web 2.0 Technologies?"Web 2.0 offers a means by which data and services previously locked into individual websites for reading by humans can be liberated and then reused" (Curran et al., 2007). As more individuals bypass process, according to Curran et al. (as cited in Miller, 2005), and institutions that they perceive to be slow and irrelevant in favor of a more direct approach to alternative services, libraries should be seizing every opportunity to challenge these perceptions and push their genuinely valuable content and expertise out to places where people might stand to benefit from them. The library profession is changing, it is evolving in order to continue to meet the needs of its present and future users. Web 2.0 technologies is a part of that change. Like a mother who takes interest in and nurtures her child, the library too must be the same to its users. The new library is emerging and must expedite its responsiveness to change (Berry, 2007). Public libraries especially must discover and embrace new and innovative ways to appeal to its patrons. Web 2.0, and its incorporation into the library environment, Library 2.0, provides libraries with a low or no cost alternative to shrinking budgets. By capitalizing on the technology libraries are able to facilitate learning of the new technology as well as use it to further its initiatives. It also doesn't hurt that the majority of the Web 2.0 applications are free (see below for a list of Resources). Through the use of social networking a library can reach out to patrons worldwide. Through blogging library staff can share their top book picks and engage in conversation. Through message boards libraries can offer virtual book clubs and post announcements. Through the general use of Web 2.0 applications, the library can reach a larger number of users and offer more efficient and effective services. The possibilities are endless as libraries continue to redefine what it is to be a user of its services. The Twin Lakes Library System, not thwarted by the lack of mass interest in their Web 2.0 efforts, is eager to soldier on. "In order to drum up some new blood for the MySpace page, as a last ditch effort, I am asking for email addresses and MySpace page ID's on the Young Adult Vacation Reading Club applications. That way I can friend them on MySpace if we decide to hold onto the page, or email them with the URL of whatever new website is created" says its Young Adult Coordinator (L. Morgan, personal communication, April 21, 2008). Just because something isn't working now doesn't mean that it is a failure or that all is lost. Just like life, the reward is in the journey and not just in the single moments. Using the Web 2.0 technology, one should not forget, also promotes staff and patron learning and is a way, as Berry adds (as cited in Cohen, 2006), that libraries can remain educated on the informational culture of its users and ways to incorporate it into library services. [edit] Conclusion"Libraries were never the primary source of knowledge but they have always played a major role where people of all ages, gender and religion could go and engage with the various forms of resources" (Curran et al., 2007). Knowledge is created through conversation and libraries are in the knowledge business (Silverstein et al., 2007). Web 2.0 is a participatory network, and libraries are a vital part of that conversation. "People want to spend their time online with something exciting lively, fresh. That's the whole point of the Internet now - getting the latest news in an instant, the moment it happens, whether it happened to your best friend, a person you never met in real life before or at your local library" concludes Lisa Morgan (personal communication, April 21, 2008). Silverstein et al. (as cited in Ormsby, 2001) eloquently provide this additional insight, "the purpose of a library is not to...showcase new gadgetry...; rather, it is to make possible that instant of insight when all the facts come together in the shape of new knowledge." With new applications and processes being developed libraries must decide whether it is in their best interest to incorporate them into their offerings not only to its patrons but to their staff as well. The focus of Web 2.0 isn't restricted to that of the technology. Web 2.0 is a movement that encourages user participation, collaboration, expression, and easy accessibility to what had once been an "exclusive" experience. Public libraries, as the gate keepers to the information resources of the masses, should be ready, willing, and able to breathe new life into learning, recreation, and information. [edit] ResourcesWeb 2.0 Applications - Understanding the Application's Use Guides Popular Social Networking Sites
Web 2.0 Directories
[edit] ReferencesBerry III, J. N. (2007). Library 2.0 comes into view. Library Journal, 132(7). Retrieved April 1, 2008, from ProQuest database. Black, E. L. (2007). Web 2.0 and Library 2.0: What librarians need to know. In N. Courtney (Ed.), Library 2.0 and beyond: Innovative technologies and tomorrow's user (pp. 1-14). Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. Blog. (2008). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=207216711 Carnegie Melon University. (2008) What is a CAPTCHA. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://recaptcha.net/captcha.html Cohen, L. (2006). "A librarian's 2.0 Manifesto." Library 2.0: An academic's perspective [Blog]. Curran, K., Murray M., & Christian, M. (2007). Taking the information to the public through library 2.0. Library Hi Tech, 25(2). Retrieved April 1, 2008, from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm Davidson, L. (2008). Web 2.0 and Public Libraries: A Synopsis [Voice recording] and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License Flickr. (2008, April 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flickr&oldid=206807798 Internet forum. (2008, April 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet_forum&oldid=207422166 Lankes R. D., Silverstein J., Nicholson, S. (2007). Participatory networks: The library as conversation. Information Technology & Libraries, 26(4). Retrieved April 1, 2008, from Ebsco Host database. Miller, P. (2005). "Web 2.0: building the new library." Ariadne, 45. MySpace. (2008, April 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MySpace&oldid=207093191 Swartz, J. (2008, February 10). In USA Today. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2008-02-10-social-networking-global_N.htm Social network service. (2008, April 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_network_service&oldid=207085822 Web 2.0. (2008, April 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_2.0&oldid=205533660 Web 2.0. (2008, March 22). In Wikiversity. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Web_2.0 Wiki. (2008, April 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wiki&oldid=207420559 Media Assets (Audio)
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