Describing Web/Library 2.0 to unwilling staff

[Tracey Reed]

My director has tasked me (and I'm very willing to take it on) with doing brief, hit-and-run, emails to all the library staff to explain Library 2.0 concepts and tools to our staff, most of whom have no desire to move forward (there are some and I'm thrilled to have them on board). This is a copy of the email I sent out today. I'd be curious to what y'all think. The next one will be on del.icio.us because it's probably the most relevant to them.
-t

Subject: What's this I hear about Library2.0?

Hi all,

You may have heard the terms "web 2.0" and "library 2.0" buzzing about the library world. Or maybe you haven't, and that's ok. But what I'd like to do is take a second and explain what both of those things mean, and some of the "2.0 tools" that you might continue to hear about, and that we here at CPLS might be looking at to better serve our patrons. I'll try to keep the editorial comments out of it (like what parts of it I love and what I can't stand), but I make no guarantees.

This is the first in a series of emails that I ' ll be sending out regarding Library 2.0, to explain some of the sites and concepts I've given a brief introduction to below. So if not all of it makes sense, or you need more details, or you have something to add, please feel free to email me, or better yet, the group. That's how this works.

So what exactly are Web 2.0 and Library 2.0?

Well, honestly, it depends who you ask. Web 2.0 is touted as the next generation web, with more interaction and interactive sites as opposed to just static information. Web 2.0 is everything from blogs, RSS feeds, wikis and IM/chat to things like Second Life (www.secondlife.com) myspace (www.myspace.com) (note, this will be blocked by the City IT dept), facebook (www.facebook.com) (this one will be blocked too), flickr (www.flickr.com), del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us), technorati (www.technorati.com) and dig (www.digg.com). What it really means is that the web sites that require you to do something with them (share information, play, create content) are becoming more popular. Terms like "social networking sites" are being buzzed about because of the ability to create neighborhoods and "friends" lists and to interact with others through the Internet in a way other than email or the more common chat programs such as AIM or Yahoo Instant Messenger.

It also is about creating the metadata (information about your Information) and sharing it with others. Things like sharing bookmarks and seeing how many have also bookmarked something (del.icio.us) or blogged about it (technorati) as well as tagging - what they've called it when people have applied their own labels to things like their photos (flickr), their blog entries (Livejournal, vox (www.vox.com)), their bookmarks (have you bookmarked sptimes.com? what did you label it? News? Local? Drek?) and who looks at what at any given moment (digg). The concept of tagging is the part that the libraries and librarians have kind of grasped onto, mostly because it's familiar to us - we like to organize. (Course, have you seen my desk lately?)

Library 2.0 is actually the application of the concepts of Web 2.0 to the library world. Things like del.icio.us which allow people to share what they ' ve bookmarked with anyone and technorati that allow people to see what others are blogging about and linking to in real time were things that libraries found useful. More recently, it's been about how real language tagging can be beneficial to library catalogs, and what catalogs can learn from sites such as del.icio.us and technorati.

The other buzz in the Library 2.0 community are the "social networking” side. Libraries and librarians with professional myspace accounts are popping up all over the place (Hennepin County (MN), Denver Public, Topeka (KS) just to name a few). It's not just for kids and teens anymore. In fact, facebook is in the process of overtaking myspace as the favored destination for teens and college students. A big buzz is being made over Second Life (www.secondlife.com), which we've had at least one information session on here at CPLS. And many, many libraries (including us) have photos of the libraries and library staff up on flickr.

What does it mean for us as a library?

Well, honestly, at this point, no one really knows how it will impact libraries in the long term. There’s a wiki called Library 2.0 (http://library20.ning.com) where Just that is being discussed. Things like tagging and sharing bookmarks will most likely have the greatest long term impact (imagine patrons being able to create tags for items in our catalog!!!), but the sexy aspects of 2.0 like Second Life and Twitter and Tumblr (www.tumblr.com) are what people seem to be talking about more. So I'll be, in this series of emails, talking about these various tools and sites in more detail as time goes on.

In my opinion (and you know what that's worth, and whoops, here I go slipping into judgment), it doesn't change libraries as much as we think it does. We're still places people can come for information, be it educational, recreational or social. We still need a sense of place, both physical and online, to allow them to do this. What it will require is a shift in attitude from "we have all the information" to "we need to have input from those around us on and in what we offer." And that could be tough for libraries and librarians to get.

Like I said above, feel free to email me (or the group!) with questions, comments or additional information about anything. We all learn from each other and no one knows it all.

:-)

[Tim]

There seems to be a fair amount of overlap, I guess it comes down to what each person is comfortable with.

[Robbin]

great to be informed but really too much to do at the library . . . i can see some features are or could be helpful . . .

[Lin]

It's been enlightening, although it's often hard to squeeze in the assignments. Definitely not all of them will be applicable in the workplace, but it still will be useful to know what patrons are using, and how they work.

[Angeline Tastad-Young]

Hey Tracey!

I find the Web 2.0 information interesting, but at times very long and tedious ot do some of our exercises. I can see how some library staff would find it overwhelming, especially with creating so many accounts. I certainly see some great uses for the items, but if it's not used right away, it can easily be forgotten. I prefer shorter e-mails, as I tend to skim, and jargon can be overwhelming.

[Maureen Kilmurray]

There is definately a generation gap in grasping the 2.0 applications. I have staff that don't even want to try or explore and find out what 2.0 is about. I find it fascinating and it makes me regret that my facility with 2.0 applications is so limited.

[Linda Phillips]

Tumblr sounds interesting.

[Cheryl Plaine]

Its one thing going through the process but another using the 2.0 things.

[Jacquelyn Higgins]

I'm also on the CCCL social networking bandwagon and have a bit of insight from several years back. In 2005, the library invited all staff to participate in the strategic planning process. This unprecedented step offered professionals and non-professionals to brain storm and contribute ideas for the future of CCCL (http://www.ccclib.org/aboutus/strategic_plan.html). I was honored to be chosen for one of the teams that took those ideas forward. One of the tech savvy librarians on our team suggested that the library start an informational wiki. Virtually no one (no pun intended) knew what a wiki was or why we would want to use one in the library. It took several years and the efforts of some forward thinking staff to make this possible, but we've accomplished many great things. Cha-cha-changes can be tough but rewarding.

[Dana Aleshire]

Thanks for this post!

I agree shorter emails are better. Sadly, technology is changing peoples attention spans.

Illustrating how these technologies can be applied and relate to libraries seems key. I'm excited about mashup technologies. ...like a Google Map with local book readings, perhaps even tailored to your interests or a text message about an available item on the hold shelf.

I just signed up with Twitter and Jott to experiment with how to combine the two. I'm excited about learning about other Web 2.0 tools, but it's a lot to sign up for!

[Mireille]

www.commoncraft.com has very nice short (3 minutes) video's explaining RSS, social networking, wiki, social bookmarking, twitter and the like. You could use them to educate your colleagues perhaps.

[Christopher Brown]

2.0 comes back to user needs. I don't think staff shouldn't be skeptical of 2.0. They are merely voicing concerns about the value of time, i.e. what could we and our patrons gain, compared with the time we'll be investing.

I'm reiterating other responses that have questioned which programs seemed most useful. Since I work with Tweens I really thought the MeeboMe Widget had potential. The widget could be placed on the library web pag, Flickr, or Facebook account, and younger patrons could use an interface, IM, with which they are more familiar and comfortable to ask questions. They wouldn't need to download any software or even create an account. There are a lot of practical questions, but the important point is that we would see if this demographic has questions they merely don't feel comfortable asking. By the way I've never had a reference call from a teen patron.

[Geneva M]

As someone who was not necessarily unwilling to learn about web 2.0, but who just hadn't taken the time to learn about it I think working in exercises like CCCL is doing currently is a great way to explore the technology. The exercises we have been doing have gotten me so excited about library 2.0 that there are a couple other networks on this site I want to join and it also has gotten me excited about using it in my personal life as well (somewhat ashamed to admit I spent 45 minutes on Facebook last night - prior to these exercises I had spent maybe 30 minutes on it total in the few months I have had the page). Making explanations simple, and exercises interactive seem to be key in winning over reluctant users and making them comfortable with the technology.

-Geneva