Library 2.0

Library 2.0 is the idea that libraries in the future are going to interact more with people. One example is through being a link on a Facebook page. Another might be doing interactive reference. It could also be posting more pictures and making the library webpage more interactive, like with a blog.

Some people see this as a time issue. Certainly larger libraries have people that they can pay to manage an interactive site, but most small libraries have staff that are working hard just to keep up with the current demands of their patrons without adding new interactive ones. Being from an extremely small library, I do not have the volume of patrons, so I have found time to participate in 23 things.

So far I have enjoyed setting up a blog and was surprised at how easy it was to do that. I have pretty good Internet skills, having an e-mail account at both home and work. I have learned some of these skills from my daughter. She had a blog when she stayed in Scotland for a semester. It was nice to be able to see pictures of her and read about her travels.

I watched a video of Steve Abrahams of SirsiDynix. He was asked about what his favorite new technology was. He said "IM" because he can keep up with his children. It took me a few minutes to figure out that this was "instant messaging" or text messaging. Although this might be a great tool for keeping in touch with kids, I'm not sure it relates much to libraries. I think many of these interactive tools will be used by individuals, but system wide, I'm not sure it's going to happen.

Rick Anderson had an interesting point about how "collections" are becoming obsolete. That is one thing I see more of in the future--people browsing for a book on-line and then picking it up at the library. Even my senior citizens want me to order books for them.

Although I look forward to learning more about 2.0 technologies for personal use, I'm not sure how much I'll use these skills at the library.