The Beginner's

Guide to 2.0 in Libraries

Laura Solomon, MCIW, MLS

Web Applications Manager Cleveland Public Library

www.librarygeekwoes.com

laura@cpl.org

The Schedule [BETA]

9:30-11:20 Web 2.011:20-11:30 Break11:30-12:00 Podcasting 10112:00-1:00 Lunch1:00-1:50 Library 2.01:50-2:00 Break2:00-3:00 Second Life

Welcome to the Web…again.

“Like many important concepts, Web 2.0 doesn't have a hard boundary, but

rather, a gravitational core.” Tim O’Reilly, What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business

Models for the Next Generation of Software

What is Web 2.0?

What was Web 1.0?Plain old web sitesVisitor as consumerStatic information

Web 1.0 Web 2.0

Britannica Online Wikipediapersonal websites bloggingpublishing participationdirectories (taxonomy) tagging

("folksonomy")

stickiness syndication

Paradigm shift or hyperbole?

Marketing buzzword?New conventional

wisdom?Geekspeak?

MEME

Harnessing collective intelligence

Maybe the web is really like a brain

Why Google rulesAmazon has made a science of

user engagement Why taxonomy is meaningless

hereIf it advertises, it probably isn’t

2.0Open source becomes

mainstream

Moral #1:

User contributions are the key to

market dominance in the Web 2.0 era

Data is the next “Intel Inside”

So who OWNS the data?What if you don’t own the

data?Amazon, not Bowker, is the

primary provider of bibliographic information

Moral # 2:

Extend and embrace…or fall by the wayside

Software ain’t what it used to be

The end of the software release cycleWill cease to perform unless maintained

dailyThe development cycle at Flickr

"Microsoft's business model depends on everyone upgrading their

computing environment every two to three years. Google's depends on everyone exploring what's new

in their computing environment every day." –ZDnet editorial

Moral #3:

The culture of the Internet

now has expectations of fast and steady

change.

Web sites or something else?

Flickr, GoogleMapsWeb as platformRich user

experiencesIncrease in user

expectations

Moral #4:

If it doesn’t do everything but

polish the kitchen sink, it will disappoint

users

A look at some Web

2.0 services

RSS: staying relevant

What if you could give your patrons:Knowledge of web site updates in real

time?Automatic updates to the latest

bestsellers list?Information about your library’s

events on a daily basis?

Who’s using RSS? (August 2005 data)Web User Male Online

Before ‘94College Grad +

$100K 18-34 Year Olds

Aware RSS Users

78% 48% 46% 25% 17%

Unaware RSS Users

54% 36% 53% 27% 25%

Non-RSS users

46% 34% 43% 22% 16%

Gaining customer loyalty

RSS users are more loyal than non-users

Implementing RSS may equal more patron loyalty

RSS can help to build the library/patron relationship

Any disadvantages?

Cataloguing by & for the masses

“folk” + “taxonomy”=FOLKSONO

MIES

Tag Clouds

Tagging works because…

But here’s the catch…

Other Web 2.0 services

Del.icio.usFlickrYouTubeLibraryThingDiggTwitterYahooAnswersAskvilleNingTechnorati

Want more?:http://www.allthingsweb2.com/

A summary via YouTube

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/

ing Us

(Then on to Part II….Podcasting!)

Library 2.0

What is it?

“Library 2.0 simply means making your library’s space (virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative, and driven by community needs. Examples of where to start include blogs, gaming nights for teens, and collaborative photo sites. The basic drive is to get people back into the library by making the library relevant to what they want and need in their daily lives…to make the library a destination and not an afterthought.”

Sarah Houghton (LibrarianInBlack)

Some key principles

Harness the library user in both design and implementation of services

Library users should be able to craft and modify library provided services

Beta is forever Harvest and integrate ideas and

products from peripheral fields into library service models

Continue to examine and improve services and be willing to replace them at any time with newer and better services.

Rigidity breeds failure

The debate: against

Key principles not newWill not serve all users

or communitiesLibrary is not the

center of the universe

Libraries can’t handle radical trust

The debate: for

A response to the post-Google world

Requires reorganization and rethinking everything

Not just a theory; it’s happening NOW

L2 is imperative for survival

Fundamental shift

Widespread awakening: the game has changed!

User expectations are shaped by their experiences

What does this mean for libraries?

Library 2.0For the patron!Meeting patrons’ needs: when,

where, howTechnology is only one

component of this idea

“So it's about tech and it's about not huffing and puffing

when a library wants to implement IM or DDR and it's about the Coffee Cart if that makes a welcoming space all the more inviting for users

and so on. “—Michael Stephens, Tame the Web: Libraries and

Technology

The Six Questions

Static web sites that are hard to use

Sites that don’t provide ways for patrons to interact with each other

Services that aren’t easy to use, available 24/7 or fail to push information to the user

Thinking the librarians are more important than the patrons

Restricting patrons without sufficient reason or based on belief rather than fact

Believing that change is a scary (and hence, unwelcome) thing