The Thing About Library 2.0
The thing about library 2.0 is that you have to find the right technology to fit your need. And before that, you have to realize that you have a need. This is the tricky part. For example, Librarians have been making subject guide websites as a part of their regular job for at least 10 years. And sure, maybe they aren’t always totally up-to-date. And maybe they aren’t always the easiest thing to navigate… but they get the job done. So how do you convince someone that there might be a better way to do it? Oh, and it requires that they learn a little bit of new technology?
I’ve been talking with librarians about how some of the “new” web services like flickr and del.icio.us and RSS can improve their productivity and provide additional ways to reach their patrons. Some are excited and some want nothing to do with it. I think the topic has been sort of tainted by so much hype about Second Life and MySpace/Facebook (or what I like to call “MyFace” or maybe I should call it “MySecondFace”) that I think librarians are skeptical — “so I’m now supposed to have an cartoon version of me and go into a virtual world to do reference? Most of the students don’t even know about the chat reference service.”
My two biggest concerns are that library staff will just be too overwhelmed to even try something new or that they try something without success and abandon it.
This is the main reason for the Library 2.0 series I’m helping to organize (http://www.lib.umich.edu/lib20/ ). One of the things I’m most excited about is a blog we set up to help the librarians share project ideas to get feedback and possibly find other’s interested in collaborating on the same project. I’m cautiously optimistic that it will inspire.
And here’s one more anecdote: a colleague of mine set up a facebook group for library folks at UM interested in library2.0. I then invited the few librarians I knew were on facebook. And one, after accepting the invite, wrote something on The Wall: “Okay, Suz, I’m here. Why did you want me to join?” I didn’t immediately have an answer. Right, why? “I don’t know, cause its cool.” But now, well some people have been using the discussion board to post links and ideas, so thats good. For me, its just interesting to see how fast it spread throughout the library. I’m amazed that there are so many librarians (and ones I hadn’t expected) who have a facebook profile (or made one to join the group). Oh, and it’s kinda fun! Sometimes we just need a small distraction.
