Libraries and Web 2.0
An interesting post on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s The Wired Campus references Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World, a recent OCLC report about how libraries can best use Web 2.0 and social networking tools. The 280-page report is based on results of a study that explores both patron and librarian practices and preferences in the use of social networks, including attitudes about privacy and sharing and receiving information.
The Report concludes that most everyone uses basic Internet services such as searching and e-mailing and the majority use e-commerce services and instant messaging. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed use social networking sites and blogging is becoming increasingly popular. However the percentage of people using Library Web tools has actually decreased.
What do those findings mean for those of us who invest heavily in online library resources? How do we reach our students who feel self-sufficient in their online research skills and often circumvent library resources? They don’t necessarily use the library Web pages that we often design as a result of our own usability studies. There are no clear answers as we traverse the online information world and explore the implications and opportunities of Library 2.0. Librarians must be willing to question current practices and be open to new and different service venues, both real and virtual. We must all accept and embrace change. As OCLC’s report concludes, “The new Web is a very different thing. Libraries need to be very different, too.”