From my standpoint, pretty much all the major Web 2.0 applications could have positive roles in libraries. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, online videos et. al can all enable more informal contact with patrons, and could become the hubs of research communities at campuses and health centers.
There are many practical barriers to this vision, especially in hospital libraries that face tough IT restrictions. But conceptually, Web 2 tools can be very good things in libraries.
YouTube, for example, is a very natural repository for online instructional videos. Even if the quality of the video is not production broadcast level, the likely viewers of a library YouTube video would understand this limitation from their other experiences with YouTube. If a tool with better production values comes along we should use it, but in the meantime there's no reason not to experiment with YouTube.
There's an interesting double standard with Web 2 vs. more traditional tools. If someone has a bad in-person class session they would regroup and do better next time; there would be no expectation of perfection because, after all, everyone is human. But sometimes the objections raised to Web 2 tools imply that they must be absolutely perfect to be useful at all.
After all this Web 2 cheerleading, let me close by acknowledging that some pacing is in order. For example, it might be too much for a library to start a blog service, wiki portal, and online video site in the same week. People need time to adjust and learn new ways of working. On the other hand, though, we also need to "just do it" and enjoy learning how to use all these new tools. That balance--between discretion and enthusiasm--will always be hard to find.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Photo Sharing Sites
For many years my wife and I shared our vacation photos with friends and family via Shutterfly, an easy-to-use service that provides free digital photos and inexpensive prints.
For our most recent vacation we uploaded the photos to Facebook for the first time--yet another sign of how Facebook is taking over our lives. Most of our friends are on Facebook by now, and we could still send the album to people who aren't. I'm a little sad about abandoning Shutterfly, but it just seemed to make sense by this point.
As to library usage of photo sharing sites: there are numerous possibilities. From a simple slide show of library images to a complex catalog of annotated radiology images, there are many ways librarians could use Flickr et. al to enhance appreciation of the visual aspects of health care.
For our most recent vacation we uploaded the photos to Facebook for the first time--yet another sign of how Facebook is taking over our lives. Most of our friends are on Facebook by now, and we could still send the album to people who aren't. I'm a little sad about abandoning Shutterfly, but it just seemed to make sense by this point.
As to library usage of photo sharing sites: there are numerous possibilities. From a simple slide show of library images to a complex catalog of annotated radiology images, there are many ways librarians could use Flickr et. al to enhance appreciation of the visual aspects of health care.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Web Office Tools Are the Future
Yes, web office tools are the future--much more user friendly and portable than sending around attachments by email.
An example: Word 2007 is not compatible with older versions of Word, unless the user is savvy enough to download a "compatibility pack" (and, if they're on a work computer, they would need administrative rights to do this.) Alternatively, the sender has to know to make the attachment backward compatible. These are substantial barriers.
With all that said, habits die hard. When I start writing an essay, I automatically open a Word doc (just like I'm still pre-disposed to bookmark a web site on my own computer rather than tagging it in del.icio.us). But in the next few years, I anticipate a "sea change" towards more user-friendly Web office tools.
An example: Word 2007 is not compatible with older versions of Word, unless the user is savvy enough to download a "compatibility pack" (and, if they're on a work computer, they would need administrative rights to do this.) Alternatively, the sender has to know to make the attachment backward compatible. These are substantial barriers.
With all that said, habits die hard. When I start writing an essay, I automatically open a Word doc (just like I'm still pre-disposed to bookmark a web site on my own computer rather than tagging it in del.icio.us). But in the next few years, I anticipate a "sea change" towards more user-friendly Web office tools.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Social Bookmarking on del.icio.us
I think del.icio.us is an amazing tool that has great application in libraries.
The obvious benefit is building a set of bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere. Since my formative Internet years were in the "bookmark only on one computer" era, I'm still predisposed to do that type of bookmarking. That's not "wrong," just more limited. So recently, whenever I stop to bookmark I make a point of tagging it in del.icio.us instead. Our reference group at the library also has a shared del.icio.us account, which is a great way to share resources.
There are endless opportunities for research assistance with del.icio.us. We can show patrons what it is and send them on their merry tagging way; we could build del.icio.us tools that automatically propagate new sites that match pre-defined tags, and deliver the new sites via RSS tools; we could have a del.icio.us stream like on OMG Tuna is Kewl. The sky is the limit!
The obvious benefit is building a set of bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere. Since my formative Internet years were in the "bookmark only on one computer" era, I'm still predisposed to do that type of bookmarking. That's not "wrong," just more limited. So recently, whenever I stop to bookmark I make a point of tagging it in del.icio.us instead. Our reference group at the library also has a shared del.icio.us account, which is a great way to share resources.
There are endless opportunities for research assistance with del.icio.us. We can show patrons what it is and send them on their merry tagging way; we could build del.icio.us tools that automatically propagate new sites that match pre-defined tags, and deliver the new sites via RSS tools; we could have a del.icio.us stream like on OMG Tuna is Kewl. The sky is the limit!
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