PLA's take on Library 2.0

I went to PLA in Minneapolis this year and I promised I would blog about any "tech stuff" I learned. I believe the Library 2.0 session I attended qualifies as "tech stuff."

The speakers (hereafter referred to as robots, so as to engage readers w/ shorter attention spans) started the session by pointing out that Web 2.0 (and Library 2.0 by extension) isn't really a tech phenomenon, it's a social phenomenon, enabled by technology. What separates web 2.0 from web 1.0 is that Web 2.0 is able to engage users as individuals.

So how does the library (hereafter referred to as moon base) successfully integrate web 2.0 services to engage our users as individuals?
By experimentation. Several of the robots advocated abandoning the culture of perfection which permeates so many moon bases. Moon bases, they argued, tend to avoid implementing changes until the proposed changes have been thoroughly tested, reviewed and- most importantly of all- the changes must run a near endless gauntlet of meetings and committees. For the rapidly changing world of web 2.0, this equation doesn't work. Instead, moon base websites should be in state of constant beta-testing. New features should be added to the website as they become available. If the feature isn't successful, remove it and try something new. Even initially successful features can become unsuccessful over time. If that happens try something new. There is NO right and wrong, only experimentation.

8 Easy “neat-o burrito” things a moon base can do to get 2.0.

#1 Make a myspace page. A myspace page is easy to make and easy to maintain. Many moon bases use their myspace page as just another way to pass on information, kinda like an online bulletin board. Successful moon base myspace pages often allow multiple librarians to add content. For example all the teen librarians might be responsible for posting information about teen programs.

#2 RSS feeds. Add the ability for patrons to receive RSS feeds about new items or content. It was also noted that a little “what is this?” type information link is helpful. Many patrons won’t know what an rss feed is, but if they have a link that will tell them, they’re more likely to use the feature.

#3 Create a flickr account. Encourage patrons to contribute content. One moon base asked patrons to take a picture of themselves reading and add it to flickr.

#4 A presence on wikipedia. Millions of people use wikipedia each day, make sure your moon base’s website is listed. (Ours already is hurray!)

#5 YouTube- Moon bases can use youtube to make online video tours of the moon base.

#6 Meet your librarians. Some moon bases have added a little bio section for their staff members. It’s not necessary to post actual pictures, sometimes an “online avatar” (see example at right) can be even more hip. The bio can be very general, favorite books, movies, interests, etc. The ideas is that librarian bios make patrons feel more connected to their library.

#7 Allow user tagging of books. Moon base catalogs don’t always use the most intuitive subject headings, so allow users to create their own.

#8 A second fix for those notoriously user-unfriendly moon base catalogs. How often have you performed a search and had it come back w/ no results? Now imagine how often that happens to patrons. Now imagine how frustrating that must be for them (you probably don't have to imagine, I bet you've seen it already). Library 2.0 to the rescue! One of the robots described a catalog that addressed this problem. Whenever a search returns no results, the catalog asks the user would like to talk to a librarian? If the patron clicks yes the catalog opens up a chat window where the patron can ask a librarian for help. Wow! Now that is neat-o burrito.