Thing #14: Web 2.0 v. Library 2.0

Ok, a lone week left to L&P@CML, and I think I can finish in time (in time for what? Well, I just like deadlines, I guess). I’ve been a busy bee because I’ve been finishing up my MLS. Wee!

I’m trying to reach back into my brain and remember the first time I heard the term “Web 2.0”. Of course, this term is passé, as many libraries are involved in Web 3.0 (Virtual 3D services). But I suppose we can’t all move onto the next level until we’re proficient with the current level, so Web 2.0, although I know plenty of people sick of the terminology, still endures. And again, the idea of Web 2.0 is old hat to us library folk, but to some library users, it is new to them. How fun it is to share cool new tools and tricks and methods of information sharing with people who aren’t aware of it!
But I’m getting away from what I’m supposed to talk about. The 2 articles I read were “Into a New World of Librarianship” by Michael Stephens and “Away from the Icebergs” by Rick Anderson. Now, the term Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 mean two different things to me. Web 2.0 summons the idea of shared content between users utilizing the World Wide Web. Library 2.0 takes it a step further and integrates library services and shared learning utilizing the Web. As the Learn & Play initiative shows, there is A LOT out there for libraries! The key is making Library 2.0 tools available that are accessible on different user levels. There are users that are so adept with technology (as well as the ones that find new technologies interesting and have a desire to learn), and then there are the second group who is at a low-functioning level of technology and also resistant to change. Users in this second group should be introduced to simple Web 2.0 technologies that are slightly above their level (Vygotsky’s “Zone of Proximal Development”). Then ask if you can show the patron “something really neat” and tailor it to suit them. For example, with children (who may be at a low level of tech-proficiency), show them Flickr or an online image generator! Soon they’ll be sharing pictures with grandma all on their own.