Thing #15 Library 2.0

My idea of Library 2.0 is from "a temporary place in time" and it is a "knowledge spa." I think this visualization is the best of what Library 2.0 can be. It incorporates Web 2.0 tools, but is really a redefinition of the whole library experience. Sometimes in our haste to get to Library 2.0 we focus on "the selling experience" or the specific cool tools - wikis, blogs, ILS, etc. as what we need to do to move forward.

Using the selling experience and the cool tools as a means to an end, however, is highly desirable. In order to be responsive to our public, "driven by community needs," we want to create a welcoming experience in the altogether.

While I'm not sure we are going to make that place inside the physical library in the future, we can try. And we can provide things useful to them at their place of choosing - home, work, Starbucks. If we think carefully, and as was said, control our technolust and try different things, I think we can plan for their needs, contribute to their mashups of choice, and give them a welcoming physical community space to boot. The "come-to-us" model may indeed be gone, but we can provide that "spa" feeling for some.

The parts I have some trepidation about all center around the issue of authoritativeness. Inviting user-added value to WorldCat, library catalogs, user tagging and reviews, I'm not sure about. What librarians can do effectively is sift through the dross for the gold. If all our users are experts in their fields, okay. Otherwise, let's help our community get the best we can offer. Despite the communal created experience, not all pronouncements should get the same weight.

OCL is already, as usual, doing lots of this. We have a whole trendspotter committee. We use Web 2.0 tools as staff. We could probably give our users a Google mashup map of the OC branches!See you at the "spa"!