Questions:
- Does anyone care about Library 2.0 aside from librarians? (We librarians know they should…but do they?)
- Why do successful uses of Library 2.0 applications/technologies seem more difficult to find than Web 2.0 applications/technologies?
- What good is participatory service if nobody is participating…or, if only a few people are participating?
- How much do comments, tagging, and user reviews help, if nobody is commenting, tagging, or writing reviews?
Thoughts:
Today’s entry is not going to be as well-thought-out as I typically would like. I would rather prefer to present much more of a finished thought for people to comment on, but the questions above have been running through my head over and over and over for months, and I really need to get them down and look at their implications.
Before continuing, though, perhaps a definition is in order. There might be a reader (or two perhaps) who has weathered my initial spiel, yet is left wondering, “just what the heck is Library 2.0?” (maybe all of us should be pondering this question). After surveying the many definitions for Library 2.0, I’ve come to the conclusion that despite its ubiquitous use, the attempts at defining the term have been largely inadequate and often conflicting (even Casey (who originally coined the term), only muddies the water when offering his definition in his book Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Service). There is, though, a definition that holds great promise for clearing up the confusion. In his Master’s Paper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Michael Habib offers us the following:
Library 2.0 describes a subset of library services designed to meet user needs caused by the direct and peripheral effects of Web 2.0 (Habib, 9).
The numerous articles I’ve read on Library 2.0, focus on the reasons libraries should embrace this new philosophy. But, I ask…is it working? Can it work in a University environment. The Ann Arbor District Library seems to have been able to get its community to join in fairly well. But, I’m wondering if it is easier for public libraries to get their communities of users to join in. I wonder if there might be more difficulty in getting the University crowd to collaborate in a meaningful way (weird, eh, what with the history of the need for scholarly communication/collaboration…but I think times have changed to some degree in this regard). There are a number of reasons to inhibit user collaboration in a University environment:
- Lack of time. (What with increases work load and publishing/committee requirements for the faculty, how many are going to want to spend the time adding comments to an online Catalog, blog, or wiki. How many students will take the time to do this? Having the time/patience to comment on other sorts of blogs/social software programs is different than doing it to help, potentially, someone else out with future research.)
- A More competitive environment. (This is solely based on anecdotal evidence…but, it seems to me that at least in many grad programs out there, a sense of competition pervades departments. Competition bests collaboration when it is perceived that your colleague might directly affect your chances at receiving funding, fellowships, teaching placements, and eventually a job. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule (as was the case with my Master’s degree at WMU, but I think they ARE exceptions.)
- Lack of interest. (Let’s face it…learning for learning’s sake is not cool. The few who take the time to go the extra mile and embrace Library 2.0 features, probably already function quite well in the 1.0 environment).
So, what am I saying? That we should throw up our arms in in frustration, swear at the gods, and quit trying? Nope. We keep trying, but all the while we try to be realistic about what we are doing, and try to find ways to actually engage students. There are too many library blogs out there with only librarians as viewers (better than this blog, which doesn’t even have that), too many abandoned or little used wikis, too many OPACS with the ability to add comments, yet with little or nothing in the way of actual comments. Actually, I don’t quite know what I’m saying…like I mentioned earlier…this surely isn’t a well-thought-out post. help me…please…
