Thing #2 -- Library 2.0

Note to the reader: The following will be a series of perhaps disjointed thoughts on the subject of Library 2.0. As a colleague said to me, "It's just a blog," so I may not tie them together in a nice narrative structure.

I've been familiar with concept of Library 2.0 since 2006 when I ran into it at Computers in Libraries. For me, at least, the mindset changes are the most easy to do and apply to my work. I'm fairly open to change and looking for ways to try new things. And since I haven't been in the profession that long (10 years--so the Internet has always been a part of my library career) I don't feel myself completely ruled by traditional library orthodoxy, whether it's library "silos" or the MARC record.

Where I do stumble is in making the time to educate myself about the variety of L2 tools and resources out there. Or in taking the time to learn the necessary technical skills to implement some of the cool stuff. While I have some computer programming experience and am capable of learning the skills necessary, it's hard to justify (to myself and my superiors) taking the time. Unlike Stephen Abram, I was hired to be a "Reference Librarian" not "VP of Innovation" and while L2 is important, sometimes other more boring parts of my job have to take precedence. I still have to staff the reference desk and teach library instruction classes.

Still, there are some L2 changes happening in my library. We've been providing IM reference for just over a year, and brought a customized version of the Assignment Calculator online last spring. Several of us has Facebook account (although we don't always use them). When our building was remodeled a few years ago we made sure to include several group study rooms with tables, whiteboards, and network connections for laptops. There is enough room at the computers in our reference area for 2-3 people to sit around each computer, if they want to work together.

For me personally, I'm most interested in things like mashups or AJAX applications --ways to tinker around with how information is delivered. I've begun playing around with a Google Maps application, for example. However, sometimes I'll run up against the wall of lacking tech support for implementation. It also occurs to me that the move away from desktop applications and towards web apps is bringing us full circle. Or maybe spiraling up to a higher plane. In the early days there were servers to run the applications and dedicated client workstations to access them. Now, our desktop machines are kind of like bulked up clients, connecting to the larger "server" that is the web.

To a certain extent I feel that the ideas behind Library 2.0 aren't that new, or that big a deal. However, I can see the value in naming it and creating a "buzz" around it. It certainly raises the visibility of the concept and thus perhaps makes those who might be more afraid/resistant to change sit up and take notice of what's going on in the world around them. And that maybe they'd better get on board. Look at the number of librarians signed up for "23 Things." By reading some of their blogs there are many who are new to the whole 2.0 thing, but willing to try to learn and change. This may not have happened if they were just left to themselves, without the 23 Things initiative to get them going. Of course, there are also a lot of blogs that were started and have gone nowhere.

I like this line from John Blyberg's blog: "but whatever IT is, it IS." Guess I'd better get going and explore the rest of the Things.