#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

Access
Improved or not? Well that depends. If you’re riding with the technological wave then yes, it’s a great thing. There are so many resources available to us now, not just as librarians, but as members of the community, that with such fantastic innovations, its definitely a challenge to keep up with them all. But if time, economic standing, or geography as an aid to access aren’t on your side then at the rate that these innovations are being developed, the technological divide occurs with equal relativity. A matter of breaking down boundaries or broadening the gap. I guess each of us just need to find our own particular groove and interest in the vast array of resources now available to us and try to keep up with the flow.

On-going training & personal development
Library 2.0 is not a stagnant thing. It’s a growing creature-like entity, with new versions up and coming (if not already here). It’s vitally important to keep up with the latest and to do this you need time. Which brings me to my next point. For those in the workforce and who would find these resources useful, I think it’s important these workplaces support their staff by allowing their staff time to explore these new widgets/gadgets/wikis/blogs and the list goes on… It’s not just a matter of saying yes we support you but here’s a truckload of tasks we want you to do first, it’s about showing support, creating groups and making it fun so that all staff can be in it together and learn to collaborate, share and support each other. This helps new and evolving skills not to mention team-building. Of course we all have a personal responsibility to our own development, but with ‘life’, as it stands, finding an hour or so everyday with commitments or families or whatever else we have taken on, isn’t always easy. However a little support from the workplace and a lot of personal development from the home, make a good recipe for keeping your knowledge and skills ready and at-the-go.

Connecting with the community
There are so many ‘sharing’ types of resources out ‘there’, it’s phenomenal. Some may have thought they were the only person with an interest in topic X, but a click and search here and there, connects them to other like-minded individuals, which can lead onto groups an inturn, onto a whole lot more. Big spaces with avenues diverging into smaller and physically accessible other spaces. In a library, which I think of more as central hubs, you hear each week things like, “Be on at 6:30pm and I’ll send you those links/connect with this/talk to you then” – and all references to online communication. The world is not so large anymore.

Fun
Library 2.0 is fun. If it’s not, then move onto another ‘library thing’. Like anything else, it may just not be for you. Not all things are, but at least by giving it a go, you don’t have to look so blank when you hear someone else talking about ‘it’. You can converse, learn and offer differing opinions!