#15 Library 2.0

So what's this "Library 2.0" they keep harping on about? Wikipedia defines "Library 2.0 as a loosely defined model for a modernized form of library service that reflects a transition within the library world in the way that services are delivered to users."

OK, so what happen to library 1.0? Well unfortunately the "good old days" of having the "traditional library" - you know the one with four walls, lots of shelves lined with books and absolutely no sounds besides the gentle flipping of pages, has gone by the wayside and has been, well not exactly replaced, more like libraries have been augmented and diversified to keep up with modern times and technology.

Is this a good thing? Well that depends on how you look at the idea. It's great that we, the library staff, can now and in the future, offer a broader ranges of service and information that is (mostly) quicker and easier than before. The library is no longer a stand alone institution, we now have consortium's of libraries to offer our patrons an extensive range of items. Also libraries now offer a larger array of item types to borrow, were not just about the printed page anymore, we have audio visual items such as DVD, video's, audio books. Then we also offer on-line services such as access to databases, journals and the like.

At the moment the library service is going through a transitional change that will probably never end as the way in which we utilise and implement technology into our service will also be changing and developing as the technology and they way people employ it will be.

In the near future we can hope that the library service will be able to continually adapt to the changing society needs to still be a relevant service to provide. If we stagnate now we are at a very high risk of becoming obsolete in the "new wold order" that seems to worship technology over everything else.

When I was a child (hum .. the seems strange coming out of my mouth since I was a child not that long ago), the library was a quiet place of study and research for the young and old alike. There was always a particular librarian that was very concerned about the noise level, the condition (cleanliness) of your hands as you skimmed through the pages of a very nice book and a scowl that could stop you dead in your tracks and make you turn around and exit the library at a fast (but not running) pace.

Now it seems that libraries are becoming more a of a social hub where people come to meet and access information. So this has meant a dramatic changes in library practices and polices towards not only our collection and methods of accessing information but in the was we offer our services and interact with patrons. Most of the staff have always been quite polite and offered exceptional service, except that odd "Nazi Liberian" you got every now and again, but the staff have to now focus on what is called "customer service" ... something to me sounds a bit like "would you like fries with that" ... Anyway I digress, that point I was trying to make was that the focus of library has been altered dramatically so that now we address not only the immediate needs of the patron but also the future needs, for example, we offer renewals over the phone and the Internet, we teach patrons how to look up books for themselves and then give them access to our catalogue not only in the library but also over the Internet.

It seems that we have to almost "woo" patrons in to coming into the library these days.

For a while there I though the Internet had almost severed the ever thinning thread of relevance libraries had to society in general, but mostly to the younger generations, who seem to want the library to become "an experience" not just a service. Generation Y (kids born 1985 - 1995) and now the Internet Generation (kids born 1994 - 2005) demand more since they can access information by just a touch of a button. Why drag your ass down to and in the library to manually search for and then look at smelly old, tatty books when you can sit your butt down at a computer and just do a Google search with INSTANTANEOUS results?

That is the crux of the need for transition from library 1.0 to library 2.0. The change of society values now mean that access to information needs to be quick, easy and USER FRIENDLY. Not to generalise or anything of the sort but my generation (Y) can barley do the basics such as write and spell let alone the Internet Generation who have never known life without a computer and take technology for granted. Libraries have to tailor their services to meet their needs and (sadly) their lack of skill in certain areas. They might be whizzes at playing computer games, using the computer in general and have excellent hand / eye coordination but they know nothing of the methods of research and analysis (how to learn or find information) let alone how to find a book using the Dewey decimal system, which by the way my be becoming outdated as it is too structured for the "open minds" that schools are creating today.

Library's of the future may have too look like a cross between Starbucks and Borders with books arranged into loose categories such as "arts", "computers" and "self help" instead of 745 and 001 etc etc with a cafe, Internet cafe and "hang out" areas, maybe even a whole complex with a gym and similar personal services that will draw their (the younger generation) short attention spans (again another generalisation).

Libraries need to be intuitive to use, made simplistic so that the lowest common denominator can use the service with ease and feel good about "the experience" and perhaps return for another visit.

As for us, the poor overworked, underpaid, but sometimes appreciated by the public, library staff, the bad side of this transition form library 1.0, the one most of us know and love, into Library 2.0, the way of the future, is that we have lost some control of content and quality to information. What I mean by this is that anyone can put up and website or make blog entries, then anyone can read that information. What patrons do with that information is up to them. But how much can patrons trust the source? With "traditional libraries" the book had to be published, and I assume that for non-fiction that the facts were verified in some manor, meaning that the information that the patrons were accessing was "correct" for the lack of a better term. It's all well and good to have many people constantly contributing and editing an online source such as Wikipedia but the articles are not published by "an authority" on the subject, anyone can add to and edit the content, even a monkey on a typewriter could do it!

Besides from the few negative draw backs which in time will be overcome, there are truly exciting possibilities for the library of the future. Our level and quality of service will be significantly increased, the current hassles of maintaining a current and up to date databases, maintaining our collections both physical (books) and non-physical (websites, online database, online journals etc.) would also be made easier.

The ability to transform data into truly useful information is one of the most valuable tools we have in our arsenal in the library. With the aid of technology we can offer a service that will change the way patrons access information dramatically. Imagine if we could tag all the physical items in the collections with data like relative geographic location, reviews, "If you like this you love ..." and that type of extra information that at the moment is difficult to find or is specialist knowledge. Patrons could then see where the nearest available copy of an item is, how long it's has been on the shelf, where it is most likely to be in the library (on shelf, in process, waiting to be shelved) , how popular it is (how many times it has been borrowed and what condition it's likely to be in). Patrons could then make more well informed selections with less interaction with the library staff, if they prefer the service that way. Basically we could streamline the steps involved in researching and selecting a book (or item).

Some worry that library staff would also become obsolete with the old practices but this is only true to a certain extent, there will still be a need of stewards of the physical collections as I believe that the good old book will never loose the appeal, the texture, the smell and the experience of reading a physical book will never be entirely replaced with e-books and online websites/blogs/information sources. Plus the library staff of tomorrow will be highly skilled technicians that can perform a multitude of tasks that involve the application and use of technology, but more importantly the ability to teach the patrons how to access the information not only to provide access to the information itself.

Well, that's about enough for my rambling, sometime non coherent diatribe for now ...