Library 2.0 - what it means

Library 2.0, to me, is a set of interactive tools allowing anyone with computer access to add content, visual or printed, to the web. I was pleased to discover that I had used some of the tools prior to starting the class. I uploaded some photographs to Flickr and used RSS feeds. I participated on a very small level of adding photographs to a wiki already in existence. Library 2.0 is a way of communicating with people you know and people you don't already know. It's another way of "broadening horizons" in addition to reading books and traveling. An article I read in Newsweek, "New Wisdom of the Web" calls it the "living web", a term I think is a good description of what is taking place.

I'm not sure when the public library I work in will be able to incorporate some of the L2 tools. The economic downturn, lack of money, staff and time are huge factors. The last library I worked in which was part of a private medical center, had to keep recreating itself and be more "cutting edge" in order to be useful to the staff and administrators, and to keep getting funded. They had a blog and posted podcasts. Academic libraries also seem more able to keep up with changes. I know there are public libraries that are using many of the tools, but I don't think this will happen too soon where I work. A wireless pilot program in one of our libraries was to be expanded to the branch I'm at. That has been cancelled.

A good point was brought up in the first article I read, "We know what Library 2.0 is and is not". Before starting a library blog or wiki, etc. there is a need to determine what users want and what would be helpful to them. I think there will be very disparate movements in libraries, as there has been up until now, depending on finances. I also think the technology and abilities are going to keep advancing rapidly, especially if any millenials become librarians. The people coming out of the library school I attended are far better versed in the web and library 2.0 than I, and many of my colleagues, are.