Tekstnoter: "Evolving Web, Evolving Librarian"

Tekstnoter på engelsk

Benson, A. and Favini, R. (2006). Evolving Web, Evolving librarian. Library Hi Tech News 23 (7), 18-21

Web 2.0 is a term that has been used to label new web technologies that allow users to create, personalize, and share information.
Ex: blogs, wikis, Flickr (a photo sharing site), MySpace and Youtube (sites for watching and sharing original videos)

User expectations
Young users of www are familiar with Google, Amazon, Ebay ect. expect simple search, speed and satisfaction

4 mayor trends in web 2.0:
Personalization, Self-service, Mobility and Technology

1. Personalization.

Users also expect to find information tailored to their personal needs and interests.
Ex: Amazon. When users search for a book they get not just author, title, and a few subject terms, but also links to editorial reviews, the ability to browse sample pages, and a list of other books cited within the work.
Based on a customer´s past search history and aggregated purchasing data from other customers, Amazon porposes similar or related materials that a person might enjoy in the hopes of stimulating additional interaction with the site.

Traditional library:
Protect patron’s privacy

New challenges:
Allow users to create identities and profiles that, given the right technology, could be used to tailor a patron’s view of library content and services.

Some libraries have sought to personalize the look and feel of their web sites by creating portals to information services.
Ex: Mylibrary at North Carolina State. With Mylibrary users can create a personalized interface to the information resources available at the North Carolina State University Library.
Offers information such as: current circulation, request status, links to course material.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) -feed
RSS is a process that uses readily available software to automatically deliver web content to registered users
Ex. Georgia State University Library
Users can choose from 20 separate feeds broken down by academic discipline.
Giving users the option to receive only the information on topics that interest them.

Users contributing with own content.

Amazon: comments, reviews or suggestions about books, movies, and CDs- create tags
Share and tag content: Flickr, MySpace,
Del.icio.us: provides participants with means for users to share links to their favourite content on the web with friends and family, others around the world.

OCLC: Online Computer Library Center
Has added a feature to the public interface of their WorldCat database. Registered users can add comments and reviews to the existing bibliographic data for any resource in the catalog.
This capability increases user-to-user communication and builds a sense of community around the library’s collections.
àHave made data from WorldCat the world´s largest database of bibliographic information available to Google and Yahoo, through a program called Open WorldCat. When a person enters a search for a book title in Google or Yahoo the results may include a link to find the book in a library. – Users can also enter their zip code to find a copy of the book in the nearest library.

Blogs: readers can create a dialogue through comments on posts, and via RSS, the content of blogs can be easily tracked as it is updates.

Libraries can publish several blogs to specific users/ user needs.
Ex. Darien Library – Here the library publishes eight blogs devoted to specific groups such as teens and children as well as topics like movies, town events, and books.

University of Minnesota Libraries; Uthink blog site; students and faculty can create blogs related to classes as well as personal interests.

Wikis offer a more collaborative option for communities to share information.
Allow users to directly contribute to and edit content on a web site.
Ex. Wikipedia

Library wikis:
Library Success Best Pratice Wiki ; Library and Information Science Wiki ; both don’t contain much information, but create connections and build a community of library professionals.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Requires users who want to read the message boards for a movie to register first.
IMDB gain information about users of their site, and their behaviour on the site àused to trend analysis and to deliver advertising to targeted audiences.

Google Maps makes it possible for anyone with the right technical skills to build additional services that make use of the same map data.

2. Self-service.
With the WWW users have become used to self-service. Libraries need to recognize this expectation and make library services simple to use without complicated instructions, or recourse to a library staff member.

3. Mobility and 4. technology
Different mobile devices; Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), cell phones, smart phone, laptops coupled with connectivity of WiFi and cellular service.

Mobility and the Libraries.
One method is to provide access to information content that is formatted for mobile devices. These devices often sport very small screens, text entry without a standard keyboard, and little internal memory.
Ideal formatting features include short easy-to-read pages to minimize scrolling, minimal images, and easy navigation such as numbered links for cell phones.
Different mobile devices: Google Mobile, MapQuest, Westlaw, Ovid and BBC News.

Ball State University Libraries
Mobile web site, users can access reference links, the library´s catalog, book locations, mobile journals, nursing instruction videos, and other content designed for mobile devices.

Minneapolis Public Library has implemented innovative Interfaces, Inc´s AirPac which provides a mobilefriendly interface to their public catalog.
Both simple and advanced levels of searching are available through a clean, text-based interface. Dropdown lists with search types and search limits make it easy to interact with the service.

Libraries may want to consider providing access to circulation records, book due dates, overdue notices, and ILL requests via cell phones and handhelds to better serve their mobile patrons.