Web 2.0 and Libraries: Best ...

Web 2.0 and Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software
by Michael Stephens
What can social software do for your library? Library staffers like the ones at Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, can tell you. "Just a brief look at our Director‘s Blog will illuminate the fact that the blogs promote a constant two-way dialogue between our director, Josie Parker, and the public," notes John Blyberg, who works at AADL and authorsBlyberg.net. "[You can also] take a look at some of AADL‘s other blogs that are staffed by some very clued-in, bright minds," he adds.
AADL has realized real benefits of social-software use—a four-branch public system with 46% of its district-population served holding library cards, it has not only experienced anincrease in the number of online visitors, but these days the public library is also boasting more than 20,000 registered users utilizing its Web site for library-related interaction and services. Incorporating such tools as blogs and RSS feeds, AADL‘s Web portal also recently garnered accolades from the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) in its2006 Best of Show competition (Best of Show/Winner, Web Page/Home Page, $6,000,000+ category).
AADL is just one of many libraries making patron/user inroads with Web 2.0 tools and also is just one of many cutting-edge libraries discussed in Michael Stephens‘s July/August 2006 issue ofLibrary Technology Reports, "Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software."
"Some see...Web 2.0 as a set of ever-evolving tools that can benefit online users," notes Stephens in the report‘s introduction. "With these tools, users can converse across blogs, wikis, and at photo-sharing sites...via comments or through online discussions.... Some libraries and librarians are involved increating conversations, connections, and community via many of these social tools. But it may be time for more librarians to explore how these tools can enhance communication with users...."
Among the (virtually free) social software tools Stephens examines in his report:
Weblogs (blogs) Podcasts RSS feeds Instant Messaging (IM) WikisFlickr
Not only does Stephens present in-depth discussion of the above-listed technologies, he also provides a plethora of library social-software use examples—from AADL‘s blog-based site andKankakee Public Library‘s Podcasts and Streaming Media to the Kansas City Public Library‘s innovative use of RSS feeds in many of itssubject guides, to the dedicated librarians creating wikis as user-centered tools for everything frombest practices for libraries to theOhio University Libraries BizWiki, abusiness resource created by librarian Chad Boeninger.
About the Author
Michael Stephens (MLS, Indiana University) has spent the last fifteen years working in public libraries as a reference librarian, technology trainer, and manager of networked resources. This fall, Michael will join the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at Dominican University, River Forest, IL, as an Instructor. In 2004, he was awarded anInstitute of Museum and Library Services–funded fellowship for the University of North Texas IMLS Distance Independent Information Science Ph.D. Cohort Program to study libraries, librarians, and social software. He is currently writing his dissertation. Active in theAmerican Library Association, he has presented at library and information venues across the country as well as internationally. Michael is well-known for his popularTame the Web Blog, he writes for theALA TechSource Blog, and he tours with Jenny"The Shifted Librarian" Levine for theSocial Technologies Roadshow. In 2005, he was named a Library Journal "Mover and Shaker," and he served as a scholar at theChicago Public Library‘s Scholar in Residence program. He also has written forLibrary Journal and co-authors a dept. inComputers in Libraries withRachel Singer Gordon. He resides in Mishawaka, IN, and spends as much of the summer as possible in Traverse City, MI.