Consider the services discussed by Laura Cole in relation to a library or information agency that you know (as an employee or user). Select four key points made by the speaker, and consider how these may be applied to a library or an organisation you are familiar with to help it embrace a Library 2.0 ethos. Write 300 – 400 words.
From listening to Laura’s talk regarding the implication of library 2.0 into the library service, I found the key points “information accessibility”, “shift of landscape from print to digital”, “library serve as a hub for learning, meeting and sharing” and “librarian on a more active role as a navigator instead of a preserver” made by the speaker can help in embracing the Library 2.0 ethos. According to Michael Casey’s “Library 2.0: service for the next-generation library”, Library 2.0 has been highlighted as a new service model encouraging constant and purposeful change which are driven by user-centred change (Casey & Savastinuk, 2006). To effectively implement the Library 2.0 model into the library’s operation to provide user-centred services, Web 2.0 technologies has been adopted to generate a virtual environment to establish a platform for communication between the library and the user (Williams, 2020).
Other than the communication, the Web 2.0 technologies being used in Library 2.0 service model can influence the way information being access by people, and cause a paradigm shift that changes the landscape from print to digital (Cole, 2016), which Laura had mentioned in the Ted talk regarding the library services and changes influence by Library 2.0 ethos. The shift of landscape from print to digital for library resources are influenced by the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the library which involve using digital and social media to enhance the service (Sivarajah et al., 2015), for example, the online media platform allows user to access library resources and services without coming to the library physically, such as offering ebooks, e-journals and news through the online library database, providing reference services through online library chat, and offering online library services to assist the user to manage their library loans to embrace the Library 2.0 ethos in providing user-centred library services.
Also, since Library 2.0 model had adopted Web 2.0 technologies to provide, it had affected the role library and library staff plays in providing services. In the talk, Cole (2016) had stated “library serves as a hub for learning, meeting and sharing” and “librarian on a more active role as a navigator instead of a preserver”, highlighting library isn’t limited to a place for reserving information and librarian only act as an information preserver. It highlights a library is a place where people can learn, meet and share knowledge and librarians work as an instructor to assist library user in navigating through the digital platforms to access resources and library services online.
References
Casey, M. E., & Savastinuk, L. C. (2006). Library 2.0: service for the next-generation library. Library journal (1976), 131(14), 40.
Cole, L. (2016). BiblioTech as the e-Imagined Public Library: Where Will it Find You? TED, http://library.ifla.org/1418/1/213-cole-en.pdf
Sivarajah, U., Irani, Z., & Weerakkody, V. (2015). Evaluating the use and impact of Web 2.0 technologies in local government. Government information quarterly, 32(4), 473-487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2015.06.004
Williams, M. L. (2020). The adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in academic libraries: A comparative exploration. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 52(1), 137-149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000618788725