July 2007

Rohit Bhargava, author of the Influential Marketing Blog, has noticed library 2.0. He provides a list of why he believes in the idea of library2.0:

1. Everyone is a content creator and creating content is easier than ever.
2. A new wealth of content online means finding things is more difficult.
3. Algorithms and automated methods of search are no longer adequate.
4. People are relying on each other to catalogue information and make search better.
5. The professionals dedicating to indexing content, trying new search
   tools and generally helping connect people to information are the
   librarians.

Readers – this is what someone outside our profession thinks of libraries, librarians, and library 2.0! Much of this is what we generally say to each other – just refreshing to see us getting noticed outside the building.

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There’s some good discussion going on related to my two posts on the Basic Competencies of a 2.0 Librarian. For example, the author of the Library Shrine blog says this: “Judging by the questions we do get, most of the competencies David Lee King suggest seem kind of unneccessary.” And an anonymous commenter said “What’s the point in knowing these skills, if they can’t be used on library computers? … So until the library’s computers are capable of supporting the tasks on this list, it’s ridiculous to ask librarians to know how to do these tasks.”

I didn’t make something clear in my previous posts, so I will attempt it now. When I created this list, I was thinking about librarians producing content. The library world is beginning a transformation from a single focus on content-storing-and-retrieval to a more varied focus where creating content is also important. This is happening for many reasons… one reason being the ease of digital content creation that web 2.0 tools allow. Librarians, especially librarians hired to do 2.0-ish stuff, are being asked to create content – write blog posts, create screencasts and podcasts, experiment with video, and teach other library staff how to do these things.

So that’s where my list came from… and that leads to the other question I received: why learn these things, when you can’t do them on public PCs? At my library, for example, they’re correct – no one can come up to a PC, plug in a microphone, and start recording a podcast (not yet, anyway – get back with me in a year or so). So why should staff learn to do things at the library that patrons can’t do?

Here are my reasons:

• Professional development – to keep your skills up – what if you suddenly need a new job? Many libraries are starting to ask for these skills, and learning them will place you at the head of the pack.
• saving time – some of these skills can actually save you time. RSS, for example – do you check new/hobby/library websites often? If you subscribe to those pages via RSS, the updated info comes to you, so you can read them at YOUR convenience. Just one example of many.
• be relevant to the next generation – National trends show that people under age of 30 do 2.0ish things at home and on other websites (hence the popularity of Flickr, Youtube, Facebook, etc, etc, etc.). These people expect the same level of service and freedom when they visit the library. And (probably more important) they also expect the person who works with the library computers ALL DAY LONG (ie, a reference librarian) to understand 2.0ish things, and to be able to answer their questions.
• teach the current generation – People older than 30, employees asked to do new things at work, etc… they need to learn to do these things. Why not teach them at the library? For example, Topeka teaches MySpace and Blogging Basics classes, and we’ll probably expand those offerings.
• be a community leader – I’d guess that many people in Topeka have probably not heard of web 2.0 – but they HAVE most likely come into contact with it – RSS feed and Subscribe buttons can be found in many places on the web, many businesses are starting blogs, many people have used customer reviews on Amazon, etc – can’t we be the leaders? Can’t we be the resource people come to when they want to know more about a topic? Isn’t that what a library is for?

OK – those are my thoughts. What are yours?

library2.0, web2.0

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From the comments on my Basic Competencies of a 2.0 Librarian, I have a few more competencies to add to the list (thank you commenters!):

• Create, edit, and upload screencasts
• Ability to do basic HTML editing – an understanding of (X)HTML and CSS. Here, I’m not wanting “web developer” skills – but someone who has enough of an understanding of HTML to be able to do basic edits, like add in the code to a Flickr image in a blog past, and then be able to edit that code enough to align the image properly. Etc…
• know how to pick up a new device (mp3 player, mobile phone, etc) and figure out how to use it

So – adding these to my big list (and changing the wording on my list a bit), we have:

Specific 2.0 Skills:

• write and post to a blog
• add photos and videos to a blog post
• embed a widget into blogs and social networking accounts (like Myspace)
• social network knowledge – basic understanding of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc and the ability to explain them to others
• create, upload and edit photos, short videos, podcasts, and screencasts
• use IM in different forms
• use and explain rss and rss readers to others
• send and read sms text messages
• edit an avatar’s appearance
• basic console gaming skills (multiple formats preferred)
• Ability to do basic HTML editing – an understanding of (X)HTML and CSS. Here, I’m not wanting “web developer” skills – but someone who has enough of an understanding of HTML to be able to do basic edits, like add in the code to a Flickr image in a blog past, and then be able to edit that code enough to align the image properly. Etc…
• know how to pick up a new device (mp3 player, mobile phone, etc) and figure out how to use it
• the ability to learn the basics of a new digital service or tool within 15 minutes of fiddling around with it and be able to assess them

“Big Picture” 2.0 skills:

• understand how everything above works in a library setting
• understand how everything above compliments a physical, traditional library
• And most importantly – the ability to tell the library’s story, through various media – writing, photography, audio, and video.

One commenter suggested an understanding of creative commons licensing be added to this list. I’m not adding it to my 2.0 Librarian list. Instead, i think EVERY librarian, 2.0 or not, should understand Creative Commons, just like every librarian should understand the basics of Copyright.

library2.0, library 2.0

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