"Biulding academic library 2.0" video OLJ Task

Berkley Presentation and talk by Meredith Farkas: "Building academic Library 2.0".



A number of interesting ideas for utilizing web 2.0 platforms, resources, cultures and practises in the modern academic library are discussed in this presentation.

I have listed some of the key ideas bellow.

• Libraries should develop a Learning commons with specific reference to utilizing Wiki platforms. Meredith Farkas outlined a number of uses for Wikis which I found interesting. Wikis can be an important tool for capturing and then reusing knowledge. For example when libraries engage with other staff, academics and students in research tasks Wikis could be used to capture knowledge and incorporate it into the library services. Meredith sites a number of examples such as using wikis in Reference transactions or utilizing content generated by others.
  
• Libraries should now aggressively marketing via web 2.0 resources. Many libraries are now doing this. However it is some thing that ,libraries have not traditionally been good at and need to do allot more of according to Meredith. Providing none intrusive portals to clients so they can easily access a librarian from a research or social site is a good idea. However excessive marketing strategies should not draw resources such as staff time away from other pressing service tasks etc.
  
• Libraries should develop their OPACs to make them more usable and relevant to clients. I think everyone would agree with this. Utilizing both Folksonomies generated through client tagging practices and taxonomies could be useful to enhancing the search ability of a libraries resources. It will require radical trust which we see does work in other contexts. Establishing RSS feeds into OPACs will also improve user interest by bringing relevant content to users.
• Publishing most feedback may also be a useful idea. It could add a dimension of accountability to institutional practices and conduct as long as it is not abused and carefully moderated. It could also be a motivational tool for individual librarians. Libraries are in the public space and many of them are publicly funded after all so the risk may be worth taking.
• I agree with idea of putting collections out their. Meredith uses the example of putting special collections photographs into flickr for the general public to view and comment on. This is harnessing the wisdom of crowds to build knowledge of our resources or correct errors that we may make. Librarians are do not after all have specialist knowledge in specific areas. Many libraries are doing this at the moment. There is also allot of underused monographs sitting in stacks collecting dust that should be marketed rather than waiting to be sold or disposed of. Their should be a niche market for some of of this stuff and Library 2.0 should support it.
  

OLJ task: Library 2.0 at ASU libraries

The Arizona State University Libraries have developed a very active online web based marketing and outreach program. The libraries "Library minute" infotainment video casts which broadcast on social media a range of library services news and events are certainly testament to the energy with which outreach is currently pursued. The library also maintains an active presence on some of the biggest and most popular social media platforms around today notably Facebook, twitter, Youtube, flickr, and itunes. Go to where the clients are is the new mantra. The library is certainly trying to do this. It is now developing platform independent web based services. Students can now search the libraries catalogue or utilize Ask a librarian services from a hand held device. One of the more impressive offerings was the libraries catalogue. It had Incorporated effective elements from web based platforms that the current web users would be most familiar. These include Web 2.0 elements such as RSS feeds. I found the catalogue to be both attractive and easy to use.

How has the ASL's pursued the four underling principles (Four Cs) that have come to associated with web 2.0 practices and attributes?

Collaboration: From what I can see there is very litle in the way of active collaboration between the library and its clients in the production and dissemination of content. Participation is encouraged but there generally seems to be only a one way conversation. Although to the libraries credit it has campaigned to try and get students/clients to talk to the library via catchy and entertaining video casts.

Conversation: The video channel for example is essentially a blog that allows users to post comments on videos that may be of interest to users. However from what I have seen this is rarely used. The was some activity on the Youtube channel but not a great deal. However as I have already mentioned the library has actively promoted and marketed all its feedback channels.

Community: Despite some of the limitations mentioned above the library is presenting an attractive face to the university community that is refreshing. It is seeking to actively engage with library clients and users. It has also importantly sort to streamline and simplify the search process for clients resulting in barriers to information and librarians being reduced. I can see these things being good for moral in the organization as engagement and institutional and individual learning have become a bigger part of the life of the library.

Content creation: As I have mention above most content is created by the library. However students are encouraged to become actively involved with content creation through various competitions and events.

However I do wonder about the cost of maintaining these digital spaces. These activities do employ a large number of staff. Do the benefits out way the costs? What is forgone? Would the interests of students and academic staff be better served through more journal subscriptions etc. Does an attractive marketing campaign have the same value as a more comprehensive collection? How are libraries going to move beyond marketing to a platform paradigm which sustain and fosters learning communities.

Second Life

I found the readings on this subject quite interesting. I can see the benefits of using second life to sim real world situations in a dynamic and engaging way. Tacit knowledge can be imparted through learning by watching and doing in an immersive digital environment . This may be important in the service sector that we librarians work in for Second life will give us the potential to practice through active role play. New roles and scenarios can be explored and the challenges of real world like problems experienced in a relatively safe environment.

However I can see the problems beginners will face as second life does impose a high learn curve on many. It also requires a fare bit of work to become established and comfortable. There are certainly allot of well worked on avatars in there. I am still a novice user which is a disincentive for me as I do lack the confidence that others have on the site.

OLJ activity: RSS feeds

The State Library of Victoria has a number of RSS feeds in operation across its web site and catalogue. These RSS feeds perform a number of useful and cost effective functions for the library buy efficiently delivering news and content to interested parties in the broader public. The general public can be kept up to date with current library news and events with two specific RSS feeds set up for these. Journalists and other interested parties can remain informed of current media/Press releases. Job seekers can subscribe to the libraries positions available feed. Those with a more specific interest can subscribe to the arts and genealogy blogs.

Another quite interesting development has been the libraries decision to use RSS feeds to deliver updated catalogue content to clients. This feed allows clients to be kept up to date on new catalogue items that have relevance to their past searches. In this way clients can be kept informed of collection developments that may be most relevant to their needs.

The New York Public library also users a number of RSS feeds to deliver services to the general public. As It is a community public library, special RSS feeds have been established to target specific demographic groups such as children, teens and adults that use this library. To support the uptake of these feeds detailed easy to follow instructions on how to set up specific feeds are provided to clients. The library also maintains a large number of collection promotion specific blogs which can easily be followed via RSS.

University libraries have different uses for RSS feeds. For example the Ohio University libraries have subject specific Blogs that can be followed via RSS. These are maintained by subject librarians. Princeton University also has subject specific blogs with RSS feeds that could be useful for students studying in specific fields and needing the services of specific libraries. This university also has collection development RSS feeds that allow clients to regularly receive updates on new databases resources and catalogue acquisitions.

The above mentioned examples highlight some examples of how RSS feeds are used at this point in a range of libraries. However one of the most comprehensive lists of RSS feeds available from a library would be that provided by the US Library of congress. Given he public demand for services from this national library this is not surprising.

Delicious.com: OLJ Task

I set up a delicious account in March as part of my learning process for INF506. After setting up my account I established a network with two other user groups namely "SISsocialmedia" and "Lyn_Hay" in order to share subject relevant sites that I had found on the web. I bookmarked and tagged a number of sites on my delicious account for others on these networks to browse. By using community developed tags I was able to search for other relevant bookmarked material from these networks.

By sharing and tagging relevant sites in Delicious in this way a community of users in INF506 has been able to construct a specific and relevant community library of digital resources with its own specific tag categories, relationships and folksonomies. This emergent community meta data ecology has some good advantages over the relatively remote, and commonly imposed traditional taxonomic ontologies constructed by information professionals in traditional institutional environments. Specifically the created meta data tags are more likely to be meaningful within the specific discursive and knowledge communities from which they where created to serve. This will not only simplify item retrieval for community users but will also aid with knowledge building as relatively informed links and relationships between sites can be generated through community tagging practices. Some of the known limitations associated with the use of uncontrolled vocabularies will be mitigated by the enforcement of known community standards and culture in the online environment.

Overall I have found Delicious to be both an attractive and relatively easy site for bookmarking and sharing resources with others of similar interests. I specifically liked searching through the tag ecology that has been established by the various groups and networks. Information professionals could use this to better understand how people arrange and organize information. The strengths and weakness associated with the use of uncontrolled vocabularies can be assessed and evaluated in a dynamic information environment. Librarians can then use this understanding to improve Meta data standards or even have there production decentralized to some degree. Organizing and finding information on the internet certainly represents a challenge for information professionals and users alike. Social Tagging represents a useful experiment for harnessing the power and knowledge of communities and individuals to do just this.

I have also tried Diigo as an alternative social bookmarking site. Although it is not as popular as delicious at the moment. This site does provide some useful or more flexible ways of downloading and archiving content from the web for sharing with others.

Anobii and facebook book shelves

I had a look at the Anobii site in March. It seems to be one of the more attractive sites for sharing my reading interests with others. I have reviewed and rated a number of books and joined two discussion groups. However the numbers on this site are low so activity seems to be a problem. I have not visited the site for number of weeks now.

Alternatively I have also started using the Facebook "We read" application to construct a online book shelf. Like Anobii it allows users to review and rate or discuss books with others. I have not posted any reviews or found any friends through this application yet. But posting what you read or do not read can be useful for further developing a personal digital profile. However like Anobii there does not seem to be widespread use of this application on Facebook. None of my friends bar one currently have a bookshelf on Facebook.

I have also started to use the World-cat application on Facebook.

Diigo

I have recently had a look at Diigo which is defined as a "Personal information management system". It is essentially a social bookmarking site which allows one to share a library of accumulated bookmarks with communities of interested people. This sharing is facilitated by bookmarking features which allow target items to be appropriately tagged, annotated, and shared with groups a user may be apart of. The Diigo toolbar allows information to be quickly imported from the web and inserted and organized into a personal/group library. Fragments of sites can also be highlighted, screen shots taken and then archived for future reference if necessary.

I have managed to put together a small library of interesting content from a number of resources. Although I have not managed to use it as a social tool as such. I can sea the sites potential as a research tool for people to get together to accumulate and share information from which a knowledge tree can be constructed. I can see the value of using the wisdom of crowds to aggregate and organize useful content from the web on a particular topic. This site could be useful for students or small research groups.