Blogs, Wikis and more: Web 2 Blogs, Wikis and more: Web 2.0 demystified for information professionals Eastern RSC event Monday 23rd February from 11:00 - 12:00. Marieke Guy Research Officer UKOLN is supported by: This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) www.bath.ac.uk

Introduction to UKOLN UKOLN is a National centre of expertise in digital information management Library and cataloguing background Located at the University of Bath Funded by JISC and MLA to advise UK HE and FE communities and the cultural heritage sector Many areas of work including: Digital preservation: DCC Metadata, registry work Repositories: eBank, Intute, SWORD, DRIVER Dissemination: Ariadne, International Journal of Digital Curation eScience: eCrystals….etc.

Introduction to Me Been at UKOLN 9 years Now a remote worker Member of the Community & Outreach Team Currently working on: Good APIs project Chair of the Institutional Web Management Workshop Cultural heritage work Previous roles/projects include: JISC-PoWR, JISC Standards Catalogue, QA Focus, SPP Project Manager, ePrints UK project manager, Public Library Focus work, NOF-digitise, Web Magazines

Workshop Programme Presentation on Blogs, Wikis and more 20 minutes Do It Yourself - A chance for you to try out some of the tools Discussion - A chance for you to think about the challenges 5/10 minutes Presentation/Discussion on Challenges of Web 2.0 for the Information Professional 10 minutes Final Feedback -Any final questions, comments etc. 5 minutes Will use this logo when it’s time for questions

Workshop Resources All resources (and more) linked with Delicious tag: http://delicious.com/mariekeguy/rsc-eastern-200802 Wiki for you to work on

So…What is Web 2.0? Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly, 2005 Marketing term (derived from observing 'patterns') rather than technical standards - “an attitude not a technology” Characteristics Of Web 2.0 Network as platform Always beta Clean URIs Remix and mash-ups Syndication (RSS) Architecture of participation Blogs & Wikis Social networking Social tagging (folksonomies) Trust and openness Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly, 2005

Blogs Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cecio/259559422/

Blogs A blog is a Web log, online diary Professionals are increasingly using blogs to describe what they are doing A social phenomenon of the 21st Century Key characteristics are openess, collaboration and syndication There is a need for information professionals to: Understand blogging and related technologies (e.g. RSS, Technorati) Be able to find resources in the 'Bloggosphere' Explore how to use blogs to support business functions (support users, staff & organisation)

Why Blog? Community of library professionals Long tradition of sharing experiences and knowledge New issues – need to find new communities Blogs can be a timely way to Offer advice and commentary Make new connections Record discussion over time Also provide a different view to email discussion threads

Reading Blogs Web 2.0 There are lots of dedicated blog readers You can sign up for RSS feeds to be alerted to changes Try not to be distracted by adverts etc http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs Bloglines – a Web-based Blog reader. You are informed of changes since you last viewed the page.

Library Blogs Lots of Individuals creating blogs: Phil Bradley’s, Peter Scott, Technobiblio, Library Techtronics, Shifted Librarian, Free Range Librarian, DIY Librarian Lots of themed blogs: Going Green at your library, Librarians for Human Rights, The ‘M’ Word - Marketing Libraries Lots of branch specific blogs: i Know Gateshead Libraries, Oxford University Library, Manchester Lit List Some subject specialist and medical blogs, moving more towards library teams British Librarian Bloggers list (lis-bloggers) Hot Stuff 2.0 – great list of library blogs (over 800) collated by Dave Pattern

Spineless? http://hwlibrary.wordpress.com/

Paige Turner http://swansealibraries.blogspot.com/

The Unquiet Librarian - http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/

Using Blogs Blogs are very interconnected with each other (bloggers discuss other blog postings, blogrolls etc.). This can help to provide feedback; measure impact; engage in discussions; etc. Web Monkey extension can give blog comments on your pages Technorati can help find Blog articles, etc. A search for “Oxford University Library Services” returns 87 hits, was mainly student blogs, now many others The comments field can allow you to engage in discussions Time for you to establish a blog?

Ideas for Blogs A News Blog New branches, stock areas, user services, service changes, opening hours, fines, event information From the Librarian’s Desk Blogging about your daily work, provides transparency and openness Library Resources Blog Special collections Special Projects Blog/ Task Groups Blog Reflective Blog Use as a ‘try it out’ experience Professional Development Blog Chronicle your daily activities, identify progression, achievements, use it for annual appraisal

A Few Issues… Institutional Issues – e.g. Can you have a corporate voice, do you want one? Technical Issues – e.g. What software will you use? Barriers to making the decision to blog e.g. Do you want all your thoughts to be accessible to all? What about an internal blog? Barriers to getting started Gaining momentum e.g. A huge number of blogs are not read and become deserted by their writers Keeping your momentum! e.g. Will you be able to come up with content? Stopping? Right person for the job! Be rigorous asking the questions: “Why do we want a blog?” Would it be better done some other way? Are we doing this just because we can? ...Or because someone told us to...? Think about developing a pilot: A project-based blog with limited lifetime Using the blog for an event, working-party etc. No / low commitment Be clear about ownership Work at the right “radar level”... Your institution may feel that: It’s a fad It’s not our job We’re too busy It will bring the library into disrepute It’s threatening. What about defamatory comments? Copyright? etc. They may need reassurance Show examples of best practice library blogs Participate on other blogs Demonstrate the value Identify and address training requirements Seek out blog champions Policies Do what you can to publicise: Link from your main website Link to other blogs Send a newsletter Tell your friends and colleagues Think about the future – migration? Develop a policy (if this fits with your organisation) covering scope, target audience etc. Think about moderation: the BBC model is good Have a workflow/editorial process/QA (preferably minimal): Write, check and publish Write, send to colleague, check and publish Write, circulate, sign-off, publish Write, circulate, send to committee, wait three months, get sign-off from everyone apart from the Director …. This takes a long time!! Think about processes for handling problems Technical issues Choose your platform You’ll need to establish the technologies to be used: In-house blog software or externally-hosted? Dedicated blog software or functionality provided by CMS, … Selection of the software Get IT services on side (?) Buy a domain name if you want...or extend your existing one (blog. or /blog)

Gaining Momentum Participate: embed yourself in the community, social networks e.g. Ning, Facebook (need to be aware of privacy issues, ownership of data, dangers of data lock-in) Identify and follow other blogs Get a great feed reader like Google Reader Link, a lot, especially to other blogs Comment, and use your URL when you do Be fairly shameless in self-promoting: “I like what you’re saying but over on our library blog we’ve taken a different approach..” Spread the URL around

Keeping Momentum Use Technorati, Google Blog search, etc Start to embed these in people’s lives by reporting Make sure you post regularly, and with high quality: Don’t post because you haven’t done one in a while... Do post because you’ve got something to say If you’re losing momentum, maybe there’s a reason? Do some evaluation of your blog: ask readers Look for co-authors. Guest posts. You may be surprised! if it’s getting stale, try some alternative approaches: Interviews, podcasts, surveys or polls Video or other media embedding, live blogging ...be creative, and copy other people

Wikis Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/1627257/

Wikis Wikis are collaborative Web-based authoring tools –read state and write state They can be used for: team work and collaborative papers (avoiding emailed MS Word file around) Note-taking and social discussions at events As an easy way to set up a group Web site A great e-learning tool Uses a simple markup language (wikitext or wikisyntax) Ability to compare previous versions of a page, revert back and track who edited the page Many allow users to discuss issues prior to making changes Increasing popularity in the public sector

Wikipedia Easy to create Provides high-profile information (Google-friendly) Allows the community to enhance and develop content Is time your library had an entry? Who will edit it?

Wiki Issues Vandalism, spam Wiki etiquette Searching (more tagging needed), archiving (ephemeral), organisation of pages – no heirarchy Mark up – no standardisation…yet – training implications Stopping your wiki from becoming an unmaintained storehouse of out-of-date information! Organisational Culture - Freedom to move away from usual design, protocols, habits Resources - Staff training, time, costs How will librarians add wikis and blogs to their collections?

Potential for Libraries “At their best, they can become true community resources that can position the library as a an online hub of their local community” Meredith Farkas Book reviews, FAQs Comments section, suggestion box Commonly asked questions (reference or general library) Local history, personal stories Course collaboration, e-portfolios Library project work, input for research work Workshops

Social Web

Social Networks Sharing and community are what Web 2.0 is all about Some of the most famous networks are MySpace, Facebook, del.icio.us, Frappr and Flickr Library is a social network in itself so the implications for it are huge Tagging – allows users to add keywords to items Created by groups/communities who are the resource users Natural language – common understanding No hierarchy, feedback RSS Feeds

Sharing - Flickr Web 2.0 Web 2.0 includes community-building http://www.flickr.com/photos/westmontlibrary/176505152/ Web 2.0 includes community-building You can help support your community-building by making it easy to share photos at events (e.g. this seminar) Simply suggest a tag and encourage delegates to upload their photos with this tag Flickr Commons

Sharing – Delicious Web 2.0 http://del.icio.us/mariekeguy/rsc-eastern-200802/ Another aspect of sharing is sharing bookmarks This can be used to: Manage your bookmarks Allow others to contribute resources Allow lists of bookmarks to be repurposed Carry out impact analysis Who else has bookmarked this resources? What are their interests? (I may have similar interests) How many have bookmarked my resource?

Sharing - Slideshare Many other resources can be shared e.g.: Slides http://www.slideshare.net/MariekeGuy Many other resources can be shared e.g.: Slides Photos Maps Video Travel info Events info Music Etc.

Google Maps/Mashups Web 2.0 Web 2.0 provides valuable opportunity to provide mapping & location services: Embedding Google maps on your Web sites Developing rich services using this Providing location metadata / microformats which can be processed by simple browser tools http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/ workshops/webmaster-2007/maps/ http://www.talis.com/tdn/competition

Creative Commons Web 2.0 Creative Commons offers copyright holders licences to assign to their work The licences aim to clarify the conditions of use and avoid many of the problems current copyright laws pose when attempting to share information. CC maximises impact of work Openess is a key aspect of Web 2.0: open source; open standards and open content can all help to bring benefits through maximising usage of services

Facebook Facebook: A social networking Web site Had the largest number of registered users among college-focused sites with over 30 million members worldwide Ranked between top 10–20 Web sites Seventh most visited site in the US The Facebook platform provides access to (a) Skype (b) Twitter micro-blogging service (c) mini-questions

Podcasts Web 2.0 Podcasts are syndicated MP3 files New items in a podcast can appear automatically in your Podcast client (e.g. iPod) or RSS reader Resources can be accessed via iTunes http://www.podanza.com/podcast/... The University of Bath won a European award for its podcasts from guest lecturers, etc. We can regard this as maximising impacts of the ideas and promoting the University, at little cost

Communication Web 2.0 Realtime discussion is a key part of the Web 2.0 and the .net generation (IM, SMS…) Can be used by patrons, chat reference services with transcript How much effort does it take to provide an instant messaging service for your library? Try Gabbly.com What about Skype? http://www.gabbly.com/

Twitter Micro Blogs Twitter: Best known of the micro-blogging applications Web application, with desktop & mobile clients Uses: Community-building Support from your peers Answers to questions Ideas Marketing …

Do It Yourself (20 Minutes) Time try out some of the applications that have been mentioned Try to keep in mind how this could be applied in your working environment Any problems just communicate in the chat area http://rsc-eastern-200802.wetpaint.com/page/Tasks

Discussion (10 Minutes) So what are the challenges of Web 2.0 for information professionals? The top 5 challenges for the information Professionals community? Possible ways that you can meet these challenges Best to write thoughts in notepad, refresh wiki page, paste onto wiki then save http://rsc-eastern200802.wetpaint.com/page/Challenges http://rsc-eastern200802.wetpaint.com/page/Meeting_Challenges

Librarian/IP Stereotypes They think they know better than the user e.g. they don't like people using Google Scholar; they should use Web of Knowledge They think that users should be forced to learn boolean searching and other formal search techniques because this is good for them They don't want the users to search for themselves ( folksonomies) because they won't get it right. They want to classify the entire Web - despite the fact that users don't use their lists of Web links They want services to be perfect before they release them to users. They are uneasy with the concept of 'forever beta' (they don't believe that users have the ability to figure things out themselves and work around the bugs).

Web 2.0 Backlash When significant new things appear: Enthusiasts / early adopters predict a transformation of society Sceptics outline the limitations & deficiencies There’s a need to: Promote the benefits to the wider community (esp. those willing to try if convinced of benefits) Be realistic and recognise limitations Address inappropriate criticisms, avoid the chasm in the Gartner curve

Library 2.0 Paul Miller stated that he saw Web 2.0 as being about: freeing of data, remixing and the opening up of the long tail the building of virtual applications, participation, sharing, communication and facilitating community applications that work for the user, are modular and are smart Web 2.0 + Library = Library 2.0 With Web 2.0 libraries have an opportunity to work their wealth of data harder and serve their existing audiences better Warning: Users will bypass processes and institutions that they perceive to be slow, unresponsive, unappealing and irrelevant in favour of a more direct approach to services offered by others that just might be 'good enough' for what they need to do.

Safe Experimentation Are you interested in using Web 2.0 in your organisation? Worried about corporate inertia, power struggles, etc? What you need is a deployment strategy: Addressing business needs Low-hanging fruits Encouraging the enthusiasts Gain experience of the browser tools – and see what you’re missing! Staff training and development Address areas you feel comfortable with Risk management strategy …

Staff Development Deployment Challenges http://podcasts.alablog.org/blog/ _archives/2006/4/12/1881517.html There's a need for your staff to: Understand what Web 2.0 is about Learn how to make use of Web 2.0 This is all subject to constraints of lack of time; resources; etc. The Library 2.0 Podcasts Web sites provides a useful resources for learning about new tools, techniques, etc. Deployment Challenges

Some Low Hanging Fruit… Librarything provides a good example of a Web 2.0 service: Catalogue your books AJAX interface Exploit data provided by the community Export capabilities Other books you may like Implications for reader recommendations … http://www.librarything.com/

Other Ideas RSS feeds, create them and use them Wikipedia Secondlife, Cybrary city Slideshare Bookmarks - del.icio.us, citeulike, connotea Librarylookup – Library mashups Folksonomies – different ways of organising information YouTube – video, streaming of video OPACs - Think of your library system as “an interlocking set of functional components rather than a monolithic black box” – Plinkit (Public Library Interface Kit)

Risk Managment Take a risk management approach to your evaluation of Web 2.0 technologies (as we do with IWMW) Establish Agreements Use well-established services: Google & Delicious are well-established and have financial security. Notification: warnings that services could be lost. Engagement: with the user community: users actively engage in the evaluation of the services. Provision of alternative services Use in non-mission critical areas: not for bookings! Long term experiences of services: usage stats Availability of alternative sources of data: e.g. standard Web server log files. Data export and aggregation: RSS feeds, aggregated in Suprglu, OPML viewers, etc.

Conclusions Web 2.0 can provide real benefits for our users, however organisations tend to be conservative We therefore need: Advocacy To listen to users' concerns To address users' concerns e.g. risk management A change of culture We can all benefit by adopting Web 2.0 principles of openness and sharing. So let us Share our advocacy resources, risk management techniques, etc. Develop your own social network based on openness, trust, collaboration, ..

Questions?