Keeping Your Bearings in the New Digital Landscape Cliff Landis Athens Regional Library System Staff Development Day September 27, 2007

Confused by “2.0”?

A little history…

1.0 Connects Information –Web sites –Databases –FTP –Search Engines

2.0 Connects People – –Social networking sites –Gaming –IM –RSS –Wikis

Some Principles of Library 2.0 The library is everywhere. The library has no barriers. The library invites participation. The library uses flexible, best-of-breed systems. The library encourages the heart. The library is human. The library recognizes that its users are human too. Harness the library user in both design and implementation of services Library users should be able to craft and modify library provided services

In the past… Provided services without asking users what they want Made changes without consulting users Handed over services (such as the OPAC) to for-profit businesses Made users jump through the hoops we created for them

But Now…

So What’s on the Horizon?

3.0 Connects Information Reannotation of the Web Top-Down –Agents Bottom-Up –Subjects –Tagging

Order + Chaos = A place for everything, and everything in its place

Moving Beyond Text Looks Like: –EtsyEtsy –LikeLike –RiyaRiya Sounds Like: –PandoraPandora

4.0 Connects Knowledge Group/Enterprise minds (tribes) Information + people = knowledge Automated Serendipity

We must find out what users WANT –Social space –Help at the point of need –Collaboration –A voice in how things are done –It NOW –It fixed YESTERDAY –Options NEED –High quality information –Assistance finding/using that information –Lifelong learning skills –Information evaluation skills –Technology skills –A quiet place to study We must provide BOTH

So what should we do? As library workers, how will we respond to these changes? How do we keep up? Librarian Stereotype

Fear Not!

Baby Steps minutes a day to learn new things One tool at a time Limit your information intake People are your best source for information Share what you learn

…including me!