A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Managing New Technologies: The Challenge Of Web 2.0 Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath UKOLN is supported by: This work is licensed under a Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) Resources bookmarked using ‘ umbrella-2007 ' tag Acceptable Use Policy Recording/broadcasting of this talk, taking photographs, discussing the content using , instant messaging, blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. Acceptable Use Policy Recording/broadcasting of this talk, taking photographs, discussing the content using , instant messaging, blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised.

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 2 Contents Web 2.0 has arrived – let’s just use it Or has it?  Sustainability  Quality  Reliability  Dependencies  … Deployment strategies:  Do nothing  Embrace fully  Middle ground Application in your areas of interest

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 3 Web 2.0: Why? Realisation of Sir Tim’s dream: Web was meant to be interactive & user-driven Technical infrastructure now in place But only now are the standards in place, use cases tested and commercial infrastructure deployed User acceptance: Users love it – look at popularity of SNs Saving scarce in-house resources: Institutions can now focus on relevant areas, rather than duplicating services already available Enhancing quality of what we do do Developing digital citizenship Addressing the gaps (e.g. information literacy, …) See Web 2.0: Supporting Library Users for other examples

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 4 In Slightly More Detail Talk last week at UCISA SDG conf on Facebook: Embraces social constructivism, informal learning, … Allows us to get our data (e.g. RSS) to where the users are Can develop apps for the platform (e.g. OPAC) Can engage with our peers Avoid IT Services conservatism …

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 5 Web 2.0: Why Not? Small group exercise: What concerns do you have?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 6 Web 2.0: Why Not? Why not? Security Performance … Always available Licence conditions … Training Understanding … Support Expertise … Dumbing down Privitisation … ………… Technical Sustainability Users Management Philosophical Other Reasons

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 7 Did You Miss? Web 2.0 concerns: I’ve got my own empire and I don’t want it undermined I feel threatened by stiff I don’t understand We’ve just bought a new CMS (on my recommendation) and it doesn’t do Web 2.0 stuff …

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 8 Context You are considering: Encouraging your staff to blog using the WordPress.com service Using a hosted Wiki service (e.g. WetPaint) to engage with your users in planning of a Podcast service Providing access to library RSS feeds on Facebook Setting up a group on Facebook to solicit feedback form your users … What processes should you take to ensure these services work effectively?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 9 Approaches Opportunity Costs Scenario Planning Risk Assessment Risk Management User Engagement Cultural Change Embracing Diversity

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 10 Scenario Planning (1) Scenario Planning Being piloted in JISC’s Users and Innovation (U&I) programme Identify various futures (even unlikely ones) and exploring: The implications Preparation for the unlikely The Unlikely May Happen In the 1980s and early-mid 1990s would we have expected A Labour government in power for 3 terms Labour PM admits his admiration for Margaret T. Conservative leader tries to move party to left of centre The Unlikely May Happen In the 1980s and early-mid 1990s would we have expected A Labour government in power for 3 terms Labour PM admits his admiration for Margaret T. Conservative leader tries to move party to left of centre

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 11 Scenario Planning (2) Steady as she goes Web 2.0 wins Web 2.0 fails Student revolts Like today, only more so Google/Yahoo … provide services Social networks Why JISC? Web 2.0 fails Google goes bankrupt Yahoo nationalised ??? “SNs? For primary school” Appeal of “retro VLEs”

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 12 Risk Assessment Understanding risks: Walking across a busy road General application of risk assessment: Future of JISC services and projects (cf. AHDS) Future of established vendors (cf. Blackboard) Application to Web 2.0: Stability of the company Persistency of the data Note parallels with selection of open source software: is there a community; is it sustainable; is it taking me in a direction I’m happy with; … Advice given in “Top Tips For Selecting Open Source Software” QA Focus briefing document no. 60 Note parallels with selection of open source software: is there a community; is it sustainable; is it taking me in a direction I’m happy with; … Advice given in “Top Tips For Selecting Open Source Software” QA Focus briefing document no. 60

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 13 Risk Management Risk management: What to do if risks occur? Possibilities: Migration of service and data Provision of alternatives Acceptance: Times change The service provided valuable learning …

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 14 User Engagement User engagement: Talking to the users and strengths and weakness on proposed Web 2.0 services Giving them a feeling of ownership Libraries should be good at this IT Services possibly less so  Case Study Skype use allowed on campus, but user feedback from students in halls of residence show performance problems Banning on Resnet in response to user concerns Discussions with SU exec over increasing student demand Ban removed during summer vacation Technical solutions deployed in vacation Case Study Skype use allowed on campus, but user feedback from students in halls of residence show performance problems Banning on Resnet in response to user concerns Discussions with SU exec over increasing student demand Ban removed during summer vacation Technical solutions deployed in vacation

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 15 Cultural Change “Using Google is privitisation of the educational sector!” Do users care? Hasn’t this happened already? “Folksonomies is dumbing down!” “Users must learn boolean!” This isn’t being user-centric Education and training needs to complement what users will actually do “Libraries are trusted. Amazon links will lose endanger our relationship with our users & devalue our brand ” Will it? …

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 16 Opportunity Costs “We can’t use del.icio.us as it might not be there in 5 year’s time. We’ll develop something in-house” Consider: Missed opportunity costs in no service during this time Costs of in-house development Enhancement of quality of del.icio.us service Deployment of additional del.icio.us products

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 17 Embracing Diversity Diversity is central to the nature of higher education & cultural heritage Teaching & Learning / Research Different disciplines & teaching methods Need for innovation Users Different learning styles Accessibility … What Second Life Could Offer Imagine a paraplegic user who cannot operate a PC. How a helper can support the users engagement in Second Life. The user can now fly in this deeply immersive environment. What Second Life Could Offer Imagine a paraplegic user who cannot operate a PC. How a helper can support the users engagement in Second Life. The user can now fly in this deeply immersive environment.

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 18 Application In Your Context How might the approaches of: Risk assessment & risk management User engagement Understanding implications of cultural change Avoiding missed opportunity costs Embracing diversity apply in your areas of work? See Web 2.0: Addressing the Barriers to Implementation in a Library Context for further suggestions

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 19 Questions Questions and comments welcomed