Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and Tomorrow's User

Citation

Myhill, M. (2008), "Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and Tomorrow's User", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 83-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330810851663

The story goes that a prolific film star comes home and, on hearing the front door open, her equally iconic husband shouts: “I'm in the kitchen”. Her reply is “can I be in it, too?”. This book similarly places the library as a key participant in our modern, device‐driven world. Indeed, as one chapter includes a consideration of the place of the library in an increasingly popular virtual world (Second Life already has 1.3 million registered participants), perhaps we have already gone beyond those spatial constraints. I am not sure what Dewey would have chosen as his avatar but the library environment is clearly alive and well in this part of cyberspace including the Talis‐sponsored Cybrary City, a “staffed” helpdesk and a trial of QuestionPoint software (from OCLC) to answer library‐related queries when staff are not present. To carry on the film analogy, I recently sat through a presentation devoted to the presence of libraries and librarians in the movies. I have to say that I found it difficult to get caught in the hype but am I losing the plot? Even my own job description has just changed and the name “librarian” has gone with it.

This is a book which, in a comparatively few pages, covers many facets comprising what is known as Library 2.0. That name relies heavily on the concept of Web 2.0 – the increasing socialisation and sophistication of worldwide web technologies. If you do not know what is going on in the world of wiki's, blogs, podcasting, PDAs, mashups and social networking (MySpace etc.), specifically in the library context, then this is the book for you. These issues are dealt with in a series of short chapters and there are helpful references for further reading and exploration. The cast of contributors is impressive – if largely drawn from North America – and there are few sections which could be classified as anything other than family viewing, although one section on “non‐hierarchical ontology” and “organically created taxonomy” takes a little more digestion to realise the significance of a world where our users now call the shots even in the creation of metadata. Taking the “gate” out of the traditional librarian's “gatekeeper of knowledge” role may be moving to a more “X‐rated” view of the profession where our worst nightmares could come true. The final chapters certainly take the book from an informative and descriptive view of current uses of Web 2.0 technologies in the library setting – to the thought‐provoking and forward‐looking consideration of “folksonomies”, virtual worlds, digital storytelling and even gaming in the same context.

In conclusion, this is not a work of science fiction or fantasy. It is part documentary and part visionary. In the preface, Steven Bell refers (p. vi) to a recent comment from David Bishop, former Librarian at Northwestern University who noted “we have watched whole professions go out of business as a result of changes in technology. Libraries are not immune”. As a service‐based profession we have to jostle for position in an increasingly competitive and user‐driven market. We already know that, for the majority of our users, web search engines such as Yahoo! or Google are the first point of reference. We also know that the upcoming “net generation” have completely different information‐gathering methodologies to the previous generations. The “screenager” generation is already waiting in the wings. As Eli Neiburger notes (p. 108) “if you do not offer them [the gaming generation] something of value now, you will be irrelevant to them for the rest of their lives”. This book helps information professionals understand that reality – and the response is up to us.