Web 2.0 and Libraries: Impacts and Technologies and Trends

Citation

Mullen, P. (2011), "Web 2.0 and Libraries: Impacts and Technologies and Trends", Library Management, Vol. 32 No. 4/5, pp. 376-377. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121111132374

It does seem the entire world has gone crazy for Web 2.0. The writers suggest Web 2.0 is the social interactive component of a new phase in the development of the internet. Sites like Amazon, Delicious, The LibraryThing and Blogs are some of the tools used in the publication as examples of Web 2.0 resources.

The book under review is 188 pages and has a useful comprehensive index. As with all publications from Chandos, it is written in a clear practical style. There are seven chapters divided into four parts. Part 1 is on Place, Part 2 is on People, Part 3 is on Technology and Part 4 is the Conclusion. The editors Dave Parkes and Geoff Walton in the Preface state the aim of the book is to inform the Web 2.0 debate and act as a “signpost for further development” and study. Much of the book is directed at the development of Web 2.0 tools for university lecturers and students. Nevertheless, it is still relevant to those embarking on a Web 2.0 journey as there are practical tips and lessons learned that could be used in any library environment.

Part 1 of the book has two chapters on the theme place. Chapter 1 by Mark Hepworth, “The changing teaching and learning environment” discusses how changing cultural and social factors have influenced how people respond to learning. In Chapter 2 “Transforming the library – e‐books and e‐building”, Dave Parkes discusses how the e‐book impacts on the reader, the publisher and the library. Mr Parkes then asks, “If there was no such a thing as libraries would we build them today”, he does not answer this question but rather suggests a number of ways libraries can reach out in this new paradigm and remain “places”. In itself, this question, probably deserves a book on its own.

The theme in Part 2 is people in which the writers discuss how people behave in the socially connected online world. Geoff Walton, in Chapter 3 looks at “Online social networking, the e‐Learning Holy Grail?” In this chapter, Walton reports on the results of a study on how social networking tools impacted on an information literacy course at Staffordshire University. In Chapter 4, Jenny Yorke and Helen Walmsley have a chapter on “E‐learning models: a web 2.0 approach to staff development in higher education”. The writers note the traditionally conservative universities are in a state of confusion as they attempt to come to terms with the new ways of communicating using Web 2.0. Typically (for academics anyway), the writers use a model‐based approach to develop and discuss how Web 2.0 can be used to develop Web 2.0 communities in universities.

Part 3 of the book looks at technology. Brian Kelly in Chapter 5 has an article entitled, “A deployment strategy for maximising the impact of institutional use of Web 2.0”. Kelly discusses how the cloud‐based anarchical nature of many Web 2.0 programs pose significant risks for universities IT departments. As Kelly notes at page 103, “staff in many IT service departments have concerns about relying on third party services, especially when there are no formal contracts or service level agreements”. Kelly suggests these concerns can be addressed by developing a risk toolkit that documents strategies used to limit the risks posed by Web 2.0 programs.

In Chapter 6, David Ley has written a very interesting article on, “Emerging technologies for learning”. This chapter is a wide‐ranging discussion on emerging technologies and the impact these new technologies will have on the Web 2.0 learning environment.

In the last chapter, “Meeting the challenge” Liz Hart provides an overview of the issues discussed in the earlier chapters. Hart encourages libraries to adopt and champion Web 2.0 as a means of reaching today's technologically enabled users. Hart suggests at page 182 if Web 2.0 is not adopted libraries face “potential extinction or the appropriation of information skills by other professional areas”.

This is an extremely interesting book with a number of useful articles on the development of Web 2.0 technologies in universities. For me, the main issue really seems to be how can institutions (universities or workplaces) manage and control the development of Web 2.0 without destroying the open‐ended nature of Web 2.0 technologies and the communities that develop around the technology.