Building Academic Library 2.0 Video

ACTIVITY

View this YouTube video called 'Building Academic Library 2.0'. This is part of a symposium sponsored by Librarians Association of the University of California, Berkeley Division in 2007. While this presentation is over one (1) hour in duration, there are a number of key points raised by a number of speakers, including the keynote speaker Meredith Farkas, that relate to any library or information agency that is trying to transfrom their library into a 2.0 Library.

Consider advice provided by one or more of the speakers in terms of a library and information agency that you know (as an employee or user). Select five (5) key pieces of advice from these speakers, and consider how these may be applied to your library to help it embrace a Library 2.0 ethos. Write up your findings as a post (of no more than 350 words in your OLJ).

The first comment that I found particularly interesting was made by “Shaol Wagner” and he made the comment that libraries need to look around and see how people are using technology and then use it in our strategic planning.  In order to keep our place in society libraries need to tailor our services and products to how our customers wish to use them.

Libraries also need to follow the 3 p’s when it comes to web 2.0 programs and they are Planning, Partnership and Privacy.

The keynote speaker “Meredith Farkus” had a number of fantastic suggestions to help libraries use Web 2.0 technology and they are

We need to know our users and ask them what they want. An example of this is setting up a Facebook account and asking library users to post on our wall what titles they would like us to purchase.

Communicate and become more transparent. An example of this is asking teachers what assignments are coming up in the local schools and setting up a blog with handy links for students about where they can find information to help them with their specific assignments. This saves time poor students having to come into the library and ask for information. Instead we are bringing it home to them.

Go where our users are An example of this is providing a library chat link for students on each university study page so that they are able to ask librarians where they can find needed information for assignments without having to waste time logging into the library.

Develop a learning culture in your organisation. Normally only a couple of people from each organisation are chosen to go to expensive library conferences and the rest miss out. In order to stop this happening it is a good idea to set up an in house learning culture so that everyone has the opportunity to learn and participate through getting to do discovery exercises on new and emerging technologies every week. If staff have the opportunity to do this then they will feel more comfortable using the new technologies and be able to help serve patrons needs better.