Thing 18: Library 2.0

I guess the old-fashioned, libraryish type person (like me!) ought to be a bit more aware of the latest library developments, even if just to understand what our users are talking about. Having read many of the Library 2.0 articles (suggested on the 23 Things Victoria University Library 2.0 blog) I am now more familiar with the latest discussions, as put forward by our peers, but still trying to work out whether Library 2.0 is a "good" or a "bad" thing for libraries?

It seems to me that librarians and information scientists are more interested than are our users in what Library 2.0 can do, and laudable as our intentions may be, perhaps we've been a bit blinded by science? My experience is that the majority of people who use Web 2.0 applications don't necessarily want to know how these things work or even how they can integrate applications to take advantage of the richness and diversity they can offer as learning and research tools; most users just want to connect with other people and have fun. There have been numerous discussions amongst academics, researchers, librarians, etc. as to the usefulness of Web 2.0 for teaching and learning. An article written for Guardian Education by Harriet Swain and published on the guardian.co.uk web site offers an interesting insight into the pros and cons.

I like the flexibility offered by products like Encore and federated searching, and I also like the way that Library 2.0 developments allow for an enhanced dialogue between libraries and their users, but I'm wary of all the claims offered by the technical brigade and the ability of many of our users to take advantage (in a productive way) of what's on offer. The recent publication of a book called The Dumbest Generation (by Mark Bauerlein) highlights some of the problems inherent in our rush to embrace the internet and related technologies. In an interview on the ABC's radio programme Counterpoint, Professor Bauerlein argues that our dependence on computers and the internet has resulted in a worrying decline in levels of literacy and lack of initiative amongst young Americans. The same kind of problem has also been highlighted in a UK report called, Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, which was commissioned by the British Library and JISC and produced by CIBER. The report argues that the so-called "Google Generation" (young people born or brought-up since the inception of the internet) are not the most web-literate generation and lack the skills required to find relevant information on the internet. Although all this "doom-saying" may be ringing alarm bells for many people, it may be that librarians and information scientists are best placed to act for positive change by providing information literacy skills and helping people to gain the skills to do what we do best - find things and evaluate their usefulness!