Web 2.0 Perspectives

First of all, the YouTube video The Machine Is Us/ing Us by Professor Michael Wesch is fantastic. I found it to be very creative and also informative.

I read all the articles in the list. Some were too technical for me, especially the one by the OCLC Vice President. My favorite was "Web 2.0: Where will it take libraries?" (probably because Michael Stephens is a librarian). I liked his description of "user-centered libraries." They allow the users to help determine services, materials, and technologies. The librarian doesn't create policies and procedures that impede users' access to the library. Users are involved in decisions and have input. The librarian communicates with users online and connects with them. The library doesn't buy new technologies for their own sake. Technology has to meet the needs of users in a new and improved way. The Librarian 2.0 makes good, but fast decisions. (Then there was more technical info that I didn't understand in the section on the librarian being a trendspotter.) "The Librarian 2.0 understands that the future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content." And he closes with this: "Librarian 2.0 also listens to staff and users when planning, tells the stories of successes and failures, learns from both, celebrates those successes, allows staff time to play and learn, and never stops dreaming about the best library services." I have quoted and paraphrased liberally, but that was the best way for me to convey the content. I think HCPL does a lot of what he suggests already, but we can always continue to grow and change. Giving users and staff input is always a good thing.