2.0 Reference

It's about time for libraries to move into the 2.0 world for reference services. More people are communicating and spending time in the 2.0 world. Libraries that use Facebook or IM to answer reference questions will be best served if the staff are already using those services in their daily lives.

However, there comes a challenging point of whether staff will want to use the same account for private use as well as business. The issue of privacy in the social networking environment is touchy. Some people carry aliases to allow them more privacy and separation from their jobs and social lives. As librarians, who are concerned with patrons' privacy, we should also be concerned about our own privacy.

Should libraries use a generic account that displays no personal information about the employee responding to the reference inquiry? If so, how does that impact the sense of receiving personal service? As librarians continue to forge into the 2.0 environment, they will need to find the balance between the public role of the profession and online social privacy.

The Trading Game

So I've checked out the Trading Card accessory on Big Huge Labs. I decided to link it to my Facebook account rather than uploading a lot more photos to Flickr. I find that it's much easier to consolidate my social networking tools rather than have them spread throughout the web. Here you see the Infamous Bella of our household who spent a couple days in the wall between the kitchen and bathroom.


I could see using this Trading Card feature as a fun way to introduce Information Literacy to library patrons. The librarian could create a Trading Card of the Week and post it on the library homepage or blog.

School librarians could use this as an incentive to get students to look for new information on the school library site while engaging in learning about the library and information literacy.

Spelling it Out

Information Literacy happens to be one of my passions. This was a creative way to say it using Flickr's 'Spell This' feature.

Home and school

Home and school
Originally uploaded by rwhite2009

Here's another look at my book collection. Home life and school are about it for me right now. I happen to have a child with Autism, so I keep my books on that interesting Spectrum on the same shelf as my school books. Sometimes it seems managing libraries is not all that different from managing life with children (especially one with autism)!

School books

School books
Originally uploaded by rwhite2009

I've added a photo of what I'm reading for my MLIS program this semester. It includes reference works, web design, and research methods. Just a bit of light reading!

Keeping up with RSS Feeds

I find that the biggest problem with keeping up with RSS feeds is that I tend to have so many that I want to look at that I get behind very quickly if I am not checking in frequently. I have really come to love the iGoogle feature that allows you to place your RSS feeds right on your homepage so that every time you open your browser, you can check the latest postings. It only shows the most recent few which also keeps me from feeling overwhelmed at how much has been published since I last checked.

Library 2.0 - What's the Buzz?

Yep, Library 2.0 continues to be a hot topic in the world of library and information studies. Is it really all that different from Web 2.0? No, I don't think so. It's just the application of social networking to the library world.

Some librarians are gung-ho for Library 2.0 applications like using blogs to keep users up to date, but others are reaching for the AACR2 to try and keep a controlled vocabulary in 'control' of the catalog instead of the user-defined tags that are popping up everywhere.

Applying social networking to the library environment is a great idea, but we still have yet to reach the point where a critical mass of users have adopted the tools and jumped into following library RSS feeds, blogs, and tagging in the catalog.

There are plenty of great things about applying Web 2.0 to the library, but let's be patient as the rules of engagement evolve...