This was originally posted as Drew, Bill, “Academic Libraries and Library 2.0,” Baby Boomer Librarian, November 28, 2005. http://babyboomerlibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/11/academic-libraries-and-library-20.html.
I am updating this since I am much more involved in Library 2.0 “stuff” now. Additons or changes are in redbold. This update was driven by my realization that Walt Crawford has the original post listed in the bibliography of his new book, Balanced Libraries: Thoughts on Continuity and Change.
Links to this post:
I am basing this post on Michael Stephen’s post on ALA Techsource Blog
I am going to attempt to assess my library’s progress in getting to the ideals that Michael wrote about. This will include how difficult it might be to get there and my own take on each point. Each academic library should be doing the same evaluation. These opinions and views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of MYPOW.
- The library is everywhere.
This may be a bit difficult to accomplish since we do not know where “everywhere” is for our students. We do provide AOL IM based virtual reference with a link to it on all of our library webpages. I do know that many of our students use Facebook. They also use many other such personal portals out there including My Space. All courses taught here at Morrisville have at least a minimal WebCT page. We need to get a presence there. I hope to do that this coming semester. We also need to be on every student’s desktop. We are not there yet. We are in classes and out doing instruction outside of the library building. 4 out of 5 of the librarians are using IM as part of their communication tool kit. We are using OpenURL technology to connect into Google Scholar back to our resources. We provide remote access for off campus students and faculty. We are using a blog along with RSS to reach out even more. It will be necessary for us to help our students and faculty to use these new tools.
Where should academic libraries be? Everywhere our students and faculty are in the real world and in the virtual world.
We do not yet have a presence in WebCT. The problem is finding someone in charge of it here at Morrisville that has the authority to add the library website as a resource. It is very frustrating to me.
- The Library has no barriers.
Overcoming barriers really means overcoming our own likes and dislikes to give the students the environment they want. This is a big problem and is difficult to handle.
- Cell Phones – This is a hard one for us since we have students requesting quiet areas and also those who don’t seem to notice the noise at all. We currently require that cell phones be turned off or switched to vibrate in the library. I think we need to provide a space where they can use the phones but is going to be difficult.
- Space to collaborate – This is not a problem at all for us. We have three conference rooms and one library instruction room we control. There are also two classrooms that students can use when there are no classes in them . These have ceiling mounted projectors in them available for their use.
- IM on public stations – YES!!!!
- Now using MyPlugoo on all webpages including an option to open it in a pop-up. This means users can reach our IM without opening AOL IM. It makes it more anonymous as well.
- Talking – allowed anywhere as long as it is kept under control. We do have quiet study areas set aside.
- Public computer- Our public computers provide access to Internet Explorer only plus helper applications. We probably should have some e-mail and word processing stations but since 75% of our students have laptops that is not a high priority. AJAX based applications would take care of that problem.
What should academic libraries do to overcome barriers? The very first thing to do is to recognize what those barriers are. Our own personal likes and dislikes are barriers.
- The library invites participation.
This is a difficult one to handle for academic libraries. Our library at Morrisville has not done this as much as we should, partly because the technologies for doing this are very new. How do we increase participation? Give me some ideas! How can I get tagging to work in our web OPAC? How can I connect our webopac to a wiki to allow users to leave comments and reviews on books they have used and read?
I thought we would get this going using groups on Facebook and MySpace. Wait and see.
- The library uses flexible, best-of-breed systems.
This is one that may be impossible to do with out lots of money or real changes in perspectives. We are using ALEPH500 and it is very much a legacy system. It is entirely driven by the mainframe. This appears to be changing as newer versions are now using XML. Not Yet There!!
- The library encourages the heart.
This is one added by Michael. He states “As we reach out to users, we must remember all of the folks we serve.” I believe MYPOW does this extremely well. We increased our hours last year because of requests from students. We are now open until midnight Monday through Thursday. We provide instruction in the library and in the classroom. We teach a 1 credit course called “Research Methods.”
We are now doing this in our physical space by some remodeling in our reading room to make it more inviting.
Michael also added this to the list. To me this means that our users see us as individuals as well as librarians. This will happen because we use technology to reach out to individuals and do this as individuals ourselves. IM is one way of doing this.
This may be what we are best at doing here.
- The library recognizes that its users are human too.
This is definitely true of my library. I do not understand how a library could function without believing in this.
This has also been brought home to me even more now because my son is a student at Morrisville and I see many of his friends in the library and talk with them.
Many of the ideas considered part of Library 2.0 have actually been part of best practices for libraries for many years. The new technology just gives us new tools to do more and to do better. Library 2.0 is not always about replacing more traditional services. It is about extending those services into new areas and starting new ones. It is not change for the sake of change.
