Benefits of Web 2.0 for Libraries

After reading an article in the online magazine Ariadne, I wanted to share a few of the highlights in my blog. I think one of the ways this blog is developing is like a journal or a place for me to organize my thoughts and discoveries about library science and technology. I still reach for a typical journal to jot down a note, but I can see myself using this blog more and more. It has it's advantages (searching, easy to organize) and it's disadvantages (need to have a computer handy, privacy.)

The link to the full article is below.

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue63/nogueira/

The article focused on libraries (and by extension archives) using Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. An LIS professional Dongmei Cao listed these benefits:

• increased importance of the library to the user;
• improvement in the library’s image;
• potential of new interactive services to raise the level and quality of the service provided;
• increased involvement of users and improved communication of the library with such users;
• improvement in communication among librarians;
• greater ability to find quick solutions to meet the needs of users;
• improvement in shared knowledge and collaboration.

Other advantages listed in the article include: an increased awareness of the collection; varies access of the collection; diversification of users; improved relationships and links; new dynamic ways to engage; free of charge; contributes to the improved information literacy of users and the general public; the recognition of users as a valid source of information; and the opportunity to enthuse users with the type of contact established and better communication through contact that is simultaneously institutional and informal, professional and personal.