Library 2.0

From Internet Librarian 2006, Monterey (Monterey Peninsula), California...

The theme for the first day seemed to be libraries using their funds differently when planning for program offerings and technology needs. More libraries are saying "no" to large, expensive turnkey, out-of-the-box products and "yes" to more money for staff who can build unique, flexible products.

Out-of-the-box products create more silos and information gateways, which may not be integrable with other items in a library's virtual presence. Though these products may save your library time, it forces the user to invest more time in finding what he or she needs. “Save the time of the user,” Ranganathan said, not save the time of the library staff member.
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This post is the culmination of the ALA TS blog one-year birthday festschrift, a month-long series of posts that could be perceived as a sort of eblogocentric celebration of this forum.
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Last Friday afternoon at OPAL, Jami Schwarzwalder presented an interesting talk online about the information lifestyles of members of the Millennial generation. (A recording of her talk has been added to the OPAL Archive.) Although the name and the date ranges vary, Millennials can be defined as those born between 1980–2000. They constitute the largest generation within the current U.S. population, with the Baby Boomers a close second. (BTW, what are we calling the generation born since 2000, the Y2K Outcomes?)
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A little over a year ago, ALA TechSource Blog sashayed out onto the dance floor. I remember thinking how it was wonderful that ALA was finally getting into blogs. Teresa had gathered some big names in the Biblioblogosphere, and I knew ALA TechSource Blog was going to be a hit. I was right.

ALA TechSource was distinguished from other "techie" blogs by being a tech place for the layman. Here was a place that librarians unfamiliar with the jargon and discussion could read without being overwhelmed. The discussions were often illuminated with real-world examples and interviews with librarians in the trenches. I was a fan.
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What a difference a year makes!

I'm back at Dominican after three days on the road, during which I attended the Kentucky Library Association Conference in Louisville. The highlights of my trip include: meals shared, conversations, meeting and greeting, hearing Peter Morville talk about "ambient findability," and my presentation on Library 2.0 for a room full of folks. I was very aware that this week marks about a year from the time when Michael Casey began blogging his thought processes at Library Crunch on the L2 philosophy.
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If you've ever visited the user-outreach Mecca that is the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL)—either physically or virtually—then it's likely no surprise to you that the winner of the Talis-sponsored "Mashing Up the Library" competition is none other than AADL's very own John Blyberg (also of blyberg.net). John's entry, the Go-Go-Google Gadget (more information about it on blyberg.net here), "shows how simply library information can be integrated into the personalized home page offered by Google," says Talis's technology evangelist Paul Miller.
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Every day companies are coming out with new tools to reach their users on the Web. Many companies have learned that rolling out products before they are completely formed—in beta or even in alpha mode—can save them development time and money. By giving their customers an early look at a product, companies are empowering customers to use the tool in new ways and are providing them with an opportunity to ask the company for functionality that product developers may never have considered.

Companies in Beta
Meebo, a robust, widely used instant-messaging (IM) service is still in an alpha phase. Meebo allows users to sign into more than one IM account with more than one IM provider at the same time, so all of a user's accounts appear together on the same screen. For people in restrictive IT environments, there are no downloads when using Meebo.
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A librarian colleague e-mailed me yesterday and asked about the libraries I'd visited this summer: "Which ones really had some cool things happen? Which ones were innovating?" Truth be told, there were many to choose from, like: Read More »

We will anticipate and respond to the ways our users find, create, and share knowledge, and we will be fully integrated into the personalized library experience for each user and welcoming spaces for collaboration and discovery.

On campus and online, we will be a valued partner in the academic life of our students, faculty, and community. Read More »

It's a special day here at ALA TechSource. Not only did Jenny Levine begin at ALA today in her new job as Internet Development Specialist and Strategy Guide, but also today Michelle Boule, of Wandering Eyre Blog fame, officially starts as a contributor to this blog. (Watch your aggregator for her first post about utilizing committees to influence technology-related decisions.)
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