Use of podcasting by academic librarians is, yes, limited only by the imagination. A podcast is an MP3 audio file generally distributed by RSS or Atom feed, but this definition - like so much else related to the Web -...
It may sound odd to consider that tags have a value to academic life on the Web. Understandably, tags make some librarians nervous. The ability of users to assign keywords (tags) to digital objects might signal a draining away of...
As we academic librarians consider establishing a presence in social space, I've been thinking about the cultural shift this would mean for us. We are so accustomed to bringing users into our online space and on our terms. A library's...
The online publisher Ingenta listens to its customers. Its IngentaConnect site was developed in a series of stages that involved customer consultation. This past year, it formed a ten-person IngentaConnect Library Advisory Group to advise the company on the development...
Facebook is a social networking site that allows individuals associated with "a supported organization, company, college or high school" to create profiles to interact with other Facebook members. Because of the institutional framework, the site has become popular with college...
Go to where the users are. This is a key Library 2.0 concept, and includes but also extends beyond ideas about roaming reference librarians, research help in the doorms, and other physical, campus-based activities. Social networking spaces on the Web,...
I love UThink: Blogs at the University Libraries at the University of Minnesota. This project has been around since fall of 2003 and offers anyone affiliated with that institution the ability to create a blog hosted by the Libraries. UThink...
Library 2.0 turns the role of academic librarians on its head. In the Library 2.0 world view, user needs, preferences, practices, comfort zones, interests and skills in their handling of information converge to drive library services. Their participation in the...
Users are at the center of Library 2.0, and assessment is the key to finding out what they want. If users are going to do all the things predicted by the Library 2.0 world view - participate in the creation...
What is Library 2.0, and what is its significance for academic libraries? So many words have been spilled on the topic of Library 2.0. A fair amount of the literature is coming from public librarians, with a growing literature from...