Well now, here I am at the end of the 23 Things process. I think I probably experienced the same difficulty all part timers had. An hour or two each week spent on learning about Web 2.0 is much more significant for someone working just 14 hours a week than it is for someone who works the full 36 ½ hours. There can be difficulties fitting regular work responsibilities together with 23 Things into the time available. Still, I’ve done it.
And having said that, there are some useful positives. Igoogle makes a lot of sense. I like having everything in one place. Wider use of RSS feeds by more websites has to be a good idea. Blogs are constructive tools for centralised group activity. Facebook is ubiquitous these days, and for that reason, a must. It’s reached its tipping point. If you want to talk to a lot of people, you use Facebook. YouTube is another good one. I’ve been using it for some time as a useful source of information.
Flickr has limited application, though the use of Creative Commons is very exciting being a bit like SlideShare which I liked a very great deal. As with YouTube, it’s a wonderful repository for information. I’m unsure about Wikis. I think they need to be made simpler, (though I hear that’s in the pipeline), and sometimes more accessible. Google Docs? The jury, for me, is out. I think I need to explore it a lot more than has been possible so far in the time available.
Downsides? There is the privacy issue, but I can’t help thinking that if someone wants to find out personal details they will. It’s a fact of life which we all have to get used to. Doodle seemed a bit clunky to me despite its potential utility. I don’t like Firefox, but that’s just me. Diigo was a bit of a lost cause. I can’t see that we in the Teaching Grid would use it often. Having said that, an overview of Endnotes is always good to have. I’m not sure about the applications for Twitter. Who’s going to be rushing to see what I have to say in 140 characters, or for that matter how often will I need to see what others have to say in the same limited space?
Clearly, Web 2.0 has a future in libraries, just as it has in life as a whole. It scores on at least two levels insofar as the library is concerned – the ability to do our jobs more efficiently, (and put simply, better), and in the absolute necessity of communicating with our patrons. Just as important for the future, it enables us to extend and to expand our services. Our service goes far beyond the traditional role of making information available. We are increasingly looking at ways of presenting it attractively, and at inventing innovative ways in which it can be used. Put succinctly, we are in the business of getting as much out as we can, to as many as we can, as usefully as we can. Web 2.0 makes the job a lot easier than it was, even five years ago. Will I be using it? You bet…!
