Week 1 Reflection: What I Have Learned This Week

This week, we learned about the concept of Web 2.0 as well as what is meant in reference to Library 2.0 (or L2). I did not become familiar with the term Web 2.0 until I entered the SLIS program two years ago. I had heard it thrown around but had never heard an explanation of the term that meant anything to me. Over time and through various classes, the picture of what Web 2.0 really meant formed in my mind. Before the class readings from this past week, I had never heard of Library 2.0, but once I completed the readings, I had a good understanding of what it means.

Web 2.0 is the current Internet phase in which interaction, customization, and social networking play a huge part. I recall the first few years I spent on the Internet about 12 years ago. I impatiently waited for our dial-up to connect to AOL (America Online), and once there, I was extremely limited to the number of things I could access. To my knowledge, there was no outlet for acquiring news, creating an Internet space, and connecting with friends the way I would have liked to. Once social networking sites started popping up, it was one of those 'ah ha' moments that technology has in which a person thinks, "Why hasn't it always been this way?"
As I read about L2, I was struck with a similar thought, but in reverse. Instead of thinking, "Of course libraries have become involved in social networking. Why shouldn't they have?", I began thinking, "Why hasn't my library become more involved in social networking?"

The Multnomah County Library system is fairly advanced in the ways it handles patrons, materials, and the community, but social software is an area of lack for the library. Simply put, if a 19 branch library system has yet to reach patrons on the Internet outside of their own website, how must other less advanced libraries be faring? Is there a way to educate librarians about the benefits of social software and how we can use it to better serve our patrons? I believe there are those doing so and that it's only a matter of time before there is widespread recognition on the subject of L2.