References
3. Maness, Jack M (2006) Library 2.0 Theory: Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Libraries, Webology,Volume 3, Number 1. Everall, Annie; et al (2000) Stories from the Web: A Project 2, June investigating the use of the Internet in Children’s Libraries to Available at: http://www.webology.ir/2006/v3n2/a25.html stimulate creative reading among children 8-11. Accessed on 19th August 2009 Resource: London Debbie Mynott is Manager - Stories from the Web. 2. Dr Paul Miller (2005) Web 2.0: Building the New Library, www.storiesfromtheweb.org Ariadne, issue 45, October
Available at: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue45/miller/ Accessed on 19th August 2009
debbie.mynott@birmingham.gov.uk
Web 3.0: How will we react? I’ll always be grateful for the Web 2.0 wave of applications for one reason.While Facebook,Twitter and Wikipedia may have snatched the headlines for the last few years, the world of libraries has seen a revolution of its own, but one which is based around something we have already on the quiet.Web 2.0 tools and libraries have the same goal at heart.They engage with people.They are about collaboration, about access and about community. But most of all, they are about communication. So, I and countless other librarians like me, have seized the opportunity of the Web 2.0 bubble, to reaffirm our commitment to really talk to our various communities.To get our human voices across in ways which have previously been out of reach, and to position that communication back at the very forefront of our roles. For that reason (and for some which are far more geeky) I am a dedicated 100% fan of Web 2.0. So, with this in mind, I look with real optimism to the next wave. My experience in libraries so far has shown me that library staff are completely underestimated in their ability to adapt new technologies and techniques to the advantage of their users. Is it a coincidence that so many library communities have been built up around Twitter, Facebook and Ning to share ideas and experiences? Does the traditional image of the librarian account for the wealth of library blogs, podcasts and mashups? Unlikely. This openness to opportunity, as ever stands us in good stead as the evolution of the web takes its next tentative steps – Web 3.0, the Semantic Web. Call it what you will, but I and others like me will pick the useful parts and use them to enhance our services, and that ever-important need for engagement. Web 3.0, as those who are far more technically blessed than I will tell you, is focused around a number of concepts, but two of them immediately strike me as being very exciting for libraries, with the second of them being strangely familiar. First up, there is the giddying prospect of a truly meaningful mobile web, and the advances which allow this to finally permeate our lives.We’ve spoken in the past about the future of our collections, and I really don’t feel that this debate has reached its conclusion, but isn’t it already true that the book, in its traditional form, is now just part of a literature search? Wouldn’t it be nice if that book, when found on the library’s shelves, could be the beginning of another strand of that search? If our mobile devices could allow us to connect to a book and take us down a new path of investigation for newer, richer sources of information? If we as librarians can help guide through this with our own devices out and about in our buildings, perhaps harnessing RFID to make
those connections? We can already do bits of this by printing QR codes in our physical items, but it just feels so limited. My mantra when it comes to adopting a new technology is that it has to be inspiring (or just plain cool) but more than that, it has to be useful. We might have hit stage one, but I don’t know about stage two yet. I want to be always connected, and always a step away from information that I can use and interact with.Technology and what we are terming Web 3.0 can give me this, and it isn’t far off. The second stream is the one which rings a lot of bells, takes a concept which is second nature to us and gives it a spin which will expand the web in countless directions.Try a Google search for the semantic web, and you’ll find a lot of talk about RDF and the complexities of technically making a computer understand and learn from the data it stores. In essence it’s about ensuring that machines can make links between chunks of information that are more meaningful than they’ve been in the past. Items, maybe books, are described structurally, allowing them to be linked to other stores of information out there on the web, and not maintained by us. Can a database (a library catalogue?) use a search carried out by a user to pull in additional data from elsewhere, maybe from a store of author information, a collection of user-created videos online, a set of sequels or a BBC documentary? Well, it can if it knows how to describe what that book is in a uniform, structured way. I refer you to the experts when it comes to how this is achieved, but make no mistake about the fact that it is happening now, and that it is creating an ever more rich, textured environment of information. One where understanding of this environment and how to navigate and evaluate it will be essential. One where librarians again need to connect with their communities. So, I look to the next stage of the web with real enthusiasm for our profession.We won’t abandon Web 2.0 – it’ll be around in some form from now on in – but the future gives us a chance to flex those communication muscles once again, take our collections and fit them into the wider picture of the vastness of information ‘out there’. I know I’m not alone in finding that a challenge, which I can’t wait to meet. Bring on Web 3.0 and let’s see how many uses we can find. Paul Williams is Team Leader for Systems and Access Services, University of Worcester. p.williams@worc.ac.uk
www.cilip.org.uk/wm
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