Mashups for Libraries

I recently published an article on mashups, "An introduction to mashups for health librarians" in the Volume 28, Number 1, Winter 2007 Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association. This paper is based on a presentation I made in December.

So what has changed since then? Certainly not my amazement, if you ask me for my opinion. In terms of technology, mashups are getting more sophisticated by the day. As users are increasingly getting a stronger grasp of the power that mashups provide, the world of mashups is inevitably evolving into more sophisticated ventures. Take the following, for example: Translation Services Via SMS. Using this service, you can send an SMS to translate using BabelFish between English and Spanish and receive a call or SMS with the translation.

The New Health Librarian

At SLAIS' 2nd Annual Job Fair, I had a wonderful chat with health librarian, Karen MacDonell, Co-Manager of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC Library. She gave me some fascinating insight this area of librarianship. Here are the highlights:
(1) Personality - Dreamweaver will come and go, but a person's ability to go out for coffee and talk about vacation planning doesn't. In other words, the most important trait for finding the right job candidate comes down to interpersonal skills. What great advice; very practical and makes common sense. Inner traits can't be taught, but everything else can.

(2) Marketing - Librarians need to know how to market their libraries in order to continue funding. Particularly for smaller, special libraries, fundraising is ever so important. Because libraries are forever in danger of being closed down due to budget cuts, librarians need the skills to continue promoting and reminding everyone why their library is important.

(3) Workload - Longer hours, more librarians, less clerical staff. There's increasingly a hierarchical flattening of library organizations. Because librarians are doing more and more, more librarians are getting hired. The flipside of this is that less library assistants are hired to offset these costs unfortunately.

(4) Outreach - Less people are coming to the library, meaning librarians are increasingly required to take the information to the user. This also means that there is increasingly less need of paper (books and journals); rather, users are increasingly asking for PDF's and other electronic documents that can be accessed anywhere and anytime. Hence, wireless technology is increasingly being relied on by users, particularly to facilitate the need for up-to-the-minute information, usually on PDA's. The "wireless" librarian? That's right: it's just around the corner. . .

E-Learning 2.0

I'm having an absolute blast learning about social software through the Five Weeks to a Social Library course. Although I'm not one of the participants, it really doesn't matter, because all of the materials are archived. It "feels" real-time, with Power Point presentations simultaneously running with audio discussions and online chatting.

As Stephen Downes puts it, this is "E-Learning 2.0." And what is most fascinating is that it is deeply intertwined with Web 2.0 technologies. Moreover, in the world of e-learning, the closest thing to a social network is a community of practice, where it is characterized by "a shared domain of interest" where "members interact and learn together" and "develop a shared repertoire of resources." But not only is it user-centred and based on collective intelligence, it's also convenient. What better way to learn than in the comfort of my desk, mug of coffee in hand, sitting back, and relaxing to the rhythm of expert opinion?

Library Two Point Oh?

Wendy Schultz, a Futures Studies scholar and Political Scientist, has written a fascinating article about Library 2.0 and the future of libaries. "To a Temporary Place in Time . . ." proposes four stages of libraries: (1) Library 1.0 being commodity; (2) Library 2.0 is product; (3) Library 3.0 being service; and (4) Library 4.0 as service.

Most people are probably rolling their eyes at the "point oh" phenomenon. But I say, good, let's start visualizing and get creative. This is a perfect way to propel the library and information professions to that next level. How to build on the current library model and make it even better. Let's stop worrying about semantics, and start focusing on possibilities.

Take a look

Web 2.0 in action. What is Brooklyn College Library doing differently? Take a look at its impressive entry into the social software wave. Some might argue that the library is doing nothing more than riding 'fad' in technology. But is it? Or is it merely extending its reach into the sphere of its young users, connecting them through an online social space, and encouraging participation and communication through Myspace? Should we see this as outreach into cyberspace? Is it Library 2.0? The clues appear to say so...