MLA Plenary Session IV - David Rothman

“ Web 2.0” http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html Tim Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O'Reilly VP, noted that far from having "crashed", the web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites popping up with surprising regularity. What's more , the companies that had survived the collapse seemed to have some things in common . Could it be that the dot-com collapse marked some kind of turning point for the web, such that a call to action such as "Web 2.0" might make sense? We agreed that it did, and so the Web 2.0 Conference was born. [David’s emphasis]

Why Web “ 2.0 ”? 10 th Edition = Version 10.0 12 th Edition = Version 12.0 11 th Edition = Version 11.0

The “2.0” is a metaphor Upgrade? Program? Movement? Version of the Web?

The “2.0” is a metaphor Upgrade? Program? Movement? Version of the Web? Just jargon for a set of trends

Don’t take MY word for it: “… I think Web 2.0 is of course a piece of jargon… … the idea of the Web as interaction between people is really what the Web is. That was what it was designed to be as a collaborative space where people can interact.”

Don’t take MY word for it: “… I think Web 2.0 is of course a piece of jargon… … the idea of the Web as interaction between people is really what the Web is. That was what it was designed to be as a collaborative space where people can interact.” - Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee , Inventor of the World Wide Web http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/podcast/dwi/cm-int082206.txt Digest summary here: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060901-7650.html

Why care about Geeky Jargon? “ Web 2.0” is jargon used as shorthand to collectively describe a number of trends about what people are doing with/on the Web since the dotcom bust

“ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” Less Difficulty/Cost in Production & Distribution Perpetual Beta (Improvement, User-Worship) Blurring line between consumer and creator “ Social Software” – Sharing/aggregating

“ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” Less Difficulty/Cost in Production & Distribution

“ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” Less Difficulty/Cost in Production & Distribution The Web: It’s Not Just for Geeks Anymore

“ Real-world” testing by users outside of development team

Perpetual, incremental improvement

Judging success based on USER input

“ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” Perpetual Beta

Who decides how highly ranked a particular page is in Google search results? “ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” “ Social Software” – Sharing/aggregating data

“ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” “ Social Software” – Sharing/aggregating data

“ Old” Media (Print, Radio, Television)

Unidirectional

Expensive to produce

Defined roles:

Creator(s): -Editor -Station manager -Network

Consumer: You

“ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” Blurring line between consumer and creator

“ Old” Media (Print, Radio, Television)

Unidirectional

Expensive to produce

Defined roles:

Creator(s): -Editor -Station manager -Network

Consumer: You

“ New” Media (Web)

Multidirectional

Inexpensive/Free

Each person can be a Consumer/Creator as best suits him/herself

“ Participatory Web” “Read/Write Web” “ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” Blurring line between consumer and creator

So what’s “Library 2.0”? Using “Web 2.0” Tools in Libraries? Making Libraries more “patron-centered”, participatory or transparent? Depends on who you ask! Toward Academic Library 2.0: Development and Application of a Library 2.0 Methodology Michael Habib (Master’s Thesis) http://hdl.handle.net/1901/356 Library 2.0 and "Library 2.0" Walt Crawford's Cites & Insights Volume 6, Number 2: Midwinter 2006 ISSN 1534-0937 http://citesandinsights.info/civ6i2.pdf Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library Michael E. Casey and Laura C. Savastinuk Library Journal, 9/1/2006 http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html

So what’s “Library 2.0”? Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library Michael E. Casey and Laura C. Savastinuk Library Journal, 9/1/2006 http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html “ The heart of Library 2.0 is user-centered change. It is a model for library service that encourages constant and purposeful change , inviting user participation in the creation of both the physical and the virtual services they want, supported by consistently evaluating services . It also attempts to reach new users and better serve current ones through improved customer-driven offerings .” “ What makes a service Library 2.0? Any service, physical or virtual, that successfully reaches users, is evaluated frequently, and makes use of customer input is a Library 2.0 service. Even older, traditional services can be Library 2.0 if criteria are met. Similarly, being new is not enough to make a service Library 2.0.”

So what’s “Library 2.0”? This isn’t a new model - this is what the best libraries have been doing for quite some time. Why do we need a new term for it?

Constant and purposeful change

User participation in the creation of services

Consistently evaluating services

Customer-driven offerings

Successfully reaches users

So what’s “Library 2.0”? “ Library 2.0 describes a subset of library services designed to meet user needs caused by the direct and peripheral effects of Web 2.0 services leveraging concepts of the Read/Write Web, the Web as Platform, The Long Tail, harnessing collective intelligence, network effects, core datasets from user contributions, and lightweight programming models.” Toward Academic Library 2.0: Development and Application of a Library 2.0 Methodology Michael Habib (Master’s Thesis) http://hdl.handle.net/1901/356

“ Library 2.0”

Even the most vocal proponents don’t agree on a definition, or sometimes say a definition isn’t needed

Can be needlessly divisive when explained poorly

There are more specific, well-defined terms which can be used to discuss the very same matters

If you use it, please use it in quotes

“ Medicine 2.0” The use of Web 2.0 tools in medicine

“ Health 2.0” The use of Web 2.0 tools by healthcare consumers or sometimes refers to “patient empowerment”

“ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications” Less Difficulty/Cost in Production & Distribution Perpetual Beta (Improvement, User-Centrism) Blurring line between consumer and creator “ Social Software” – Sharing/aggregating

Less Difficulty/Cost in Production & Distribution Perpetual Beta (Improvement, User-Centrism) Blurring line between consumer and creator “ Social Software” – Sharing/aggregating Produce and Distribute More- Easily & Inexpensively Constantly Improve, Listen to Patrons Be Web creators , not just consumers Share Expertise, Pool Experience, Build Resources “ Web as Platform” / “Rich Internet Applications”

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