Building Academic
Library 2.0
Meredith Farkas
Association of Christian Librarians

So what is library 2.0?

Web 1.0: Democratized
Access to Information

Web 2.0: Democratized
Participation

Revolutionary or evolutionary?
http://www.davidleeking.com/2007/08/24/library-20-ripples-another-go-at-the-graph/

What is different now?

Technology has enabled
us to do so much more

but we’re no longer the
only game in town.

Academic Library 2.0 is
a state of mind
•Working to meet changing user needs
•Trusting our users (radical trust)
•Getting rid of the culture of perfect
•Aware of emerging technologies and
opportunities
•Looking outside of the library world for
applications, opportunities, inspiration

Building Academic
Library 2.0: Surveying
the Landscape

Know your users

Develop a Culture of
Assessment

Develop a Learning Culture

Keeping Up

Develop your keep-
up strategy
•most important to your are
Determine what topics
continuing ed.

Develop your keep-
up strategy
•most important to your are
Determine what topics
continuing ed.
• Choose your filters

Filters
•Professional journals
•Blogs
•Podcasts
•Webcasts
•Conferences
•People

Develop your keep-
up strategy
•most important to your are
Determine what topics
continuing ed.
• Choose your filters
• Find tools to help you keep
up

Tools for Keeping Up

Tools for Keeping Up

Tools for Keeping Up

Develop your keep-
up strategy
•most important to your are
Determine what topics
continuing ed.
• Choose your filters
• Find tools to help you keep
up
• Accept that you can't keep up
with everything

Build your Network

Building Academic
Library 2.0:
Embracing Change

Question Everything

Develop a Risk-
Tolerant Culture

Beware the Culture of Perfect

Be Agile

Building Academic
Library 2.0: Enabling
Academic Work

What do THEY want?

Build the Spaces they Want

Communicate with
your Users

Become More
Transparent

Translate Traditional
Services Online

Allow Users to Connect
around Collections

Integrate the Online
Research Experience

Make the Library a Creative
Technology Lab

Collect Knowledge to
Benefit Everyone

Building Academic
Library 2.0: Making
Collections More Visible
and Accessible

Use 2.0 Tools to
Highlight Collections

Be Where our Users Are

Market Ideas Effectively

Building Academic
Library 2.0: Looking
Beyond our Library

Get out of the Library and Join
the University

Create Partnerships

Look at what’s happening
outside of libraries

Building Academic
Library 2.0: Internally

Reward Failure

Give Staff Time for
Creative Endeavors

Collect Knowledge
Internally

Be Transparent

Good Ideas can Come from
Anyone and Anywhere

Involve Staff from All
Levels in Planning

Nurture Talent

Understand Staff Needs
and Limitations

Time Must be Devoted to all This

Will you need to create
new jobs or just shuffle?

Tips for Implementing
New Services or
Technologies

Choosing a Project
• Avoid technolust
• Know your population
• Weigh your options through play
• Understand the culture of each
technology

Selling ideas to
colleagues
• Have plenty of hard data
• Have a prototype
• Encourage staff to “kick the tires”
• Offer training for staff
• Be patient

Selling ideas to IT
• Involve IT in planning
• Know your stuff
• Build relationships and find
champions

Consider the
day-to-day
• Do you need a policy?
• Do you need maintenance
procedures?

Promotion
• Marketing
• Website
• All over campus
• Local media
• Faculty – build into a course
• Focus on functionality
• Training

Assessment
• How do you assess?
• Usage statistics
• Surveys
• Most libraries aren’t doing any
assessment of social tools

Is your organization (as it is
currently structured) able
to make all this happen?

Thanks!
mgfarkas@gmail.com
AIM: librarianmer
Links and presentation at
http://meredithfarkas.wetpaint.com