Library Musings

I am reading Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky I am grateful to have found this book. I had gotten the impression (rightly or wrongly) from projects such as 23 Things, that the best way for me to understand Web 2.0 was to go forth and create my own blogs, wikis, etc.

Here Comes Everybody talks about the Power Curve, best known for the 80/20 application common to businesses, etc. According to the Power Curve, the first one or two blogs in an area will be significantly more successful than those from third position on down. Twenty percent of the blogs will have 80% of the readers. 80% will have only one reader. (And I sometimes think that reader is the person who is writing the blog–at least in my case.)

It doesn’t mean that keeping a blog is a bad thing, but it takes the pressure of trying to “sell” your blog to others off. I can now comfortably think of my blog as a place for my own musings and for my own reflection and remembrance on/of those musings. And I can concentrate more time on following the 20% of blogs that are successful and offer me a reading benefit.

I’ve also learned a lot about Wikipedia and why it works, as well as the concept of Wikis and why they have to have an interested audience even if it is small and temporary. (As in my YALSA class on young adult lit.)

There is also a disturbing comment about the (non-existent) future of librarianship in the book. I’ll need to consider that further. I know the idea has been discussed at length on LM-Net.

I have more of the book to read. I’ll see what else I can learn there.

I’ve been grazing through some of the blogs I have on my  Speed Dial and most of them seem to be focused on Library 2.0. I’ve been very into technology at some points in my life, but I’m finding for now that I enjoy books over anything technology seems to offering. Except for blogging, of course. I like blogging.

On the other hand, Meredith Farkas has some fascinating insights into the concept of Library 2.0. She doesn’t see any point to Library 2.0 if all it means is experimenting with new technologies and using them just because they’re there. But she has an alternate description for Library 2.0 that I prefer and that is very thought provoking.

Here are just a few notes from Meredith’s article as she sets out her definition of Library 2.0:

Library 2.0 means “Working to meet changing user needs”

Library 2.0 means “Believing in our users – trusting them, listening to them, giving them a role in helping to define library services for the future”

Library 2.0 means “Getting rid of the culture of perfect – being able and willing to experiment”

And of course, Library 2.0 includes:

• Being aware of emerging technologies and opportunities – looking for partnerships in your community or with other libraries, being aware of library and technology trends, giving staff time to try out new technologies and learn
• Looking outside of the library world for applications, opportunities, inspiration – understanding the culture of the technologies and how they are used by the public, seeing how technologies are implemented in non-profit and for-profit institutions

One discussion group that I’ve decided to follow for inspiration here is the group called YA Lit in School Libraries at TeacherLibrarianNing. They aspire to be “A forum for discussing best practices using and promoting YA lit with teens in a school library setting.” This fits very neatly with what I am into these days.

My questions for you?

1. Will Meredith’s article make a difference in how you run your library in the future?

2. How do you promote YA Lit in your school? Are the ideas at TeacherLibrarianNing helpful to you in seeing how to do this?