Library 2.0

Hello everyone!  My name is Siobhan and I live in San Diego, CA.  I currently work full time in a private Middle/High School library and I feel incredibly grateful to have this work opportunity (especially since I had no prior library experience when I was hired)!  Although I do love working at a school, I would like to eventually work with Special Collections in another type of library.  

I think that social media is rapidly becoming a permanent fixture in our society.  Therefore, institutions cannot afford to ignore its presence and must implement these tools in ways that suit their target audiences.  I look forward to this class exposing me to new tools and allowing me to analyze the best ways in which they can be applied to the library users I serve.

After reading the articles selected for this week, I was particularly struck by the consistent mentioning of individuals who do not believe Library 2.0 exists.  Perhaps that is because library professionals that embrace technology and the need for libraries to evolve have always surrounded me.  Still, I cannot understand people who think social software is just a fad.  

To me Library 2.0 means integrating a philosophy into libraries that is focused on recruiting active participation from its users and also creating services that are in demand.  It's about welcoming the new ways in which content is created and encouraging people to critically think about what they read.  It does not necessarily mean that unauthoritative sources be valued in the same way as an encyclopedia, but instead it requires training users on how to evaluate the reliability of a source on their own.  Library professionals must regularly educate themselves about new social media tools and be able to encourage and aid patrons on how to use them.