skills | Wondering @ work

Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities (Lankes, 2012). Of course when tweeting that thought David Lankes was not meaning libraries the buildings but in fact, the librarians who work there. Once the term Library 2.0 was coined and used to describe the changes happening in library services and collections with Web 2.0 tools and platforms the natural progression would be to look at the professionals who are making Library 2.0 come alive – the librarians themselves.

Essential knowledge: Librarians 2.0 needs to know their users. 2.0 anything is about collaboration, co-creation and community so it is important to know that community well. That would mean knowing their needs, what they like and how they receive information.

Essential Skills: The traditional library knowledge of collection building and management will always be necessary but as well as that librarians 2.0 will need knowledge about technology and how to use it effectively for marketing, curating, communicating and managing collections as well as building community (Partridge, Lee & Munro, 2010, p.326). It is not only knowing about Web 2.0 tools and platforms it is utilising them effectively. The skills of change management are important as well –the world we live in, and our profession in particular, is in constant change (Huvila, Holmberg, Kronqvist-Berg, Nivakoski, & Widén, 2013, p. 199). This is requires the skills to cope with disruption and utilise it to enhance services.

Essential attributes: Having an attitude that embraces change and develop new ways of thinking is very important (Patridge, Lee & Munro, 2010, p. 332). Librarians need to be proactive and reactive to social media in order to make it work for them (Huvila, Holmberg, Kronqvist-Berg, Nivakoski, & Widén, 2013, p. 203). A Librarian’s 2.0 Manifesto, created by Laura Cohen, gives 14 statements showing the attributes of Librarian 2.0 and almost every one of them involves being proactive (Hamilton, 2010). The job of a librarian is constantly evolving so an important attribute for someone in that role would be curiosity and the willingness to learn new skills.

References

Hamilton, B. (2010, April 7). It’s in the way that you use it: What library 2.0 means to me [Blog post]. Retrieved from The Unquiet Librarain website: https://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/tag/laura-cohen/

Huvila, I., Holmberg, K., Kronqvist-Berg, M., Nivakoski, O., & Widén, G. (2013). What is Librarian 2.0 – New competencies or interactive relations? A library professional viewpoint. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 45(3), 198-205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0961000613477122

Kingrss. (2006, November 9). A librarian’s 2.0 manifesto [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZblrRs3fkSU&feature=youtu.be

Lankes, R. D. (2012, February 7). Bad libraries build collections. Good libraries build services (of which a collection is only one). Great libraries build communities. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/rdlankes/status/166525664319639552

Partridge, H. & Lee, J. & Munro, C.(2010). Becoming “Librarian 2.0”: The Skills, Knowledge, and Attributes Required by Library and Information Science Professionals in a Web 2.0 World (and Beyond). Library Trends59(1), 315-335. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved December 16, 2015, from Project MUSE database.

Web 2.0 seems to be a way to try to differentiate between the first series of Internet tools and environments and the more recent ones. It uses the software update numbering method to try to show an improved and enhanced internet (“Web 2.0,” 2015).

Web 1.0 describes the first generation of web-based environments. These environments were mostly static and provided ways for people to find out information (Todd & Gordon, 2009). They were also, for the most part, produced by experts and professionals. Website developers and information architects were the people designing the websites for clients who provided the content.

Web 2.0 was first spoken of in 2004 as a way of describing a new generation of web-based services which emphasized sharing and collaboration. In particular sites would share user developed content, collect it, and distribute it to others (Darwish & Lakhtaria, 2011, p. 205). While the term Web 2.0 was coined to show the participatory nature of the next generation of Internet tools and environments the founder of the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee, rejects the whole idea of Web 2.0 saying that Web 1.0 was all about connecting people, “that was what the Web was supposed to be all along,” (2006). With connection and participation being the original intention of the Internet it seems that Web 2.0 is a term that is used to describe a broader and deeper used of the Internet to share information, opinions and ideas globally.

Regardless of whether the term Web 2.0 is valid or not the participatory nature of the Internet as it exists right now is undeniable. Web 2.0 is era of the amateur (Koltay, 2010, p. 2). So with web 2.0 anyone can create websites, blog posts, publish opinions and observations to the Internet and their work is available to the public at large.

This era of the amateur poses a huge challenge to Teacher Librarians when teaching information literacy skills to students. Not only do students need to discern the source and validity of the information they can access through the Web 2.0 environment they need to develop a wider range of literacies than the traditional ones of reading and writing. In fact other literacies considered essential for this century include; visual, critical, media, tool and digital (Churchill, 2009). As well as being consumers of information available on the Web students themselves are producers of information and that in itself carries new sets of skills and responsibilities.

References

Berners-Lee, T. (2006, July 28). Where we’ve come, and the challenges and opportunities ahead (Interview by S. Laningham) [Transcript]. Retrieved November 28, 2015, from https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/podcast/dwi/cm-int082206.txt

Churchill, D. (2009, June 12). New literacy in the Web 2.0 world [Powerpoint]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/zvezdan/new-literacy-in-the-web-20-world

Darwish, A., & Lakhtaria, K. I. (2011). The impact of the new web 2.0 technologies in communication, development, and revolutions of societies. Journal of Advances in Information Technology, 2(4). Retrieved from ProQuest database.

Koltay, T. (2010). Library 2.0, information and digital literacies in the light of the contradictory nature of Web 2.0. Webology, 7(2), 1-12. Retrieved from ProQuest database.

Todd, R., Dr, & Gordon, C., Dr. (2009, June). Powering Up Minds and Powering Up Machines: Guided Inquiry, Reading, and Web 2.0 [Microsoft Powerpoint]. Retrieved from http://slideplayer.com/slide/4810867/

Web 2.0. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/438358