The Web 2.0 report that I found was written by Tim O'Reilly a web2.0 pioneer. While originally the world wide web was about people getting information from servers and companies selling programs. Web 2.0 is about providing a service to people and giving people services that they want want to use. This involves using technology and programs smarter by providing lots of little improvements to a website often and giving the users a chance to have input on the change rather than making large changes in one go. As users have input on improvements those that are useful will be kept while defective or useless changes are quickly abandoned.
Another major part of the Web 2.0 application is that there is user input into the actual content of the site. For example wikipedia entries can be created and edited by users while librarything allows users to create a catalogue of their own book and DVD collections by using information that has been provided by other users. Users adding and modifying content of web based services means that the more people use them and enter information the more useful the website and the application associated with it becomes.
The dynamic nature of websites and the ability of RSS feed subscriptions to push new content to the user mean that blogs, podcasts and other content from websites of interest will be automatically forwarded to the subscriber when it is updated making it easier to access.
The wikipedia article on Library 2.0 describes how libraries need to move to a more client centred and interactive method of delivering services. These include the ability to remotely access the public catalogue and providing the library staff with feedback on which services they like and how to improve them. An example of the interactivity of the LINC Tasmania services is the ability to post reviews of books for others to see and to leave suggestions for books that the LINC should acquire. It would be interesting to see how this idea would be implemented in a school library where the resources may be somewhat limited and the client needs quite varied. For example how to make access to the school's catalogue easy for young users and how much say in the school's inventory to give to the teachers, students and parents.
Interesting questions raised regarding how we can make things easier in our schools. As you mentioned the LINC's are trying to embrace it which is a good step forward.
ReplyDeleteYou have completed all the exercises required for this course, Simon and you are ready to take it to the next level next year. Looking forward to seeing your assessment blog. Well done.