Resource of the Week
By Shirl Kennedy, Deputy Editor
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There is a somewhat worn red SUV that parks in the lot in front of our library. Today it was parked next to me. For the first time, I noticed that it had a small black and white bumper sticker on the back: "Yes, I'm old, but your music really does suck."
Like you, no doubt, I sit in my little world here and watch a lot of technology flash by. And yeah, sometimes I feel old, but I also kind of feel an obligation to try and keep up with at least some of it. Figuring out what is worthwhile -- that is likely to "stick" -- and what is ephemeral can be a bit of a challenge, however. So...what to make of "Web 2.0" -- something that is rocking the blogosphere these days. I guess I've ignored it for as long as I can, and now it is time to give it some attention. So listen up, pilgrims. I've tried to sort through and find some stuff that makes it understandable. Read and learn.
In our initial brainstorming, we formulated our sense of Web 2.0 by example:
Web 1.0--> Web 2.0
DoubleClick--> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai--> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Britannica Online--> Wikipedia
personal websites--> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping--> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication
You probably know -- or at least have a vague idea -- about what most of these things are. But what makes something "Web 2.0" as opposed to "Web 1.0"? In his article, O'Reilly identifies certain key principles that define Web 2.0:
+ The Web As Platform ("Leverage customer-self service and algorithmic data management to reach out to the entire web, to the edges and not just the center, to the long tail and not just the head.")
+ Harnessing Collective Intelligence ("Network effects from user contributions are the key to market dominance in the Web 2.0 era.")
+ Data is the Next Intel Inside ("The race is on to own certain classes of core data....")
+ End of the Software Release Cycle ("Operations must become a core competency.... Users must be treated as co-developers...."
+ Lightweight Programming Models ("Support lightweight programming models that allow for loosely coupled systems.... Think syndication, not coordination.... Design for "hackability" and remixability."
+ Software Above the Level of a Single Device ("To date, iTunes is the best exemplar of this principle. This application seamlessly reaches from the handheld device to a massive web back-end, with the PC acting as a local cache and control station. There have been many previous attempts to bring web content to portable devices, but the iPod/iTunes combination is one of the first such applications designed from the ground up to span multiple devices. TiVo is another good example."
+ Rich User Experiences (as enabled by AJAX -- e.g., Flickr, Gmail, etc.)
OK...so what does all of this mean for libraries and librarians? I commend your attention to an article by Paul Miller, in the October 2005 issue of Ariadne: Web 2.0: Building the New Library. Rather than writing Web 2.0 off as just the latest version of "Dot Com hysteria," Miller attempts to show how it is relevant by identifying a set of principles that are applicable to us:
+ Freeing of data -- e.g., "allowing it to be exposed, discovered and manipulated in a variety of ways distinct from the purpose of the application originally used to gain access."
+ The building of virtual applications -- e.g., which "tend to be small, they tend to be relatively rapid to deploy, and they bring power that was previously the preserve of corporations within the reach of suitably motivated individuals."
+ Participative -- e.g., "quick to spot the value of user-generated content."
+ Work for the user -- e.g., allow us "to locate and assemble content that meets our needs as users, rather than forcing us to conform to the paths laid out for us by content owners or their intermediaries."
+ Modular -- e.g., "developers and users able to pick and choose from a set of interoperating components in order to build something that meets their needs."
+ Sharing -- e.g., "whereby we collaborate on the platform(s) and make money by adding value over and above that which we and others have built together."
+ Communication and facilitating community -- e.g., "Trackbacks and the like are a shaky step towards Tim Berners-Lee's original vision of the Web as a two-way environment which made it as easy to contribute as it did to view."
+ Remix -- e.g., "unambiguously reference and call upon the service, document or snippet that we require, incorporating it into something new that is both ours and the original contributors'."
+ Smart -- e.g., "Applications will be able to use knowledge of us, where we have been and what we are doing to deliver services that meet our needs...although "there is more work to be done allaying fears of intrusion and loss of privacy."
+ The Long Tail -- e.g, "to service the interests of large numbers of relatively small groups of individuals, and to enable them to benefit from key pieces of the platform while fulfilling their own needs."
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DEMOS and a Quick Comment from Gary: This is all very interesting and important info. However, only time will tell if these and many other services are of value to both the end user and the info pro or just hype, mumbo jumbo (as been used elsewhere in this article, and/or vaporware. OK, that's my brief comment. Want to try some cool services that would most likely be grouped in the Web 2.0 category (in a broad sense)?
+ Meebo (IM clients all on one page)
+ Pandora (Music based on your preferences, VERY COOL!!!)
+ Slide (Another photo sharing service, free)
+ Writely (Shirl offered a great overview a few weeks ago)
+ PubSub (A great tool for immediate delivery of RSS)
+ Rollyo (We've also blogged and written about this one)
+ Riya (A Closed Beta at the Moment)
+ Podscope (Keyword Search Podcasts)
+ CalendarHub
+ ThinkFree Office Online
+ Trackle (Web-based web page updates, we prefer the WebSite-Watcher client software but Trackle is a good alternative)
+ LookAhead from SurfWax
+ Flock (A new browser based on Firefox)
Think about the possibilities of this technology with a library OPAC.
+ MobiTV
Live TV on your mobile phone or device
+ Streamload (Remote Storage, 10GB free)
+ 4info.net (A great mobile search service, numerous access points)
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One more thing. It would sure be great if we, as info pros, could also "turn people on" to some of the traditional (for lack of a better word) services we've made available for years like NetLibrary and ebrary. Heck, with ebrary, you don't even need a subscription Read over 20,000 for free, pay just to print or copy. For people only aware of Google Print, these services might be very Web 2.0. (-: The same goes for web directories like the LII, InfoMine, RDN, and IPL. Maybe we can call them "Library 2.0" to assist on getting the word out about these gems to the masses. Finally, RedLightGreen is also an OPAC that is very 2.0 in my opinion and a service all web users should know about.
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