Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Social Libraries

2008; American Library Association; Volume: 52; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5860/lrts.52n2.19

2159-9610

Stephen E. Abram,

Library Science and Administration

The author shares his thoughts on the future of libraries and librarianship in the context of the emerging importance and impact of Web 2.0 and social computing.T his paper explores some of the concepts that underlie the emergence of the next generation of the Web and how it will affect libraries and librarianship.Commonly referred to as Web 2.0 and Library 2.0, it is also called the interactive Web or the Social Web.It is an exciting time in which we can use these tools to invent the future we need.These are my personal perspectives underpinned by thirty years in librarianship as a reference librarian, cataloger, indexer, publisher, vendor, and software developer.Recently I was asked if some software applications I was involved in were Web 2.0 compliant.This was amusing and distressing on so many levels.It is amusing because what is being called Web 2.0 is not a "standard" in almost any sense of the word.It is distressing because it shows how quickly a conversation becomes an expectation in today's world.This is a perfect example of the power of the ninetyfive theses of the Cluetrain Manifesto. 1 The major thesis to me is number one: "Markets are conversations."I thought it might be useful to explore the opportunities for libraries to use Web 2.0 technologies to generate further success.The global Web 2.0 discussion is birthing a number of newborn babies: Law 2.0, Advertising 2.0, and Library 2.0 and Librarian 2.0 among them.And why should you read this piece?You have heard it all before.But in a few years these Web.2.0 conversations will have the power to drive huge transformations in our media landscape and therefore our life, work, and play environments.We are entering a period of enormous change-far greater than what we have experienced in our lives to date.Major forecasters such as the Gartner Group and Morgan Stanley have noted that this will be transformational on a very global scale.It will be exciting too, although those of us who care about communities, research, discovery, invention, learning, and information will be tasked with some pretty heavy strategic planning goals.We are going to need to stay alert and nimble.