Exploring Web 2.0: Engaging Library Staff in Digital Tools and Collaboration

1. Web 2.0:A Hands-On Introductionfor Library Staff Instructor: Michele Mizejewski Electronic Services Librarian Redwood City Library mmizejewski@redwoodcity.org An Infopeople Workshop

2. This Workshop Brought to You by the Infopeople Project • Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come, first-served basis. • For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project, go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org.

3. Agenda: • What is Web 2.0? • Blogs • RSS feeds • Social bookmarking and tagging • Wikis • Selling social software at your library

4. Packet and Links • Bookmark the class wiki:web2workshop.pbwiki.com/ • Review packet contents

5. Introductions • Your name? • Where do you work? • Position?

6. What is Web 2.0? • Term coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004 • "2.0" borrowed from the convention of software versioning • Participation, creation, and commenting = The Read/Write Web • Community building • Wisdom of crowds • Perpetual beta and continuous improvement

7. What is Library 2.0? • Term coined by Michael Casey, 2005 • Approach to library service that is increasingly interactive, collaborative, and driven by user needs and expectations • Constantly reexamining and improving services and policies • Employ more user-friendly systems • Controversial

8. Blogging • What is a blog? • Web log • Easy to edit website • Features: • Dated entries with newest at top • Keywords or descriptive “tags” • RSS feeds offered • Archive of past postings • Example: RCPL Staff Picks

9. Blogging Considerations • What is the purpose? • How often to update? • Allow commenting? • Need to moderate?

10. Blogging Software • Types: • Hosted • Run on your server • Some free, some cost money • Today we are working with the free, hosted version of Wordpress

11. Advantages: Blogs • Easy to add content (post) • Great for disseminating news or other frequently-updated information • Allows interactive commenting • Free software options available

12. Brainstorm: Blogging (5 min) • Create a new post in your blog titled “Blogging Brainstorm” • Brainstorm some ideas on how you might use blogs to improve service at your library

13. RSS Feeds What is RSS? • Really Simple Syndication • “A web feed is a data format used for serving users frequently-updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it.” --Wikipedia

14. What is RSS?

15. Icons

16. News Sites and Blogs • Let’s look at a few examples . . .

17. How Do I Read Feeds? Three types of feed readers or aggregators: • Web-based - Typically must be online to log in to account, but can read your content from any computer. • Desktop Clients - Download application to your computer. Can only read your content there. • Integrated - Browsers, web portals, etc. are beginning to make it easy to read feeds without a separate application.

18. Bloglines Demonstration Basic features: • Feeds column • Feed title and description • Posting title and summary with link to click through to source site

19. Uses in Libraries • News and events promotion • New materials or staff picks • Integrate resources into courseware • New materials • The information goes to the user, not the other way around

20. Library RSS Examples • Let’s look at some examples…

21. Finding Feeds • Sites you already read regularly • Blogrolls or “word-of-mouth” • Specialized search engines • Subscription databases and journals

22. Specialized Blog/Feed Search • Bloglines search tab • Google Blog Search • Libworm

23. Adding Feeds to Your Site • Use blogging software and link to the blog • Add a relevant feed from another site • Use various tools to generate or mix existing feeds • Feed shake • Feed2JS • Code your own -- not for beginners

24. Advantages of Feeds • Efficiency: monitor many sites in much shorter time • Privacy: no email address required to subscribe to a feed • No spam: only content you request • Easy to cancel: simply select a feed and unsubscribe

25. Brainstorm: Feeds (5 min) • Create a new post in your blog called “Feeds Brainstorm” • Note some ideas on how feeds could improve service at your library, directly or indirectly

26. Social Bookmarking and Tagging • What is social bookmarking? • Web-based bookmarks/favorites • Public and searchable • Wisdom of communities • What is tagging? • User-assigned descriptive keywords • Folksonomy

27. Image credit

28. Bookmarking and Tagging Tools Options: • General • Scholarly • Specific subject matter • Photos • Video • Books

29. del.icio.us Demonstration • Your bookmarks • Posting/bookmarking an item • Tags and cloud • Network • Subscriptions • RSS feeds • Searching

30. Library Examples • Let’s look at some examples…

31. Advantages: Social Bookmarking and Tagging • Web-based • Searchable • Folksonomy • Resource discovery tool • Expert discovery tool

32. Brainstorm: Social Bookmarking and Tagging (5 min) • Create a new post in your blog called “Social Bookmarking and Tagging Brainstorm” • Note some ideas on how you might use bookmarking and/or tagging at your library

33. Wikis • What is a Wiki? • Collaborative, easy-to-edit website • Wiki = quick (in Hawaiian) • Anyone with access to the site can add to or edit the content • Wikipedia is most well-known example

34. Wiki Features • Discussion area for each page • Ability to revert to older version • Collaborative editing • Can be used as a knowledgebase

35. When Not to Use a Wiki • When complete control is important • When dealing with sensitive information • When ownership of content must be clear Note: Wikis can be used by a select community rather than being completely open, but there is still a collaborative aspect

36. Wiki Examples • Let’s look at some examples…

37. Blogs vs. Wikis Posts displayed chronologically The poster = author Only author can edit Others may comment Posts are finite Best for sharing info/starting a dialogue Information architecture varies Authorship is collaborative Anyone can edit the content Always a work in progress Best for collaborative work or as a repository for information

38. Wiki Software • Types: • Hosted • Run on your server • See handout • Today we’ll be working with the free, hosted version of pbwiki

39. PBwiki Demonstration • Add a new page • Edit content • Leave a comment • Share this wiki • Promote this wiki • Settings

40. Wiki Tips: Getting Started • Start with a basic organizational scheme to prevent chaos • Add some content to the major categories before going live • Include documentation explaining what a wiki is and the purpose of yours

41. Advantages: Wikis • Web-based • Searchable • Easy to use • Collaborative and flexible • Free and open-source software options

42. Brainstorm: Wikis • Create a new post in your blog called “Wiki Brainstorm” • Note some ideas on how you might incorporate wikis at your library

43. Group Discussion • Do you anticipate any difficulty selling your colleagues on the idea of adding some Web 2.0 tools at your workplace? • What obstacles might you encounter and how can you work around them?

44. Selling Social Software • Avoid technolust • Tie to mission statement • Have a plan • Involve staff in planning • Involve IT in planning

45. Implementing Social Software • Offer training in various forms • Show enthusiasm • Have patience • Persevere

46. Summary This workshop has been an introduction to implementing Web 2.0 technologies in libraries: • Blogs • RSS feeds • Social bookmarking • Tagging • Wikis Continued exploration and practice are necessary!