Web 2.0 and Beyond

1. Web 2.0 and Beyond Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technologies and Research Vanderbilt University http://staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding Special Seminar for Library Development Program 2007 May 21, 2007 Chiang Mai

2. Evolution and advancement • We live in a time of much change: • Technology • Society • Generational shifts • Boomer > gen X > Millennials

3. Heightened User Expectations • Library users come with expectations set by their experiences of the Web • Conventions for navigating and exploring Web-based resources well established • Dealing with large and complex bodies of information nothing new to incoming library users. • Sophisticated Web skills • Low tolerance for clunky and ineffective Web sites • Confident in their ability – reluctant to ask for help

4. Problems with the Status Quo • A look and feel that may not meet the expectations of the current generation of Web-savvy users. • The conventional library environment requires users to interact with many different interfaces, and search many different resources. • Overly complex • Not always intuitive • Users have to go to different places to find different kinds of information on a given topic: Library OPAC for books, Article and E-journal locators for articles.

5. An urgent need • Baby boomers and Gen X’rs are happier with traditional forms of content and existing modes of service • Millennials will move on to non-library provided information sources and services if not readily satisfied • There is a lot at stake for the future of libraries in adapting to generational transitions. • Web 2.0 provides a metaphor and model for adapting library services to today’s Web-savvy users.

6. Web 1.0 • Static Web • Information silos • One-way communication

7. Web 2.0 • Coined by O’Rielly Media in 2004 • Web + Social Computing • Dynamic Content • Highly interactive • Collaborative • Focus on the user • Focus on communities

8. Web 2.0 examples • RSS delivery of content • Blogs – Web logs + comments • Wikis – content created in community • Voice over IP – Skype • Podcasting • vlogs

9. Web 2.0 supporting technologies • Web services • XML APIs • AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) • Microformats • OpenSearch vs SRU/SRW

10. Web 2.0 media • Rich media – beyond text • Music and audio • Well experienced: File swapping, p2p, iPod, MP3 • Video • Recreational and academic: youtube.com, myspace.com/video, yahoo! Video, bittorrent • Opportunities to remix. Usually recreational, but explore ways to tap this interest with an academic slant.

11. The sprit of Web 2.0 • YouTube • Facebook • MySpace • Flickr

12. Web 3.0 • Web 2.0 + artificial intelligence • Semantic Web • Web 2.0 + enterprise computing

13. Library 2.0 • First mentioned by Michael Casey • Web 2.0 + Library = Library 2.0 • Apply Web 2.0 concepts to library applications

14. Examples • Library Blogs • New book lists through RSS • Wikis • Intranets for staff documentation • Collaborative resources for library users • Enriched library catalogs • User participation in library resources • User tagging in catalog • Reviews • Ratings

15. Evolution • The Web has been evolving since its very beginning • Web 2.0 didn’t happen all at once • Many of the concepts behind Web 2.0 trace back to its inception • Eg: Amazon embraced user participation, open API’s, etc long before Web 2.0 brand. • Evolution and maturation of Web technologies continues

16. Caveats • Apply when appropriate • Not a plateau • Evolution continues • Web 2.0 can create isolated silos of information • Must evolve into an organized fabric of interrelated Web services. • Too many dead blogs and wikis already

17. Web 2.0 a good start • A more social and collaborative approach • Web Tools and technology that foster collaboration • Blogs, wiki, blogs, tagging, social bookmarking, user rating, user reviews

18. Interface expectations • Increasingly library users are well acclimated to current Web technologies and like it. • Used to relevancy ranking • The “good stuff” should be listed first • Users tend not to delve deep into a result list • Good relevancy requires a sophisticated approach, including objective matching criteria supplemented by popularity and relatedness factors.

19. Interface expectations (cont…) • Very rapid response. Users have a low tolerance for slow systems • Rich visual information: book jacket images, rating scores, etc. • Let users drill down through the result set incrementally narrowing the field • Faceted Browsing • Drill-down vs up-front Boolean or “Advanced Search” • gives the users clues about the number of hits in each sub topic. • Navigational Bread crumbs • Ratings and rankings

20. Library OPAC 1.0 • Feature rich, but complex • Advanced Boolean Search • Textual displays • Results in alphabetical or catalog key order • Slow, cumbersome • Focused on the physical inventory

21. The best Library OPAC?

22. Change underway • Widespread dissatisfaction with most of the current OPACs. Many efforts toward next-generation catalogs and interfaces. • Movement among libraries to break out of the current mold of library catalogs and offer new interfaces better suited to the expectations of library users. • Decoupling of the front-end interface from the back-end library automation system.

23. Working toward next generation library interfaces • Redefinition of the library catalog • More comprehensive information discovery environments • Better information delivery tools • More powerful search capabilities • More elegant presentation

24. Redefinition of library catalogs • Traditional notions of the library catalog are being questioned • It’s no longer enough to provide a catalog limited to print resources • Digital resources cannot be an afterthought • Forcing users to use different interfaces depending on type of content becoming less tenable • Libraries working toward consolidated search environments that give equal footing to digital and print resources

25. Library OPAC 2.0 • Satisfying to the Web-savvy user • Faceted browsing – drill-down model of search • Graphical displays – cover art images • Enriched content – TOC, summaries • User tagging, folksonomies, ratings, reviews • Federated search as a separate service

26. Library OPAC 3.0 • Comprehensive search environment: • Digital on equal footing with print • Federated search as an integrated service: access to full-text of subscribed content • Beyond MARC metadata: Dublin Core XML, Onix, etc: full-text searching • Searching “inside the book” • Fully integrated with other community and campus resources • ILS fully integrated with other information and business systems

27. Collections evolving • E-journals, e-books (we’re doing that already) • Podcasts of lectures • video libraries of stock footage • News archives • Data sets: census, GIS

28. Moving beyond… • Web 2.0 is already a 3-year-old model • Keep focus on strategic use of technology

29. Challenges and Opportunities abound • An exciting time for libraries • Web 2.0 fuels new excitement for modernizing library services and supporting technologies • Opportunities presented by explosive growth of digital content. • Hard work is required to draw the new generation to library content and services without breaking what works well for those from previous generations.