Author: Michael C. Habib

Welcome visitors and more on Library 2.0 and online community

My sitemeter tells me that people have started checking out my site over the last view days. If I am reading the data correctly, I have to thank Steven M. Cohen at Library Stuff for finding my blog and adding it to a post titled Tons of New to Me Library Blogs. A few people were also driven here by the bookmark on Library Things del.icio.us account. A few folks came in through searches for items tagged “Library 2.0”. No matter how you got here, thank you for checking out my blog and I encourage you to subscribe to my feed.

I was hoping my tags in flickr, del.icio.us, etc. would bring people to check out my Academic Library 2.0 Concept Model. At my first job out of university, I worked as a Reference Technician at the Northborough Free Library. It was there that I got a full sense of how libraries foster community. I was impressed with how the library brought people together through both formal (book discussion groups, teen programs, etc.) and informal (public access computers, the daily newspaper, etc.) means. Since then, one of my main goals has been to devise ways to translate this sense of community into the online environment.

While digital collections seemed to be developing rapidly, the accompanying digital communities seemed to be lagging behind. Though my current model only addresses academic libraries, I am currently developing parallel models for public libraries and cultural institutions in general. It is my hope that these models will demonstrate the importance of Library 2.0 and at the same time inspire new and creative services. As the term Library 2.0 implies, looking to how Web 2.0 companies have succeeded in encouraging community and harnessing collectively intelligence is certainly one of the first steps librarians must take to accomplish this goal.

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My Career Interest Summary

I recently wrote the following to describe my ambitions. I have added this to both my LinkedIn and my ClaimID:

I plan to develop online communities and services that promote the idea of digital library as place. Like physical libraries, digital libraries need to be community centers, collaborative study spaces, meeting spaces, etc. In addition, I plan to train library users to use new technologies and information resources.

I am currently seeking employment at either a library or a web services company. I am interested in working for an institution which understands the value of the internet as a tool for harnessing the power of collective intelligence.

To accomplish these goals, I have gained experience in traditional library services as well as chat and instant messaging reference services. Through my coursework, I have explored the theories and technologies necessary to develop thriving online communities.

Conceptual model for Academic Library 2.0

Academic library 2.0 concept model

I developed the above model for a paper I wrote for INLS 342: Academic Libraries Seminar. This is very much a work in progress. I hope to explore this area further for my Master’s Paper.

The paper was titled Defining Academic Library 2.0. However, in it I argue for a narrower definition of Library 2.0 than the broader definitions proposed by Michael Casey and Michael Stephens. My narrower definition is as follows:

The application and adaptation of the Web 2.0 model to the library environment (both virtual and physical).

Consequently, the above model proposes a way to look at the libraries role in students lives in a Web 2.0 world.

Below is a slightly edited excerpt from my paper:

One approach to adapting Web 2.0 technologies to academic library services is to examine how these technologies already fit into student life and then determine the library’s role in this picture. Figure 2 introduces one conceptual framework that applies this method. This model analyzes the libraries’ position as a physical place in student life and then draws parallels with libraries’ possible position as a virtual place. The model is based on the concept that most of student life is divided between the social and the academic and that physical libraries have traditionally provided a unique location that mixes the two. A more precise model would show a spectrum between social and academic places with libraries falling near the middle. At one end is the strictly academic formal classroom. Here the professor is an authority to the student. At the opposite end is a party, a purely social occasion. Libraries have traditionally provided a place where students could collaborate on school work without the pressure of being watched by an authority figure, thus allowing them to socialize while they work. Of course, this space also provided students with whatever research materials and reference assistance they might need. Towards this end, librarians have traditionally tried to maintain strict patron confidentiality so as to keep the library a safe haven from authority. Furthermore, many academic libraries now provide popular materials collections to provide residential students with materials for pleasure reading, thus further blending the line between social and academic space. Recent trends in academic libraries have moved closer to blending this line by adding coffee shops, WiFi access and Information Commons. If one accepts that the physical library provides students with this blended environment, then one might ask, “How might the library provide a similar virtual space?” To find an answer to this question, this conceptual model creates a parallel spectrum describing a student’s virtual life. At the academic end of the spectrum, lies course management software such as Blackboard. Similar to the classroom, this space is controlled by the professor and has the same authority structure. On the social end of the spectrum, is Facebook. Students traditionally think of this as a safe social place devoid of authority figures. This is demonstrated by the fact that students have recently been punished for information they post to Facebook. To examine this phenomenon, one need only Google “facebook” and “discipline”. Stutzman’s research demonstrates this feeling of safety (2005; 2006). Given this spectrum, what virtual place might the library provide for students? One possibility would be virtual group study rooms. Such a place might provide the tools to enable students to collaborate remotely and asynchronously on course projects. This space might also provide resources and links to live reference help to assist students in their work. This place would be different from Blackboard because professors would not be able to review students’ discussions. This proposal is just one possibility; hopefully this conceptual framework suggests others. This conceptual framework only suggests one way to examine how academic libraries might apply Web 2.0 concepts to their mission. Another way is to examine what data academic libraries have available.

To learn more about my vision for Academic Library 2.0, you can view a copy of the accompanying presentation here (.pdf)

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