(Susan Greig, 2018)
There is a chance that if you are reading this post, you are, or have been. somehow been involved with a library. The odds also lean toward that library being in some form of existence today. If this is not the case, perhaps the reason lies with the library not evolving into the 21st century. Even with a finicky economy and winnowing budgets, libraries can be successful in offering great services! Providing superb programs and information services would occur by library staff, and their government entities, anticipating and offering what their patrons need and want. So what is Library 2.0 and how do we get there? A part of providing user-centered services would be to look at the user experience (UX) of a library’s current services and fill in any missing gaps by improving or adding to them. Wikipedia gives a simplified, starting definition of UX, explaining that it is how a person engages and “experiences a product, system, or service” (2024). By looking at how a user experiences the library, we are more in a position to ask them what they desire of their library.
According to the American Library Association, the concept of Library 2.0 draws from the concept of Web 2.0, and strives to keep pace with technology, by incorporating it into services that the public wants and is looking for (n.d). However, this techology is constantly changing and can be very expensive to own which is a challenge many libraries face, especially publicaly funded ones. The facts of limited information space funds, and employees, with an ever-growing demand for desired taxpayer services, compounds with the problem of attracting users. More importantly how to appeal to non-users of information spaces, known by Casey & Savastinuk as the Long Tail (2007).
Libraries can address the Long Tail of user demands by incorporating the three c’s into library programs and services: collaboration, cooperation, and crowdsourcing. Collaboration and cooperation are closely related. Collaboration involves multiple people working together to create something. Cooperation is more related to a successful relationship. For example, this can be between the information space and those who are supporting it, mainly the stakeholders. In cooperation, there has to be an even “give and take”. However, collaboration can extend to those who utilize the space and these users can help envision what an updated library looks like by crowdsourcing. This can occur in the form of a makerspace program or an advisory committee, where members of the public are invited to give feedback.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Crowdsoucing is a form of collaboration and is defined as, “practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community” rather than more traditional methods by employees (Public Libraries Online, 2015). Crowdsoucing is a way to stretch funds and it also gets the public involved. They can obtain some ownership of their library space and help create and organize the kind of information they want to see. This can include rating materials in an online catalog or tagging. Tagging is a form of structuring or organizing data by users using keywords for description (Casey, 2007). This can also save on library staff and their time where a guessing game doesn’t have to be played as to how the user would label it.
In learning more about tailoring library services toward the user, and the UX, it has been reinforced how important this action is for library staff to support (including management). At least in the case of public libraries, user support is what “makes the library world go round” and it makes logical sense that we would want to give them what they are wanting from their information space. Getting a community involved in the planning, implimentation, and feedback of programs and services could come by providing space for a focus group or online, and paper, surveys during every step of the process. Yes, budgets can be limited, and there can be more convenient ways to get that source, but it is also about the people, the creativity, and the service. All information professionals need to do, is to be creative in how we achieve successful results for our public. If we are supported by our public, we have more of a chance of maintaing relevancy.
References
American Library Association. (n.d.). Library 2.0. https://www.ala.org/tools/atoz/library-20
Casey, M. E. & Savastinuk, L. C. (2007). Library 2.0: A guide to participatory library service. Information Today, Inc. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE5MDk4OV9fQU41?sid=1921256a-3320-4ba3-abc3-8cbafe3c6afa@redis&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1
Public Libraries Online. (2015). Five reasons to crowdsource the library. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2015/09/five-reasons-to-crowdsource-the-library/
User experience. (2024, September 14). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience