OPAC as Outreach:Web 2.0 and the Library

Meghan GatesLSC 551

April 8, 2008

What are OPACs?

• Online Public Access Catalogs• Where we find “stuff” held by the library• Reputation as flat and disconnected (like the

old card catalog)

What is Web 2.0?

• A “Next-Gen” movement in internet technology

• Not a change in actual technology but a new way of thinking

• Fosters creativity, information sharing, and collaboration

What the Library is Up Against

• I want it now and I want it easy… or, the Googleization of Information

• Information at the touch of a button (iPhone, mobile web, etc.)

• Library as “that stuffy old place”

Mashup: Web 2.0 and OPACs

• Making OPACs more user friendly• Meeting the needs of “Next-Gen” library users– User Centered– Multimedia Experience– Socially Rich– Communally Innovative

Why Use Web 2.0?

• Most users already know it• Allows for interconnectedness cross multiple

platforms and information sources• Why not? Libraries have usually been on the

forefront of innovation• Most Importantly: Helping our patrons in the

best way possible

Tools of 2.0

• IM / ICQ / gChat• Streaming Media (Flash, Videos, etc.)• Blogs and Wikis• Social Networks (Facebook, MySpace, etc.)• Tagging• RSS Feeds

2.0 in Action

• Library Thing for Libraries– Patron Tags– Recommended / Similar– Reviews and Ratings

Danbury, CT Library Catalog

2.0 in Action

• Blogs– Alerting users of events, changes, and innovations– Making it easy (RSS, e-mail reminders, etc.)

St. Joseph County Public Library

CUA Libraries

2.0 in Action

• Speaking of RSS feeds…

2.0 in Action

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Benefits of 2.0

• Multiple methods of searching• Multiple modes of connection to our patrons• Putting the library in the path of the user • Making the library relevant again (More than

“that place with all the books”)• Constant Beta phase

Sources

• Balas, Janet L., “eLearning about Library 2.0”• Coyle, Karen, “Managing Technology: The Library Catalog

in the 2.0 World”• Curran, Kevin et al., “Involving the User Through Library

2.0”• Lankes, David R. et al., “Participatory Networks: The

Library as Conversation”• Maness, Jack M., “Library 2.0: The Next Generation of

Web-Based Library Services”• Liu, Shu, “Engaging Users: The Future of Academic Library

Websites”