A review of Mary Ann Kajewski’s 2007 article ‘Emerging technologies changing our service delivery models’ available from the Emerald Management Xtra database at http://www.csu.edu.au/division/library/find=info/databases/
Kajewski’s (2007) recent article 'Emerging technologies changing our service delivery models' outlines some of the new Web 2.0 tools that libraries have been able to use to communicate directly with their community of users. All of the tools discussed are based around ‘real time’, meaning the user is able to use these services at the time which best suits them - basically on a 24/7 basis - and not just when the library doors are open for business. However while there are some inspiring librarians making the most of these new online communication abilities out there; by browsing random library websites it becomes clear that most still have a long road ahead in implementing and using any of these tools successfully with both their staff and community of users.
Here are the tools highlighted and discussed by Kajewski:
Blog: A blog is basically an online diary that other people can see, read, subscribe to and comment on. Some examples of blogging applications are www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.com
There are some very interesting blogs written by librarians, here are a few of note: ALA techsource, librarian.net and The Shifted Librarian
Wiki: A wiki is a collaborative tool that allows the creation of content from a number of people. All users have full editing rights to the wiki and can contribute, edit or delete any or all content contained within the wiki. Examples are: Wikipedia, wikispaces, wetpaint and wikidot.
RSS: RSS is a specific URL which allows a user to pull a permanent information stream from a website into their feed aggregator. This enables the user to view almost instant changes to multiple websites in one centralised location. Effectively, instead of the traditional way of the user going to the new information, it has been turned around – the new information is streamed directly to the user.
If a website has RSS capabilities it will display this one of the following icons:
Podcasts and Vodcasts: Podcasts and Vodcasts are simply audio and video files that have been created as part of a series. These series can be subscribed to (with the help of RSS) and fed into the user’s chosen feed aggregator. The new episodes within the series then can be streamed directly to the user’s feed aggregator for uploading onto their listening or viewing device (iPod, MP3 or MP4 player).
Web Conferencing: Web conferencing allows groups of online participants to attend seminars (known as webinars) held online (Kajewski, 2007). Most web conferencing software allows all participants to hear, speak to, text, listen and view the presentation (usually a powerpoint document), the presenter and other participants.
Examples of web conferencing software(both licensed and free) include:
Instant Messaging: Instant messaging works through the user’s web browser and allows the use of text chat to communicate with other online colleagues within the boundaries of real time. It allows almost instant response for questions, requests and additional information queries. One of the most popular – and free - examples of this service in Australia is MSN Web Messenger
Kajewski (2007) includes the following quote by Schmidt, an Illinois reference librarian in her article; “the future of libraries depends on how well we meet the needs of today’s young adults, who are far more tech-fluent than most librarians”. This statement deserves attention and consideration when thinking about implementing Web 2.0 tools and the future role of libraries within the online world. Personally, I feel that this statement is putting forward the question 'if libraries do not implement and use these new technologies – and essentially put the library in the user’s online space – will the next-generation which are known as ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2006) consider libraries as old, tired and redundant and will we see them going elsewhere for the same information?'.
References
Kajewski, M. (2007). Emerging technologies changing our service delivery models.
The Electronic Library, 25(4), 420-429.
Retrieved August 20, 2008, from the Emerald Management Xtra database
Miller, R. (2004, July 28). Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Responds.
Retrieved August 29, 2008, from
http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/28/1351230
Pfeil, U., Zaphiris, P., & Ang, C. (2006). Cultural differences in collaborative authoring of Wikipedia. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(1), 5.
Retrieved August 30, 2008, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue1/pfeil.html
Prensky, M. (2006). Listen to the Natives. Learning in the Digital Age, 63(4), 8-13.
Retrieved August 31, 2008, from
http://www.ascd.org/authors/ed_lead/el200512_prensky.html
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1 comments:
Good luck with your assignment Gemma.
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