Understanding of New Web Technology will Help Librarians Improve Services

New York, NY (January 7, 2007)—Whether or not you agree with the New York Times’ recent assessment that today’s librarians are getting hipper and more cutting edge, it is true that success for the most effective libraries and information professionals often relies on their willingness to embrace new technologies—including the newest—a rapidly growing cluster of social software technologies collectively known as “Web 2.0.”

In Web 2.0 for Library and Information Professionals, a new book to be published by Neal-Schuman on February 4, 2008, author, instructor and speaker Ellyssa Kroski explains—in non-technical terms—what defines Web 2.0, why it’s important for libraries, and how information professionals can harness it “to converse, communicate, and collaborate with library users as never before.” Unique to Kroski’s account are case studies and real-world examples of academic, public, special, and school librarians using the technologies to improve their service to patrons.

With a background in both information technology and library science, Kroski’s writing has quickly earned her a reputation for cogent analysis of these emergent tools and their implications for libraries. In Web 2.0 for Library and Information Professionals, she looks at the most widely used Web 2.0 tools—from blogs, RSS feeds, wikis, virtual worlds, podcasting, mashups, and photosharing, to social bookmarking, cataloging, and networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

The book begins with a Foreword by the influential Tame the Web blogger, Michael Stephens, followed by an overview and history of Web 2.0. Each of the subsequent 16 chapters covers a different Web 2.0 tool—its purpose, functionality, features, and usage statistics. Kroski also considers specific applications for each tool, most of which are freely available on the Web; where multiple options are available, she outlines the pros and cons of the different types of solutions. Dozens of screenshots show these applications in action, and a plethora of site recommendations and suggestions help readers navigate the tools online as part of the learning process. The appendix of Resources for Web 2.0 Discovery alone is worth the price of admission, with listings of every application readers will need to become truly Web 2.0-literate—including Flickr, LibraryThing, Del.icio.us, Remember the Milk, HousingMaps, Second Life, Digg —and many more.

Most valuable of all is Kroski’s expert compilation of advice and best practices from early-adopting libraries, which will help readers avoid common pitfalls and get started quickly without reinventing the wheel. Case studies—like the one describing the University of Georgia’s decision to start 21 subject-specific blogs, or the Ann Arbor District Library’s use of Google Gadgets to personalize patrons’ experience of the library Web site and catalog—are the 1000-watt light bulbs that will help readers see the possibilities of Web 2.0 for their own libraries.