TLC 2.0 - Final Thoughts

Friends,

I have decided that in the spirit of Nec Arrogantia Nec Despero that I will try to keep my comments balanced.


Web 2.0 : The web of Joiners

My first comments shall center around the idea that Web 2.0 is all about "joining".

For each of the services everyone must "join" the service.
Eventually, the Web 2.0 person becomes awash in a sea of Username & Password combinations.

I believe that I have forgotten most of the services that I've joined over the past few weeks - and possibly most of the passwords.

Many of us since "middle school" have considered ourselves to be "not the joining type". For the rest -- there is myspace.

It's no wonder that sites such as FaceBook and MySpace are so loved and used by the young. They feel that they are part of a group. Part of the club. Web 2.0 gives a sense of belonging and connection, even if the connection is over hundreds of miles.

The irony is that so many of the We 2.0 social networks are full of the "non-joiners". The people that are not likely to be in High School student government are still likely to have a MySpace page where they have joined the service and are desperately looking for connection with others.

With other Web 2.0 apps you still the need to join. Flicker, Google Docs, etc. I became quite fatigued with creating an endless amount of user profiles. The reason, of course, is about the $.

Why would so many Web 2.0 services offer their online software for free ?
How do they expect to pay for their programmers and computer servers ?
Where is the money ?
It's your user profile. The hope is that advertisers will be able to target products directly to you through all of your User Accounts.

In the end, Web 2.0 is a trade off - I give you information about myself - you let me use your software.

The super savvy Web 2.0 user would be better off creating an entire fictionalized version of themselves for use in Web 2.0 products (they have very little ability to verify your identity). Fortunate for them they count on us lacking the creativity for such a consistent ruse.

Web 2.0 : The web of non-ownership


Akin to the idea of "joining" is that most of the Web 2.0 services do not belong to the users.

For the most part, the Web 2.0 user is using someone else's property. They leave their pictures, documents, blogging thoughts and personal information on someone else's computer. All of this is for "free". The old saying is that you get what you pay for... The Web 2.0 user needs to go forth with full understanding that any of this stuff could be deleted, blocked, or shut down at anytime and everything they built in Web 2.0 will be gone - without a recourse.

The great strength of Web 2.0 is that it is online and easily connects users to each other. We don't need to be great programmers - we don't need our own high powered computers and expensive software. We can login from any Web connected computer and type away. And anyone we want to can see it.

I see a future where there may be a good middle ground of this...
A time when we will have our own inexpensive Web 2.0 software loaded on our own Home based servers. We will have the flexibility and the connectivity of current Web 2.0 services --- and still have full control of the content and software.


Web 2.0 : TLC are we having fun yet ?

The TLC program is a kind of programed Play time. Which, of course, loses some of the sense of spontaneity that makes play so much fun. Deadlines are a necessary evil of any program and for some people made the TLC program less fun than the usual way that folks learn and discover Web 2.0 applications.


I found that many of the people that have the nature to "play with computers" were the ones that kept up with the TLC program. For most others they started with the first one or two challenges and they faded back into their daily work. Some folks, I am sure, learned many things they may not have otherwise stumbled upon.

Overall, it is a worthwhile program to introduce folks to. It certainly did raise awareness.


Web 2.0 : Use for libraries or Used by librarians

Part of the TLC project was to build awareness and find application in the library environment.

Most Web 2.0 apps are not directly library related.

Our Novcat Catalog can be considered Web 2.0 because users can "log-in" and use special features.

Some of our databases such as MD-Consult, EBSCO, PubMed also have these user account features.

Wow these are great Web 2.0 tools.

But, so many of the other "fun" apps and "social networking" apps are geared to the individual user.

So, a Librarian may find a Web 2.0 app useful to do certain things, but it would not be useful to the Library as a whole.

The most useful Web 2.0 feature for libraries is that it raises bar of possibilities.
It opens the conversation and asks us if some of the features of these programs can be used to serve our work and our patrons better.

Sure - most of the Web 2.0 stuff can be considered "Web Toys". But even the child that plays "house" will eventually put those skills to use when they become a parent.


I don't support "band wagon" approaches. I don't support the idea that we need to participate in every Web 2.0 application, social network, etc so we can remain "relevant librarians".

I do support the idea that we should keep up with current ideas and trends online and pick out the useful jewels that can help us do our jobs better.

--- and that's my final thought.