Responses to Method 1 Questions

What are your thoughts regarding Web 2.0 and Library 2.0? What do the terms mean to you? To your library? Or libraries in general?

Web 2.0 tools do connect people a lot more quickly than we have ever been connected before, as letters could take days to reach an individual. Emails were a quicker way, but people seem more taken with Twitter, blogs, and text messages to connect with others. Unfortunately, it seems to me, though, that the more connected we become with technology, the more isolated we make ourselves. People text instead of talk, and some people would say things on a blog, that they would never say to someone they were talking to in person. The anonymity of the computer may give someone the feeling that it is okay to say whatever they want, even if it is not appropriate.

These tools can be great for the library, because librarians can connect to those individuals who may be too busy to stop by the library or may not wish to say their information needs out loud where someone else may hear. Librarians can answer patrons’ questions, deal with their concerns, and connect them to their information needs, without even having to meet face-to-face. It allows librarians to help even more patrons than they normally would.