Meeting Users in Wikipedia

I written and spoken before about putting reference services in the flow of users - making the resources and services available to users at their point of need. One example of this could be adding references to library resources, especially digital collections, to Wikipedia articles.

I posted about this in the RISG blog after reading an article called Harnessing Social Networks to Connect with Audiences: If You Build it, Will They Come 2.0?

Here Comes the 3rd Idea: another post about Clay Shirky's book

In concuding my thoughts after reading Here Comes Everybody I wrote a post on the RISG blog posing the question: Is Web 2.0 a Revolution? The line of thought in this post goes along these lines.

If Web 2.0 and social networking become ubiquitous and hence everyone becomes not only information consumers but also content producers then any organisation that relies on managing information is going to be profoundly effected. I think we are already seeing a shift toward people trusting their personal networks for information over traditional institutions.

Libraries are an institution.

How are libraries responding to the shift and preparing themselves for the future?

What do Small World Networks and Kevin Bacon have in Common?

In a strange case of seredipity, while I was reading Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky I saw a fascinating documentary that used the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game to explain Small World networks. Shirky devoted a chapter of his book to networks (particularly how network theory helps explain social networks). It fascinated me and prompted a post called Six Degrees Makes for a Small World on the RISG blog.

Here Comes Everybody...

Clay Shirky's book, Here Comes Everybody, is a fascinating look at the way Web 2.0 and social networking is touching every aspect of society. I found it highly thought-provoking and encourage anyone who's interested in this stuff to have a read.

I talked about a couple of things that struck me from the book on the RISG blog. Here's one...

Beth Jefferson, Bibliocommons and the Next Generation Catalogue

This interview with Beth Jefferson, Founder of Bibliocommons, inspired a post on the RISG blog about the future of library web sites and catalogues. Go on, read it...