"thing" no. 15: perspectives about Web 2.0

One valid question that a discussion of Web 2.0 may generate concerns institutions -- libraries, museums, information centers and the like -- and to what degree they involve the members of the public in "content creation." That's whether the public is called patrons, customers, listeners or viewers.

Information Today ran a thought-provoking piece in its October 2008 issue to the effect that libraries seeking ways to involve their patrons in Web 2.0 might want to take a look at what museums and broadcasters have recently done.

In New York, the public was invited to evaluate photographs solicited from artists for Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition on the changing faces of Brooklyn. Based on online evaluations from the public, the Brooklyn Museum ranked the photos and put them out for viewing. Specifically, nearly 400 photographs were submitted, with more than 3,300 people using computers to judge the collection.

Another effort involved WNYC, the public radio station for New York City. It set up photo contests on its web site, events which were open to the public.

What about the unique role of a librarian? Beth Evans, the author of the Information Today piece, "Library 2.0: the consumer as producer," points out, "Librarians don't create what they offer. They seek out content that already exists and bring it to the general public or to some other identified audience."

How, then, should it work when "content creation" meets libraries and librarians? There's always a way, as long as people keep talking. That's my view.

Evans, reference librarian and electronic information specialist at Brooklyn College Library in New York, advocates tapping into the creative people around you.

"The communities where libraries carry on their work are populated with talented and generous creators. Engaging in more ways with the public online has brought institutions closer to those they once viewed as only consumers. Accepting the broad community as producers and creators will broaden what a library can offer as content and give the public more of a vested interest in the institution."

After all, isn't a library a key part of a community? You bet.

Photograph courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum.