Web 2.0 technologies: User behaviours and challenges for libraries

Will there be any library users in the future? Why should they bother with libraries at all? It seems that we will all be using mobile phones or PDAs to obtain and share information whenever and wherever we want it. Technology will be a part of our every day lives and our ‘virtual library’ will be in our pocket or handbag. Information will be the property of everyone and under the authorship of whoever wants to contribute with few barriers to involvement. The opportunity to publish information for the public will cease to be under the control of , or authority of editors, and the mechanisms required to access it no longer requiring a higher authority to be in place.

This seems to be the vision of the future that is suggested by some of the zealots of web 2.0 technologies. But others suggest there may be a less radical way of viewing the future and one that libraries and information professionals will have to adapt to and participate in to remain ‘in the game’. So what are the opportunities for information providers? Obviously, it will be some time before the whole population fits into the above picture. Technological services do not always keep pace for everyone countrywide, there are still places in rural communities where mobile phones cannot work. There are still, and possibly always will be, sectors of society who cannot use (for various reasons) the facilities provided by web 2.0 technologies themselves.

Libraries have always been inclusive, providing services and facilities for all sectors of the community, so initially, there will be a role for information professionals in helping to educate, facilitate and promote the use of the new technologies. In the process it may be possible to involve those previously excluded from library services as it is left to the users to become involved in creating library services themselves and thereby revealing user needs or preferences that have been unknown or ignored. In addition, information which belongs to everyone and comes from everywhere will be fine for certain groups of society and their purposes, but there will be a need for sectors to understand issues of evaluation and quality in order to verify information before it can be trusted. This is also an area where information professionals can make a contribution, based on their knowledge and expertise. Finally, we are human beings and although satisfaction can be derived from online interactions with others we still need to meet up face to face sometimes. Libraries should encourage the development of virtual communities through library blogs or social catalogues, but alongside these, is there not the space to encourage the like-minded users who meet in such communities to also share ‘real time’ with each other in networking meetings or discussion groups, or am I just an old fashioned girl?