Where will the next generation Web take libraries?

By Tom Storey

Remember when it was cool to surf the Web? Log on, type a few words, view a few pages, log off. As the latest technology tool, search was exhilarating, informative—and dramatically changed the way people looked for information. Just ask librarians! A record 6 billion searches were conducted on search engines in January 2006.

In Web 2.0, the Web becomes the center of a new digital lifestyle that changes our culture and touches every aspect of our lives. The Web moves from simply being sites and search engines to a shared network space that drives work, research, education, entertainment and social activities—essentially everything people do. You and your mobile and nonmobile devices—PDA, MP3, laptop, cell phone, camera, PC, TV, etc.—are always online, connected to one another and to the Web.

In technology terms, the Web is the operating platform to which programmers write reusable, constantly updated software components that are embedded or loosely coupled with other Web applications. It’s the open, programmable Web, and quite a change from monolithic, proprietary operating systems and programs of the past characterized by long development times and software release cycles.

The first traces of Web 2.0 are already appearing. Consider the roaring success of sites that embody Web 2.0 principles of simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, collective intelligence, self-service, novel and remixed content—Flickr, MySpace, FaceBook, del.icio.us, YouTube, LibraryThing—to name a few.

The potential network effects of Web 2.0 have not gone unnoticed in the library community. A corresponding Library 2.0 discussion is underway, primarily in the blogosphere, about how libraries will fit into and thrive in the second coming of the Web. NextSpace asked a futurist, three librarians and an OCLC Vice President to comment on the library possibilities of Web 2.0.

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