Now that THAT's over...

Sorry for the delay, been finishing up a class. So, what did I learn?

I read a great deal about Library 2.0, and what that means. I read that there is insufficient evidence to date regarding the efficacy of Web 2.0 to further information literacy learning outcomes.

My conclusion: back to basics, mainly, librarian-faculty collaboration. In a vacuum, without a credit-bearing stand-alone course and/or faculty status, without a context within which to place it, Web 2.0 technologies might not further information literacy beyond marketing, location and access.

Each purpose has its place. Marketing is extremely important, to get an IL program off the ground as well as to sustain it. But real learning? Real, measurable improvement? Librarians are hard-pressed to achieve that on their own. Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 need faculty and staff support, and administrative buy-in as well, to provide infrastructure support--both technological and personnel-wise--for exploration and development of these tools, to fully realize their potential to improve student learning.

It's fun to use snazzy tools, and say "look what I made!" It is crushing to hear "so what?" I ask myself that all the time, "so what?" as a reality check before spending time on making something, provided I've also invested in sufficciently marketing my creation.

Using the tools to help market the tools...need to look into that!

Crawford, W. (2006). Library 2.0 and library 2.0, Cites and Insights, 6(2), 1-32.

Crawford, W. (2011). Five years later: Library 2.0 and balance, Cites and Insights, 11(2), 1-26.

Crawford, W. (2011). Five years later: Library 2.0 and balance (cont.), Cites and Insights, 11(3), 1-22.

Nesta, F. & Mi, J. (2011). Library 2.0 or library III: Returning to leadership, Library Management, 32 (1/2), 85-97.