#10 Web 2.0 and Libraries

There were two ideas that stood out for me when reading the various Web 2.0 and Libraries links.

The first one was the idea of "user education" from Rick Anderson's comments. In his post he talks about the need to focus our efforts on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need. Library's need to define themselves as user friendly and empower patrons with the knowledge that will help them with their information needs. Basic computer classes, as well as more advanced classes dealing with Web 2.0 functionalities, need to be available to patrons.

I've already touched on the second idea that struck me and that is the idea that library interfaces need to be more user friendly. John Riemer's comments present ideas to improve bibliographic services. Bibliographic services need to be more patron friendly and function more as an Amazon or Google search, where metadata and relevancy rankings are fully utilized.