The end!

Although I often felt like I was on a moving sidewalk, passing a tempting buffet of ideas that I could only taste, this was a great experience. Even though I gave more attention to some parts of 23 Things than others, I now feel that when someone talks about something on the web, I am not totally clueless. Even better I have learned about some Web 2.0 pieces that I know I will use again: Flickr, del.icio.us, Library Thing, wikis. I have found some great blogs that I will continue to follow and I expect to keep blogging for at least personal use. The challenge for all of us is to keep 23 Things alive and active in our work, not just personally. We can use wikis and blogs for communicating with our customers as well as managing projects. Someone pointed out to me that del.icio.us is a great way to track favorites from the web without worrying that a library's computer could crash and all the files would be lost. Flickr is a great way of organizing and sharing photos of library events. We could use podcasts and youtube for mini training pieces or to offer mini book talks to our customers. This really is a matter of just letting the mind roam and trying things out. However, I have to go back to the article by Dr. Wendy Schultz http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/6.htm where she talks about what comes after Web 2.0. I came away feeling that while we were all learning how to organize our blogs and discussing whether or not to use Myspace, the rest of the world is now in Secondlife and our next branch should be located there. How far are we from Library 4.0 with its combination of old fashioned print and holograms of children's picture books which are accessible through some microchip that we carry in our wrists? I was amused by the end of her article where she described a cozy virtual space that she called the knowledge spa. She said that it would recreate the old image of a country house library with the smell of leather, the provision of fine brandy and the rustle of pages. Definitely the dream of a Boomer. In the best of all possible worlds we will be able to provide her vision, and at the same time create the far livelier space of bright lights, colors and noise with energy drinks and snacks for a younger generation who want to gather in groups to enjoy a lively interchange via whatever technology is big while at the same time talking to the people immediately next to them. And it will all be available when everyone wants it at the time that want it with minimal effort.