Blogs, Wikis, and RSS to Serve the Library - Essay Example

Blogs enable the rapid production and consumption of Web-based publications. For our library, it can be used as a key way to engage users and enhance community interaction by allowing comments by users on topics such as the service of the library, and materials that should be purchased in the future for the library.

Even though some users may write negative comments on your library it will help to make improvements. The library can benefit from this on the level of how much they trust their users. Blogs can also be used to discuss plans, as news announcement services, discuss events, write reviews, create their own tags and ratings, and promote resources. It will be very useful if the library could start blogs on upcoming assignments in finding resources to complete them. It should also be warned that using blogs and giving people to comment own ideas sometimes may contradict others and create issues (Ethical and Cultural).

The library should always be on alert and sensitive to user’s blogs in order to avoid such issues. According to the article, Wikis are essentially open web pages, where anyone registered with the wiki can publish to it, amend it, and change it. Today it is the leading collaborative, knowledge-sharing tool where it serves as an online space for harnessing collective intelligence. As I understand, no matter what is said about the reliability of the knowledge on wikis the service that it provides as a primary source is large.

For example, the references stated at end of documents in Wikis may be very useful to the library user. Open source wiki software (e.g PBwiki, Wetpaint, Mediawiki) can be used to create a successful subject guide that facilitates user feedback. Unlike blogs, wiki documents always get updated and refreshed. With the freedom given to the user to under wiki documents, the reliability of the available information must be ensured by the library by applying appropriate restrictions. According to the article some libraries use Wikis, where only the library can update the contents of the documents.

I think it is better if the library can adopt a moderate policy towards users by permitting them to add their knowledge under supervision. RSS (which stands for Really Simple Syndication) is an easy way to receive automatic updates from your chosen websites and blogs. Instead of going to a website, the website will send you a message every time there is something new. RSS feeds contain article headlines, links, and descriptions. As a reader of the article, I understood RSS as an Internet version of SMS (Simple Messaging Service) we use over mobile phones.

It can be used for a Library in a similar way phone companies use it to deliver important messages to their clients. The feeds are updated as the website is updated. Librarians (and others) who strive to keep current with the latest news and trends in their particular field have started using feeds and readers to save time and organize materials. By installing software such as News Reader (sometimes called Aggregator) on your desktop computer and use News Reader to subscribe to the RSS content. This will help you to display the latest headlines and content from your chosen other library websites.

It may also help to establish collaboration between libraries and give users a wider knowledge base. Conclusion The illustrated technologies will help librarians to provide a better service to their users together with other new technologies which appear rapidly. As far as library 2.0 is concerned the article focuses only on the library user those who are familiar with Internet-related technologies. Even though many Libraries practice these Library 2.0 technologies the effort should also be made not to neglect the conventional library users.

For those who are new to the technology is better if provided with guiding programs, seminars, or conferences to encourage towards Library 2.0. With the rate at which people adapt themselves to the new technological trend, Library 2.0 will not create much of a shock for those who prefer conventional library methods in the future, as it makes today.