Web 2.0 = Library 2.0: Offline 2007 (MT)

I had the opportunity to speak about Library 2.0 for the Montana Library Association yesterday. It’s a really great group. Engaged, interested, friendly… You get the picture. Greg Notess spoke about screencasting and made it look really easy. He was ponting to the ease of distribution for the video content he creates with sites like wink and YouTube. I surveyed some web 2.0/library 2.0 web sites and made the argument that web 2.0 is not about a single application, but rather a shift in what people can expect from web applications. The medium of the web is changing and the idea of the network is informing what the web can be. (Slides are available at my slideshare space).

I also got to see a few demos of protopage and Google page creator. I watched as several web sites were created and made live to the world during a session. That’s pretty useful web 2.0 stuff for some Montana Libraries without access to a server. Overall, it was a fun experience and it was exciting to see the group embrace what web 2.0 principles can do for library web apps.

UPDATE: Suzanne Reymer, the Montana State Libraries Statewide Technology Librarian, was one of the presenters on protopage and Google Page Creator and she has set up a new blog for Montana Library Association (MLA) 2007 at http://mla-conference.blogspot.com/.  I mentioned that the structured data behind blogs (think RSS) is the greatest innovation afforded by blog software.  I stand by that statement.  It’s given me hope for the semantic web.  But… blogs can also be useful in recording conference and event information.  Suzanne already knows this and she’s on the case.