Library 2.0
By
There have been noticeable changes in the way your library looks these days. We’ve opened the Crossroads Coffee shop and repositioned the layout of the shelves to make materials easier for you to find and to make the library a more attractive place to visit. Additionally, we’ve have added more service points and spread them out into the main rooms of the library. We are mobilizing out from behind big antiquated desks and relocating to the areas of the library where you need our help.
The modifications you have been seeing are more than just changes in the way the library looks; they are an evolution of the way in which your library serves you. Log on to the library website at rapidcitylibrary.org for details and updates on the building improvements we have planned.
Many of the things you have
witnessed happening at
There is a name the library industry has given to this shift in our philosophy--Library 2.0 and it’s an ongoing conversation about the future of library services. You can think of Library 2.0 as similar to an upgrade or new version of computer software, but it encompasses so much more. Library 2.0 is a mandate for libraries to rethink the way we do things and go even further in permitting library patrons to dictate what they want from their libraries. For further information, you can find a fascinating article on the subject at Libraryjournal.com.
The collection of items available at the library reflects this forward line of thinking. We aspire to satisfy almost any information or entertainment needs our patrons may have. Along with bestsellers, our staff routinely orders books and videos that diverge from the beaten path, striving to represent almost any interest. If you come to the library and do not find what you are looking for, we want to know and will do our best to help you track it down.
The rise of the Internet and the advent of the digital age have had an enormous impact on our society. Portable digital audio players are plugged in to the ears of millions of music and audiobook fans alike. Email, instant messaging and other emerging technologies are enabling folks to better stay in touch with friends and family thousands of miles away.
The Internet has given anyone with an opinion the option to express their thoughts using weblogs, or “blogs” for short, which can be thought of as an online daily diary that can be launched and maintained by anyone with a computer connected to the Internet. Try WordPress.com for a free site where you can set up a blog.
The Internet has become progressively more interactive. A testament to this is the success of social networking sites like Facebook.com, MySpace.com, YouTube.com, and Flickr.com, where users can create their own space on the web and share ideas, photographs, videos and more.
Hundreds of sites are cropping up online where you can back up and store files and photographs instead of warehousing them on disks or hard drives. Some examples are Xdrive.com and Flipdrive.com.
A very hot new trend is the move to provide word processing, spreadsheet, and other similar applications online instead of through software that must be loaded on individual computers. In fact, this article was written using a word processor website called Writeboard.com, making it accessible online for my co-workers to edit and proofread before submission to the newspaper for publication.
Like other libraries tackling the transition to Library 2.0, the Rapid City Public Library has already been incorporating many of these cutting edge principles and technologies into my of our services.
Our Ask A Librarian instant message chat provides a means to contact us online and engage in an information conversation with a qualified staff member.
Through NetLibrary.com, we offer more than 1,000 ebooks and audiobook titles for our users to access and download to a computer or portable digital audio device.
The Oral History Project serves
as a video archive of interviews with survivors of the 1972
The library has even joined MySpace.com, creating a page just for our teen patrons. Teens can visit the page to get the latest news on what’s happening at the library or even engage in an online discussion with an author. Go to myspace.com/rcpl_teens for a look.
The wave of the technological revolution is likely to continue to move at a dazzling speed. It is the core belief of libraries that library services should be for the people and by the people. To that end, the Rapid City Public Library is committed to riding on top of the technology wave, side by side with our patrons, as we surf together into the future of Library 2.0.