Web 2.0 is both a collection of online tools and a framework for providing online services. How can this framework apply to the provision of Health Information Services? This course will offer a survey of the most popular and quickly emerging online services, and provide tools, advice, and exercises on how to effectively evaluate their utility in library services and/or professional development. Specific activites will include an Web 2.0 service culture assessment, web service demonstrations, plain-language explanation of technical considerations and a discussion of how to overcome organizational barriers to implementing technology. A brief discussion of the future of web technologies (The Semantic Web / Web 3.0) will follow.
Kelly Wooshue currently works in the Halifax Public Libraries as the Reference Services Resource Manager. Prior to that, she was a part-time faculty member in Dalhousie University's School of Information Management. In addition to an MLIS, she holds an undergraduate degree in Information Technology.
Ryan Deschamps is the e-Learning Manager at the Halifax Public Libraries and maintainer of The Other Librarian blog which was recently named #22 in the Online Education Database's list of the top 25 library bloggers.
Web 2.0 is a popular term, coined by Tim O'Reilly to describe a difference in strategies for online services. Whereas traditional web services focussed on institutions providing access to information and services, possibly for pay, or to collect usage statistics, new web services appear to be encouraging online networks to develop and grow, while gaining revenue through advertising (business model) or donations (open source/creative commons models).
The goal of a Web 2.0 framework may include:
Library 2.0 is a suggested framework for applying Web 2.0 in libraries:
The scope of Web 2.0 is too large to cover in a 3 hour period. Some of these tools were picked out because they have a unique Health Library application; others because they are useful to the professional development of librarian in particular; and others just because they are new and emerging.
In the course, we cover:
To determine the applicability of a service, you need to use it. Web services look different to those on the outside, than they do to those on the inside. Why? Cultures develop around and within a Web 2.0 service. Unsurprisingly, while associating with colleagues, friends and/or loved ones on a service, people forget those on the outside.
Two important aspects of a Web 2.0 are important to a service's appropriateness as a library service: 1. The platform 2. The culture. The platform refers to the navigation, usability, speed, colour scheme of the service.
The culture refers to the norms of both the service and the community within. Is the service friendly to newbies, or should one lurk a while before making a comment. Is profanity allowed? Are people expected to use their real names, or do people tend to use nicknames? Are people expected to add lots of information to their profile, or is the profile limited? Lots of friends, or just a few?
Web 3.0 is a term used to describe the future of web services. While there is much discussion of the term, it can be simplified to three terms: 1) lots of shared data 2) Comprehensive APIs 3) Creative Mashups.
The increase in shared data is evident in large services such as Wikipedia, IMDB and Amazon sharing their information. Creative Commons and open source licensing is facilitating this. Such licenses permit users to share use information, share it with others and change it to their own needs. This applies to digitized works as well as data services.
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a way of letting programmers use a web service. An API will have a series of functions and variables that users can apply to their own programs. You would need an API if you:
A Mash-up is a program that uses the api from two or more services to create another service. It represents a way of creating connections among datasets that are different from the norm. Twitter Maps is a good example but there are more.