Thanks to TangognaT’s (whom I have now just linked to twice this evening, and whose palindromic nom de blog I have only just now figured out) link, I read web designer and standards evangelist Jeffrey Zeldman’s article Web 3.0.

The article and ideas don’t map seamlessly to Library 2.0; libraries never had a “bubble” that I was aware of (at least, I never managed to get any stock options), and I don’t think Yahoo! is going to buy AADL any time soon. But Zeldman’s thoughts on hype and spin which can obscure the good work people are doing strikes pretty close to home, as does his effort to actually articulate what those good things are.

For Zeldman, the worthwhile part of “Web 2.0″ has to do with “small teams of sharp people…designing smart web applications” that mostly “foster community and collaboration,” and are usually built with open-source technology on the back end and web standards on the front end.

Somewhat against my better judgement, I thought I’d lift my moratorium on “Library 2.0″ and try once more to separate signal from noise. What is the “good work” that the hype/controversy/hostility surrounding Library 2.0 might obscure? Here’s what I got so far:

  1. recognizing that patrons have an online life outside the library, and trying to make our online presence more consonant with their experience and expectations;
  2. opening up our data to allow others (other libraries, librarians, programmers, patrons) to use that data in novel ways;
  3. building better, simpler, more usable, more accessible interfaces;
  4. all kinds of librarians (not just “systems” librarians) seizing blogs, wikis, RSS, and other simple web tools to communicate with each other and with our patrons;
  5. viewing our patrons as collaborators in creating community-based content;
  6. challenging vendors to help us with all of the above, and working around them when they don’t.

The sharp-eyed reader will note that I stole most of this from the people I quoted admiringly in my Library 2.0 hangover post. I try to only steal from the best.

Lastly, here is Zeldman’s parting advice to those who haven’t jumped on the 2.0 bandwagon:

To you who feel like failures because you spent last year honing your web skills and serving clients, or running a business, or perhaps publishing content [or, says Steve, teaching BI sessions to students, building unique collections of books and manuscripts, helping people learn to read, or answering reference questions patiently, thoroughly, and accurately] you are special and lovely, so hold that pretty head high, and never let them see the tears.

Tags: , , ,