libraries and web 2.0

‘Title’on this keyline.Arial Bold 36 pts

The library of the 2.0 century

Kelly Gardiner

Web Services Manager

State Library of Victoria

It’s not just a blog

Web 2.0 breaks the linear connection between one user and a distant machine

Dynamic delivery of content and services

Fluid data that mixes and flows where it’s needed

Networks of services and light-weight applications that grab content and data and deliver it to users - fast

Adapts to users’ workflows, rather than forcing them to work around system constraints

It really is a web

Why does it matter?• “Web 2.0” websites like Youtube and Photobucket account for 12% of all US web activity • Their market share (of visits) has grown 688% over the past two years• Wikipedia is the top “educational reference” site with over 26% market share• On Wikipedia, most readers were 18-24; most users who edited entries were 45-54 • Only a tiny percentage of people interact/edit• But visits to Wikipedia outnumbered those to Encarta 3400 to 1• It changes users’ expectations

(US visits for the week ended April 7, reported by Hitwise)

Book mark

Notebook

Maps

Blog

Books Scholar

News

Search web

Groups

Images

My Google

Google

People are used to…

Targeted

User content

Register

Blogs

Multi media Data

bases

Indexes

Catalogue

Content

Search

Partners

Enquiries

Library

We have to match that

Example: dynamic search

Assumption: users want to constantly refine searches

Our task: help them do that

But what about expanding, exploring, discovery?

We can use the rich data we already own to offer deeper, broader possibilities.

• Facets and clustered results (structured finding)

• Suggested searches (push, best bets, subject browse)

• Other users’ recommendations (collaborative finding)

• Serve results in unexpected or useful places (widgets)

• Offer results from other sources (unified discovery)

Understand our users’ tasks

•Find

•Analyse

•Annotate

•Publish

•Comment

•Cite

•Bookmark/note

•Learn

•Organise

•Visit

•Collect/copy

•Collaborate

•Teach

•Share

•Explore

•Register

•Read

•Describe/review

•Organise

•Compare

•Enjoy

Web 2.0 is about them, not us

SLV online

• slv.vic.gov.au last redeveloped 2004 and expanded hugely since then

• Catalogues, databases, applications all separate

• Vicnet portal redevelopment underway

• Legacy sites include A Place Called Victoria, Victorians at War

• User focused sites: inside a dog, Your Treasures

• New sites: Mirror of the World, Learning zone

• Around 3 million users per year and rising rapidly

Issues & opportunities

• The Library’s needs have changed• Users’ expectations are dramatically different• SLV site structures need review• User experience varies across our sites and applications• There are more systems which interconnect, and more paths between them• Users access our sites from many sources, especially search engines• The web has changed and changes every day• What will web 3.0 look like?

SLV 2.0 principles

• Consistently describe information and objects• View and present our many information repositories as a single source• Provide users with many windows into relevant information, and opportunities to contribute and interact• Deliver online services and content dynamically.

This season’s layers

Description

Discovery

Data

Delivery

SLV 2.0 deliverables• A network of targeted goal-oriented content gateways • A redeveloped corporate web site and Vicnet• Service oriented architecture• Redesigned presentation layer, with integrated and consistent user experience, branding and navigation• Greater user-generated content and interaction• Federated search of sites, catalogues, services and databases• SLV-wide online information architecture, including consistent taxonomy• Pool of easily accessible and re-usable content with associated metadata• Expanding suite of easily deployed tools and applications

Summary

• Find new ways to classify, deliver and discover• Give users a chance to comment, classify, tag, review,

publish, annotate, interact• Provide a federated and multi-faceted search function• Keep content current• Match our users’ tasks, interests and workflows with our

specialist collections and expertise• Send our data & content out into the world• Bring other data or services into our sites.

Push data

Tags

Tags/suggest

Tags

User content

Contextlinks

Pull data

Push data

Providevalue

User content

What next?

SLV gatewayFamily history

A Place Called Victoria

Learning zone

Books & ideas

Research & resources

Resource guides

History guides eg Goldfields

insideadog

Reading Vic

User book groups

Blogs (eg Read Alert)

Book care & conservation

Author events

New Acquisitions

Research skills

History guides eg Settlement

Primary/Secondary areas

Teachers notes

School programmes

Teacher PD

Genealogy index access

Family history events

Blog

Resource guides

Gov Gazette access

Database/indexes

Catalogues

Library services

Treasures

Programs/Fellowships

Events & exhibitions

Foundation

News

Regional history spotlights

Timelines

About/Collections

Our community(Vicnet)

Links

Community sites

Computer help

ISP products

Training

Partner sites

Wikitoria

What’s on

Your Treasures

Mirror of the World

Research communities

My research

SLV 2.0 development process

• Web Strategy paper to Board• Action plan prepared• Internal workshops underwayNext steps• Industry research• Competitor analysis• Set benchmarks• Crystal ball gazing• User research and testing• Move to service oriented architecture• Iterative development of new web services• Gradual site redevelopment• Research new content gateways• More user research and testing.