Recently I was lucky enough to be part of a discussion panel organised by the City Information Group (CIG). The discussion centred on the future role of research and information professionals in the face of new networking technology, all dubbed Web 2.0, and how this technology will affect the working lives of information professionals.
My hat goes off to the information professionals at the event who put their hands in the air and admitted they didn't fully understand the technology and the issues it presented to their working lives. It's a brave move in a busy room full of your peers. But it is OK to admit you don't understand the full complexity of the Web 2.0 plot. I left the conference feeling that almost everyone, apart from my colleagues Euan Semple and David Tebbutt, is a little shaky on some areas of Web 2.0. I too feel out of touch with RSS and FaceBook.
The problem with Web 2.0 is that there are so many different iterations of this technology, blogging, wiki encyclopaedia, virtual worlds created by users, social computing networks and image systems for sharing videos and photographs. Is it any wonder that information professionals are, despite their deep natural understanding for information issues, lost in a virtual Sargosso Sea.
At first I was worried that the attendees didn't fully understand this technology, but as the evening progressed I was re-invigorated to learn that on the whole, information professionals do want to learn and engage with this technology. And that is good news, because if the information community does not, it will lose out, because the next generation of information users will interact with information in a way so radically different from the way we do.
The first step along the rocky road to Web 2.0 is admitting what your level of understanding is, and I have nothing but admiration for those information professionals that admitted to a packed room that they were not part of this next generation, because by doing so, the information community can step back and take a look at what is required to fully embrace the technology and the all important information professionals.
If anyone wants me to pop round...
ReplyDeleteFor a small fee, of course.
:-)
The problem with Web 2.0 is not "that there are so many different iterations of this technology" but that someone tried to encapsulate something so broad and diverse with a single phrase.
ReplyDeleteI see your point, the terminology does cause problems. My point is that the different forms of technology under this term are changing the behaviour of information creation and discovery in such a radical way that it is causing concern for information professionals.
ReplyDeleteOne concern is which technology to focus on and master first.
I would agree with the comments Euan makes as a Law Librarian who wasnt unfortunately able to make it to the event my main concern is trying to keep up with the seemingly mind boggling number of tools available.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that I think Blogs and Wikis are going to have a huge impact on the work we do but we should be adapting our roles to take advantage of these new tools and the challenges that they bring.
This blog entry seems to be the base for a printed editorial. Strangely on the same pages there is much publicity for a book on 'the cult of the amateur' and a claim that experts and mainstream media can civilise the web.
ReplyDeleteAm I right in thinking that there has not yet been an IWR review for the book version of 'everything is miscellaneous' by David Weinberger. This has yet to find a London publisher so maybe lacks editorial endorsement. But it is available on Amazon UK.