I like YouTube because not only is the site very user friendly, it's attractive and anyone can upload and share their videos on the web. I did a search for library videos and came across a great video called "Your Public Library" by cclibrary. This video is great in explaining why we need public libraries. I loved the video's description of the library as an information mall, similar to a shopping mall where people come not to shop for things, but to shop for information. This video describes how libraries can help their communities through education and provide computer technology that may not be available at home. I found there is good information on how to encourage teens to use /join the library, one of the ways that Carver Bay Library in the U.S.A did this was by having a gaming club onsite. Carver Bay Library found that teens loved playing video games, so for teens to join the library gaming club they had to checkout a certain number of books per month. Check out the video below titled "Your Public Library":
Libraries can make videos similar to those on YouTube and put them on their library websites. Manukau Libraries can produce videos where customers are taken on a tour of the library, and the commentary on the video explains how to join the library, how to access the electronic resources of the library (e-resources), the computer technology available within the library and the programs that libraries have set up e.g. reading clubs.
I selected a site from the Web 2.0 Awards list (the short list) and decided to look at imcooked which came first in the food category ( this is a web community for video sharing of recipes). I did a search for any videos related to the topic chocolate, and found a great video titled "Chocolate Mocha Cake" - this is really a recipe for all you chocolate lovers out there. Have a look at the video below:
The imcooked site is where users upload videos of themselves demonstrating how to cook their own recipes, even kids can demonstrate how to cook their own recipes, check out the video below titled "kids cooking shrimp stir fry".
This is another resource that library users can access from the internet, here they can look at cooking demonstrations online wherever they feel like it, leave comments, and make friends with others who enjoy cooking similar recipes. This is a web 2.0 site that libraries can definitely point patrons to.
I did have a look at the category called Events and choose Upcoming, you can definitely apply this to a library setting, although you must register first to advertise your events. You can search for events happening within your own country, you can even choose the day and month to see what events are happening on that particular day and in that particular month. Great for advertising Library Week, Manix, School Holiday Programmes, and Tea and Topics happening in Manukau Libraries. This could also be used to advertise festivals taking place in Manukau City like the Polynesian cultural festival, Chinese New Year celebrations, and concerts being held in the local area.
Reading the first three perspectives I agree with Dr Wendy Schultz that librarians are tour guides of the library because they have the knowledge and experience needed to find information required by users. However Michael Stephens view of Librarian 2.0 is more to my liking, he sees Librarian 2.0 as "strategy guides" which help users find information, gather knowledge and create content. As Rick Anderson rightly points out we library staff still need to help educate patrons, his focus is on teaching research skills to users so there is no barrier that exist between users and the information they seek. As libraries are thrust into the world of web2.0 users will expect access to digital collections of journals, books, blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds, so libraries have to become more user-centred and provide access to all this information. According to Michael Stephen's libraries have to find new ways to bring library services and content to the patron's preferred location - the web, Manukau Libraries have done this by offering the homework program called Any Questions, where the librarian help patrons online with their homework queries instead of meeting them face-to-face. According to Michael Stephens the question libraries should be asking themselves before implementing the new online technology is whether this new technology is meeting users needs in an new and improved way and does it create a useful service for putting users together with the information and experience they seek.
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