Web 2.0 technology is a hot topic at the moment, and public librarians in particular are beginning to feel the pressure to apply these tools. Indeed, Web 2.0 has the potential to transform library services, but only if the policy and strategy for those services are ready to be transformed. The author not only reviews these tools and provides practical advice and case studies on how they can be applied in the public library setting, but also recommends the policies and business cases that begin to create a new strategy for public libraries.
Linda Berube is no stranger to using web services to transform public libraries. As a regional manager for e-services and e-procurement, she not only oversaw the distributed interoperability of library management systems, but also created and managed the implementation of a co-operative national chat service, the People's Network Enquire, in which over 100 English authorities and 500 staff participated. Enquire was voted overwhelmingly the People's Network service which added value to library service, by librarians in an independent study of the People's Network by the Tavistock Institute.
This concise guide to a hot topic is timely, perceptive and engagingly written.... Useful to public librarians and a worthy acquisition for university libraries supporting LIS students., Managing Information