No Host Dinner on Web Topics at SLA Annual

Sorry for any duplication.

I am this year’s SLA IT Division Webmaster Section Chair.  I would like to arrange a “no host” dinner during SLA Annual in New Orleans for anyone who is interested in using the Web to deliver library public services if there is enough interest.  Please email me at [email protected] if you would like to join us so I can get a head count.  As I am new to New Orleans, any recommendations for restaurants would be great too.  Please read the following article that I wrote for b/ITe, the IT Division bulletin Spring 2010 issue, for the topics that we may chat about during the dinner.  Of course any other topics related to the Web is game. 

SuHui Ho

Webmaster Section Chair

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The Web as an Agent of Transformative Change to Library Services

Nothing is more transformative to the society at large and to the library in particular, than the Web.  Library websites have been around for about 15 years.  To many users this is their first and primary contact with the library, where they access library materials and interact with the knowledge of librarians.  Today's library website is very different from the traditional library website, which primarily informs users of services in the physical library.  Today's library website delivers library services and collection digitally, over the Web.  It builds community on the Web using tools such as Twitter and Facebook, just like we build community in the physical space.  David Lee King coins the concept of a “digital branch,” a library delivered digitally over the Web, which has "real staff, a real building, a real collection, and a real community."   A physical library needs management and upkeep.  Likewise, a web library needs management and maintenance, which includes, but is not limited to web content life cycle management (strategizing, creating, reviewing, updating, deleting, archiving, etc.), web statistics, Google ranking, investigation and implementation of new Web technologies.  Whether we call it a digital branch or a Web library is not significant.  What is important is that the website is our new busiest service point.  We will need to commit staff to explore, develop, manage, and maintain this new space.  The Web is a fast-growing medium, with new “apps” and new methods emerging constantly.  We should always explore and evaluate new technologies such as Web 2.0 tools, but managing a Web library is much more than experimenting with emerging technologies.   On the other hand, digital services/Web services is different from digitization.   Digital library and digitization emphasize on digital preservation of materials, while digital/Web services is library public services and collection delivered digitally, over the Web.  They require different staffing and different sets of skills.  The latter requires participation of not only Web staff but also most if not all public services librarians.   It also requires the establishment of a Web strategy that is in alignment with the library and the institution’s mission.

I hope the Webmaster Section will facilitate discussion of this transformative change, and become a forum to share ideas on how to develop and manage this new Web library.  Over the next few months, I will investigate on the best channels for us to communicate.  If there is interest, I will arrange for a “no host” dinner at SLA Annual in New Orleans for us to touch base.  Watch out for announcements.  As always, drop me a note at [email protected] if you have suggestions or would like to participate in the discussion.