Internet Librarian 2007 Conference

Internet Librarian 2007 Conference Report
by SuHui Ho, SLA-SD Chapter Treasurer

“2.0: Info Pros, Library Communities & Web Tools” were the themes of the Internet Librarian 2007 Conference.  Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 were the buzz words in this conference with eleven tracks devoted to the various aspects of the web and web 2.0 issues.  The tracks were:

1. Information discovery & search. 
2. Web design and development. 
3. Strategies & best practices.   
4. Learning: more than teaching. 
5. Enterprise trends. 
6. 2.0 organizations & roles. 
7. Virtual worlds & libraries. 
8. Search engines. 
9. Content management. 
10. Digital libraries, systems, operations. 
11. Games, videos & libraries.   

The Internet Librarian 2007 Conference has evolved from a “geek” conference attended mostly by webmasters and IT personnel to a conference attended by a wide audience including public services librarians and administrators interested in delivering library services to the web, a core space of the library.  One trend that is evident in the conference is libraries nationwide are embracing the web as a core service space.  The focus has been shifted from merely delivering resources on the web to providing services on the web.  Libraries are experimenting with various web 2.0 tools to market the library, promote resources, interact with users, and create communities right on the web space.  Libraries should actively seek out “best practices” in using web 2.0 tools in public services and participate in developing a new service model in this web space. 

Another point I took from the conference is that libraries need to develop new ways to measure our success.  As Joe Janes, the keynote speaker of the conference noted, libraries are more successful than ever. However libraries’ budgets have not increased because libraries have not systematically gathered web statistics even though the number has doubled.  It is beneficial for libraries to develop strategies to gather various web statistics, from web pages, OPACs, e-journal usage, and other electronic collections.