A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Virtual Space for All: The Opportunities and Challenges Provided by the Social Web Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath, UK UKOLN is supported by: This work is licensed under a Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) Acceptable Use Policy Recording of this talk, taking photos, discussing the content using , instant messaging, blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. Acceptable Use Policy Recording of this talk, taking photos, discussing the content using , instant messaging, blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. Resources bookmarked using ‘ cilip-wales-2009 ' tag Twitter: Blog:

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 2 About Me Brian Kelly: National Web adviser to UK Universities and cultural heritage organisations Based at UKOLN, a national centre of expertise in digital information management and located at the University of Bath Involved in Web since January 1993 Information World Review’s Information Professional of the Year (2007-8) Over 300 presentations given since 1997 Current area of interest include Web 2.0, Web standards and Web accessibility Introduction

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 3 Talks given in 2008 covered Web 2.0, accessibility & standards. Using Tools I Talk About Use of Web 2.0 technologies & approaches: RSS feeds for structured information Geo-location data Exploitation of 3 rd party services Openness of resources Risk assessment / management approaches Introduction Note also use of blogs, video blogs, YouTube, Twitter, …

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 4 Virtual Spaces? Images from Google Image search

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 5 Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly, 2005 Characteristics Of Web 2.0 Network as platform Always beta Clean URIs Remix and mash-ups  Syndication (RSS) Architecture of participation  Blogs & Wikis  Social networking  Social tagging (folksonomies) Trust and openness Characteristics Of Web 2.0 Network as platform Always beta Clean URIs Remix and mash-ups  Syndication (RSS) Architecture of participation  Blogs & Wikis  Social networking  Social tagging (folksonomies) Trust and openness Web 2.0 What Is Web 2.0? Marketing term (derived from observing 'patterns') rather than technical standards - “an attitude not a technology” Web 2.0

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 6 Benefits of Library 2.0 Delivery Mechanisms (“network as platform”): Global outreach: maximise impact of and engagement with ideas Outsourced services: allowing organisations to focus on their strengths and small institutions to engage on more equal terms Exploits infrastructure: the standards (e,g. RSS) & services (Google, Amazon,..) now in place User Benefits: User can create content Can comment on other’s content Users no longer passive consumers of content

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 7 Academic Library Example University of Wolverhampton provide 5 blogs to support academic departments An Electronic Resources Newsletter is driven by blog software. The information is available via: RSS

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 8 Academic Library Example A Facebook page provides: Brief factual information Links to key resources on main Web site Dynamic content embedded via RSS Calendar information embedded via Google calendar Ability for users to become ‘fans’

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 9 National Library Example (1) National Library of Wales “Shaping the future: The Library’s strategy to ”: “We propose taking advantage of new online technology, including … Web 2.0 services … It is expected that the Library itself will provide only some specific services on its website. Instead, the intention is to promote and facilitate the use of the collections by external users, in accordance with specific guidelines.” Example of use of Web 2.0 services embedded within a Welsh Assembly Government funded project

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 10 National Library Example (2) Use of Web 2.0 at the National Library of Wales including: Use of YouTube Examples from guest blog post by Paul Bevan on UK Web Focus blog / Bridging Worlds 2008 paper, National Library of Singapore

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 11 National Library Example (3) Use of Web 2.0 at the National Library of Wales including: Use of YouTube Use of Flickr

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 12 National Library Example (4) Use of Web 2.0 at the National Library of Wales. Wales, including: Use of YouTube Use of Flickr Use of a community Wiki

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 13 CyMAL (Newport) workshop Sep 2009 Concerns identified in discussion group sessions at various UKOLN 1-day workshops for the cultural heritage sector CyMAL (Bangor) workshop Sep 2009 Recognising The Barriers

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 14 The Challenges Challenges Resources Expertise Time Money Understanding Legal Issues IT Services Colleagues Management Accessibility Sustainability Reliability Cultural issues Technical Issues Interoperability Privacy, DPA, FOI,.. Council OK, there are barriers. Does this mean we don’t do anything?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 15 Take-up Of New Technologies The Gartner curve Developers Rising expectations Trough of despair Service plateau Enterprise software Large budgets … Early adopters Chasm Failure to go beyond developers & early adopters (cf Gopher) Need for: Advocacy Listening to users Addressing concerns Deployment strategies … This talk looks at approaches for avoiding the chasm & reshaping the curve

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 16 The Backlash Is Predictable When significant new things appear: Enthusiasts / early adopters predict a transformation of society Sceptics outline the limitations & deficiencies There’s a need to: Promote the benefits to the wider community (esp. those willing to try if convinced of benefits) Be realistic and recognise limitations Address inappropriate criticisms Web 2.0: It’s a silly name. It’s just a marketing term. There are lots of poor Web 2.0 services. There wasn’t a Web 1.0. What follows it? It does have a marketing aspect – and that’s OK. It isn’t formally defined – it describes a pattern of related usage. There will be poor (and good) Web 2.0 services – just like anything else. Any usage will arrive at a follow-up term. Web 2.0: It’s a silly name. It’s just a marketing term. There are lots of poor Web 2.0 services. There wasn’t a Web 1.0. What follows it? It does have a marketing aspect – and that’s OK. It isn’t formally defined – it describes a pattern of related usage. There will be poor (and good) Web 2.0 services – just like anything else. Any usage will arrive at a follow-up term. Twitter? Another silly name. Trivial junk. Only for people with nothing better evolves to We must have a Twitter feed – impact; marketing; audiences; … and then (from the early adopters) It was meant to be fun. It’s been institutionalised, We want it back! Twitter? Another silly name. Trivial junk. Only for people with nothing better evolves to We must have a Twitter feed – impact; marketing; audiences; … and then (from the early adopters) It was meant to be fun. It’s been institutionalised, We want it back!

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 17 Beware The IT Fundamentalists We need to avoid simplistic solutions to the complexities: Open Standards Fundamentalist: we just need XML Open Source Fundamentalist: we just need Linux Ownership Fundamentalist: must own everything we use Vendor Fundamentalist: we must use next version of our enterprise system (and you must fit in with this) Accessibility Fundamentalist: we must do WAI WCAG User Fundamentalist: must do whatever users want Legal Fundamentalist: it breaches copyright, … Perfectionist: It doesn't do everything, so we'll do nothing Simplistic Developer: I've developed a perfect solution – I don't care if it doesn't run in the real world Web 2.0: It’s new; its cool! Organisational culture

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 18 The Librarian Fundamentalists Librarians who have failed to evolve: Think they know better than the user e.g. they don't like people using Google Scholar; they should use Web of Knowledge (who cares that users find it easier to use Google Scholar & finds references they need that way?) Think that users should be forced to learn Boolean searching & other formal search techniques because this is good for them (despite Sheffield's study). Don't want the users to search for themselves (cf folksonomies) because they won't get it right. They still want to classify the entire Web - despite the fact that users don't use their lists of Web links. Want services to be perfect before they release them to users. They are uneasy with the concept of 'forever beta' (they don't believe that users have the ability to figure things out themselves and work around the bugs). Organisational culture

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 19 Librarian Raptor: Terrifying beast, rapidly destroying many of its competitors. However destruction of IT Servitus proved its own undoing. Species in grave danger of becoming extinct following an inability to respond to the rapidly changing climate. From ‘Librarian Coelacanth’ to ‘Librarian Sapiens’ Librarian Coelancanth: Rarely spotted in the wild (sometimes found in the depths of the library). “almost worthless” - species that failed to take risks & evolve. Librarian Sapiens: Not as intimidating as its predecessor but has the agility & mental capacity to respond quickly to changing environment How should the CILIP 2.0 profession evolve?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 20 Let’s Be Realistic (1) Ning allows you to set up and manage your own social network. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Over-hyping expectations But: Will it have the momentum to support thriving discussion? Might it not just be an automated aggregator of content

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 21 Let’s Be Realistic (2) Over-hyping expectations A lack of interest, sustainability can apply to the in-house blogs, too! There might also be issues on whether public sector/small organisations : Should seek to provide services which are provided for free elsewhere Can provide the functionality of globally-provided service Can attract the audiences of global service (if that is the aim)

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 22 The Council Firewall The reality: Useful Web services do get blocked There is dodgy/illegal/ dangerous material on the Web It may be simple to have a blanket ban Suggested approaches: We accept certain risks More sophisticated responses are needed (cf Childnet and Digizen ) We should share the approaches we’ve taken New Internet access policy for children From December 2008, children will be able to enjoy improved Internet access in all Portsmouth Libraries. The current “Walled Garden” arrangement will be discontinued. The Internet access offered will be similar to that provided in Portsmouth schools but we will also be allowing access to games, Web chat and social networking sites. For further information, please contact Patricia Garrett on … Should librarians (a) welcome bans to dodgy places or (b) seek to open access and educate users? Organisational barriers

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 23 Some Concerns Sustainability What happens if Library 2.0 services: Are unreliable? Change their terms & conditions (e.g. start charging)? Become bankrupt Interoperability What happens if Library 2.0 services: You can’t get the data back out? You only get the unstructured or poor quality data back out? You can’t get the comments, annotations, tags out? Sustainability / Interoperability Again, this can happen within our sector (e.g. AHDS)

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 24 Support Issues I don’t have the time to: Understand it all Use the technologies Embed technologies in daily working practices Train my colleagues Common Craft video clips You can: View them at work Listen to the podcast on the Tube Use them in training Training & staff development

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 25 Deployment Strategies I want to do use the Social Web but: The IT Services department bans it The council bans it My boss doesn’t approve Area of interest to UKOLN: “Just do it” Subversive approach – ‘Friends of Foo’ if Foo can’t use it Encourage enthusiasts Don’t get in the way UKOLN briefing papers available with Creative Commons licence. (over 40 docs published) Training & staff development

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 26 Deployment Strategies Interested in using Web 2.0 in your organisation? Worried about corporate inertia, power struggles, etc? There’s a need for a deployment strategy: Addressing business needs Low-hanging fruits Encouraging the enthusiasts (don’t get in the way) Gain experience of the browser tools – and see what you’re missing! Staff training & development Address areas you feel comfortable with Impact analysis and assessment Risk and opportunity management strategy …

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 27 Risk Management JISC infoNet Risk Management infoKit: “In education, as in any other environment, you can’t decide not to take risks: that simply isn’t an option in today’s world. All of us take risks and it’s a question of which risks we take” Examples of people who are likely to be adverse stakeholders: People who fear loss of their jobs People who will require re-training People who may be moved to a different department / team People.. required to commit resources to the project People who fear loss of control over a function or resources People who will have to do their job in a different way People who will have to carry out new or additional functions People who will have to use a new technology

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 28 Critical Friends / Friendly Critics JISC U&I programme is encouraging establishment of “Critical Friends” See Paul Walk (UKOLN) was described as a ‘critical friend’ of JISC See Phil Bradley’s post provided a similar role – and CILIP responded accordingly

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 29 Biases Subjective factors Towards a Framework “Time To Stop Doing and Start Thinking: A Framework For Exploiting Web 2.0 Services”, Museums & the Web 2009 conference Intended Purpose Benefits (various stakeholders Risks (various stakeholders Missed Opps. (various stakeholders Costs (various stakeholders Sharing experiences Learning from successes & failures Tackling biases … Critical friends Application to existing services Application to in-house development … See blog post on Critical Friends, Friendly Critics (and Hostile Opponents!)

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 30 Using The Framework Intended Purpose Benefits (various stakeholders Risks (various stakeholders Missed Opps. (various stakeholders Costs (various stakeholders Community support Rapid feedback Justify ROI Org. brand Community- building Low? Twitter for individuals Organisational Fb Page Marketing events,… Large audiences Ownership, privacy, lock-in Marketing opportunity Low? Critical Friends Phil Bradley / Brian Kelly blogs list discussions Learning Many blogs (e.g. Jo Alcock) Engaging with a Twitter community Conferences Papers … Note personal biases! Use of approach in two scenarios: CILIP use of Twitter & Facebook

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 31 What About Jo The Librarian? Let’s not forget the librarian of the future. What can we learn from what is already happening? Let’s not forget the librarian of the future. What can we learn from what is already happening? Has a blog, shares ideas, engages in discussions Shares bookmarks Communicates, shares, supports, … on Twitter

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 32 The future is exciting - but Librarian Sapiens will need to address the challenges. Let the debate begin! Conclusions Acknowledgments to Michael Edson for the Web Tech Guy and Angry Staff Person post / comic strip