Short article note: On Web 2.0 tools for library instruction

Citation for the article:

Deitering, Anne-Marie, et.al., "Library Instruction 2.0." Public Services Quarterly 5.2 (April 2009): 114-124.

Read via Interlibrary Loan.



This piece is mostly a list of some Web 2.0 tools with some suggestions and tips on how they can be used for library instruction. If you are a pretty savvy librarian who knows how to use the major 2.0 tools, you can probably safely skim the article. There are some basic tips that can be useful, which include:

• Using Delicious (http://delicious.com) and tagging to highlight issues with the concept of tagging versus a controlled vocabulary. (116).
• Using Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader) to organize and track information. I use Google Reader quite a bit for my current awareness needs.
  
• Using Creative Commons, both for finding content that may be used freely and for your own material. My blogs are licensed with Creative Commons, by the way. 

There are a couple other items included. This article is one to keep handy when you need some ideas to enhance or supplement your library instruction. The only catch is that it came out in 2009, which means most of it was likely written up in 2008 or earlier, and the Web has changed a bit since then. Some of these tools are pretty much common, and there are many other new ones. On the other hand, I do get a good amount of students (and some faculty) who have no idea what a feed reader is. However, the tools listed here seem to have stood the test of time (if we can understand that time moves quite swiftly in the Web). I am keeping the article in my files for future reference, plus it would be interesting to consider what other tools librarians would add to this list by now.