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Beyond Web 2.0:
Taking the social read-write Web to
the enterprise level
June 13, 2008
Marshall Breeding
Director for Innovative Technology and Research,
Vanderbilt University Library
Institution Description
Over the last few years, many libraries have eagerly embraced Web
2.0 technologies - blogs, wikis, podcasts - and social engagement
with patrons have become commonplace. This approach to the
web strategies can no longer be considered new and cuttingedge. Changes on the web move along at a fast pace. It’s time
to consider what comes next. Breeding will give his view of how
libraries can take Web 2.0 technologies to the next level and
integrate them into their core automation infrastructure to better
support their strategic missions. To date Web 2.0 technologies in
libraries have been implemented mostly through informal
processes. As these Web 2.0-inspired technologies mature, they
need to become more central to a library’s strategic mission and
become integrated into its fundamental infrastructure. Tune in for
Marshall Breeding’s view of life beyond Web 2.0.
Beyond Web 2.0
• Web 2.0 has been a constant theme at library
conferences since about 2005
• Many are beginning to think and talk about
what’s next
• My view is based on the broader perspective of
the technologies used in support of library
strategies
• Constant evolution rather than distinct levels
– “1.0”, “2.0”, “3.0” helpful as metaphors as we consider
tech evolution
Marshall’s earlier essays
• Web 2.0? Let's get to Web 1.0 first
– (Computers in Libraries May 2006)
http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=12053
We Need to Go Beyond Web 2.0
– (Computers in Libraries May 2007)
http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=12574
The current state of the Library
Web
• Most libraries offer static Web sites
with minimal Web 2.0 features
• Increasing proliferation of Web 2.0
features
• Time to start thinking about what
comes next
1.0
The Static Web
(pre Web 2.0)
Web 1.0
• Static Content
• One way communication
• Information silos
• Linking sure, but not necessarily
organically interconnected
Library OPAC 1.0
• Feature rich, but complex
• Advanced Boolean Search
• Textual displays
• Results in alphabetical or catalog key
order
• Slow, cumbersome
• Focused on the physical inventory
The best Library OPAC?
Web OPAC
Library infrastructure 1.0
• Integrated Library System
• OPAC
• Access to individual content items or
aggregated products
• A-Z lists
2.0
The Dynamic and Social Web
Web 2.0
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Coined by O’Rielly Media in 2004
Web + Social Computing
Dynamic Content
Highly interactive
Collaborative
Focus on the user
Focus on communities
Content mash-ups
Used as a marketing tool
Web 2.0 examples
• RSS delivery of content
• Blogs – Web logs + comments
• Wikis – content created in
community
• Social networking destinations
• Social bookmarking & tagging
Web 2.0 supporting
technologies
• Web services
• XML APIs
• AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and
XML)
• OpenSearch vs SRU/SRW
Web 2.0 media
• Rich media – beyond text
• Music and audio
– Well experienced: File swapping, p2p, iPod,
MP3
• Video
– Recreational and academic: youtube.com,
myspace.com/video, yahoo! Video, bittorrent
• Opportunities to remix. Usually
recreational, but explore ways to tap this
interest with an academic slant.
The sprit of Web 2.0
• YouTube
• Facebook
• MySpace
• Flickr
Library 2.0
• First mentioned by Michael Casey
(LibraryCrunch blog)
• Web 2.0 + Library = Library 2.0
• Apply Web 2.0 concepts to library
applications
Examples
• Library Blogs
• Content delivery through RSS
– New book lists – query results – news/events –
alert services
• Wikis
– Intranets for staff documentation
– Collaborative resources for library users
• Enriched library catalogs
• User participation in library resources
– User tagging in catalog – Reviews – ratings
Library OPAC 2.0
• Satisfying to the Web-savvy user
• Faceted browsing – drill-down model of
search
• Graphical displays – cover art images
• Enriched content – TOC, summaries
• User tagging, ratings, reviews
• Federated search as an integrated service
The Competition
Better?
Better?
Working toward next generation
library interfaces
• Redefinition of the library catalog
• More comprehensive information
discovery environments
• Better information delivery tools
• More powerful search capabilities
• More elegant presentation
Evolution
• The Web has been evolving since its very
beginning
• Web 2.0 didn’t happen all at once
• Many of the concepts behind Web 2.0
trace back to its inception
• Eg: Amazon embraced user participation,
open API’s, etc long before Web 2.0 brand.
• Evolution and maturation of Web
technologies continues
Web 2.0 benefits
• A more social and collaborative
approach
• Web Tools and technology that foster
collaboration
• Libraries energized to better engage
users
• Easy to get started – low threshold
of entry
3.0
Taking “2.0” to the next step
Caveats
• Not a plateau
• Evolution continues
• Web 2.0 can create isolated silos of
information
• Must evolve into an organized fabric of
interrelated Web services.
Concerns with Web 2.0 / Library
2.0
• Lack of social engagement
– Stale and under-populated content
– Many false starts -- many dead blogs and wikis still lying around
• Critical mass – it takes a certain amount of interest and
activity before social software begins to flourish
• Non-integrated
– Blogs, Wikis, Web sites lack a common information
infrastructure or architecture
• Takes users to dead ends
• No convenient way for users to navigate among and
between library-provided resources
• Takes users away from core content and service
components
What is Web 3.0?
• Web 2.0 + artificial intelligence
• Semantic Web
• Web 2.0 + enterprise computing
What is Library 3.0?
• Takes Library 2.0 concepts and brings
them into the strategic infrastructure of
the library and / or its parent organization
• Library 2.0 components integrated into
the library’s core infrastructure
• Refitting of legacy library automation
components to embrace social and
collaborative computing to mitigate the
need for external add-ons
Library OPAC 3.0
• Comprehensive search environment:
– Digital on equal footing with print
– Federated search as an integrated service: access to full-text
of subscribed content
• Beyond MARC metadata: Dublin Core XML, Onix, etc: fulltext searching
• Searching “inside the book”
• Deep search across all content
• Fully integrated with other community and campus
resources
• ILS fully integrated with other information and business
systems
Library infrastructure 2.0
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Integrated Library System
OpenURL Link Resolver
Federated Search utility
Electronic Resource Management System
Discovery-layer interface
– Relevancy – faceted navigation – enriched
displays
Legacy ILS + e-content
modules + Web 2.0
End User
Interfaces:
Circulation
Acquisitions
Functional
Federated
modules:
Search
Cataloging
Data Stores:
Staff Interfaces:
Serials
OpenURL
Linking
Web Intra
Site Net
Blog
Wiki
Library infrastructure 3.0
• Less disjointed approach
• Service oriented architecture
• Organization of functionality not constrained by
modules
• Opportunity to build composite applications out of
reusable business services geared to the needs of
staff or public users
• Redraw boundaries of functionality based on
current workflows
Service Oriented Architecture
http://www.sun.com/products/soa/benefits.jsp
SOA model for business
automation
• Underlying data repositories
– Local or Global
• Reusable business services
• Composite business applications
SOA for library workflow
processes
Composite
Applications
Granular
tasks:
Data Stores:
Reusable
Business
Services
Make Social computing strategic
• blogs, wikis, and social computing must
lead to a more mature technical
framework that will better position
libraries in an ever-more-competitive
information landscape.
• The challenges presented by non-library
information products and services remain
formidable.
Characteristics of Library 3.0
• Avoid silos, richly interconnected fabric of
content and services
• Granular tasks and requests each defined
as services
• Integrated identity management
• Personalized services pervade each aspect
of the user’s experience
• Deep connections to global enterprise.
Technologies
• Enterprise-level infrastructure
• Increased use of XML-based technologies
• Increased semantic meaning expressed within library
infrastructure
• Library infrastructure based on Service-oriented
Architecture
• Social orientation built into the core infrastructure
• Not a monolithic approach. The enterprise isn’t built out of
a single piece of software, but out of a fabric of interwoven
services.
Moving toward a unified user
experience
• Think about how users will interact with the social
parts of your web site while keeping them within
core services
• Can visitors to your site easily find content across
all your site components:
– OPAC – subscribed electronic content – digital collections
– subject guides – Web site pages – blogs – wikis – etc.
• Do the Web 2.0 applications interoperate with the
rest of the site?
– Persistent sign-on – groups / communities
An enriched strategic
infrastructure
• Continue to expand the use of
participatory, social, and collaborative
software
• But follow a more integrated approach
• Blogs initially implemented informally and
separate from the core library
infrastructure
• Find ways to make them part of an
organic site
Web 2.0 Apps as Content
Creation
• The content of social computing components needs to be
part of content managed by the library
• Library blogs often contain important information
• Content containers that need to be integrated
• Content increasingly created through tools such as blogs
and wikis and less on traditional stand-alone Web pages
• The more that libraries use Web 2.0 applications for
mission-related content, the more it’s important to
integrate its data at the enterprise level
• Digital preservation issues prevail
Build a comprehensive
information architecture
• Information infrastructure that includes all content
• Part of the comprehensive search environment through a
higher level search engine
• Eventual development of a library automation environment
with integrated tools that deliver the functionality currently
found in separate Web 2.0 applications.
• Beyond the concept of an OPAC or Discovery Layer
Interface as a delivery device for library content toward the
library interface as part of a a collaborative learning
environment.
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Use Web 2.0 applications to
advance the position of the
library
Takes users on a tangent away from the library web site?
How to lead them back?
Take any opportunity to drive users into the library Web
presence.
Not: look how many hits I get on my blog
But rather: look at the increase of activity on the library’s
Web presence since we launched our blogs
RSS isn’t just for pushing out data, it’s also for drawing in
users
RSS entries should be designed with appropriate back-links
to bring users into your site.
Getting there
• For libraries that have already thoroughly embraced Web
2.0 technologies, getting to the next step might involve
only incremental effort
• Others may want to redesign or rework their Web presence
to better incorporate Web 2.0 components into a more
unified structure
• Ongoing development of library technologies that embrace
a more comprehensive and unified approach
• Continuous effort towards more seamless experience for
library users that provides comprehensive access to library
content and services
Questions and Discussion