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Web 2.0: What Can It Offer
The Research Community?
(or let’s stop talking and start doing!)
Brian Kelly
UKOLN
University of Bath
Bath
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(but note caveat) www.ukoln.ac.uk
About Me
Brian Kelly:
• UK Web Focus: a Web advisory post based at
UKOLN
• Funded by JISC and MLA to advise HE/FE and
cultural heritage sectors
• Web enthusiast since Jan 1993 (helped set up 1st
institutional Web server in UK HE)
• Published many papers & given many
presentations on variety of Web issues
UKOLN:
• National centre of expertise in digital information
management
• Located at the University of Bath
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Contents
Web 2.0 – What Is It? (Talking …)
• Blogs
 Wikis
• RSS
 Mashups
• Microformats
 Comms tools
• Social bookmarking  …
Deployment Strategies (… doing)
• User focus
• Information literacy; staff development
• Risk assessment
• Safe experimentation
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Web 2.0
What Is Web 2.0?
Marketing term (derived from observing 'patterns') rather
than technical standards - “an attitude not a technology”
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)
Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly,
• Trust and openness
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2005
Web 2.0
Key Characteristics
Blogs
Openness
Syndication
Collaboration
Need for information
professionals to:
• Understand blogging
& related technologies
(e.g. RSS, Technorati)
• Be able to find
resources in the
'Blogosphere'
• Explore how to blogs
to support business
functions (support
users, staff &
How could blogs be used: reflections by the
organisation)
researchers; education for the general public;
http://typolis.net/science/tags/space
http://www.engineeringbritain.com/space/
archives/66-Shooting-for-the-Moon.html
publicity A&centre
PR of
(corporate
blogs);
… management
expertise in digital
information
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Blogs - Reading
http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs
BlogBridge
a desktop blog
reader.
You
are
Bloglines – –
a Web-based
Blog
reader.
You
are
informed
informed of
of changes
changes since
since you
you last
last viewed
viewed the
the
page.
page.
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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Openness
Syndication
Collaboration
How do you keep
informed of
developments?
• Do you use a
dedicated blog
reader?
• Are you alerted of
changes to key
blogs?
• Do you focus on
the content, and
avoid the
distractions of
ads, etc.
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Blogs – Engaging With Users
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/
2007/01/25/experiments-with-meebo/
The ukwebfocus.wordpress.
com blog provides:
• Comments option for all
postings
• A realtime chat facility
Benefits:
• Feedback on my thoughts
and ideas
• Evaluation
•…
Blogs aren’t just one-way publishing, but an implementation of
Tim Berners-Lee’s
of a collaborative
Web
A centre of expertisevision
in digital information
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Blogs – Engaging With Users
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2007/02/27/
web-20-what-can-it-offer-the-research-community/
What can Web 2.0 offer the
research community?
Why don’t I ask the
community!
Useful responses on:
• Social software &
distributed scientific
evaluation,
Postgenomic,
Connotea/box.net
mashup,
myexperiment.org,
PLoS, …
A centre of expertise in digital information managementYes,
8
this is very www.ukoln.ac.uk
post-modern!
Web 2.0
What Are They Saying About Us?
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/
Blogs are very
interconnected with each
other (bloggers discuss
other’s blog postings).
This can help to provide
feedback; measure
impact; engage in
discussions; etc.
You can also monitor what
they are saying about your
Web site.
Find out what bloggers have been saying about your blog or
your Web site – possibly minutes after they’ve said it. You can
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Web 2.0
Finding Resources
http://www.technorati.com/ …
http://www.technorati.com/search/jisc
RSS
Syndication
Technorati can help find Blog
articles, RSS feeds, etc.
Technorati search for “PPARC"
finds:
Blog posting about PPARC
posted 1 day ago (have found 10
minute old postings!)
• 0 postings from PPARC
(nothing interesting to say?)
A search for “JISC” finds a
posting from 1 hour ago
Note you can receive RSS
alerts of new search results
What do users want: the home page and what people are saying
today. Google & Technorati are valuable tools, so organisations
should ensure
their
Web
site can
be found in both. www.ukoln.ac.uk
A centre ofthat
expertise
in digital
information
management
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Web 2.0
Wikis
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/community/index/
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/community/index/
http://www.writely.com/
IWMW2006_Information_About_Social_Aspects
IWMW2006_Discussion_Group_Notes_for_Group_A
Openness
Syndication
Collaboration
Wikis – collaborative
Web-based authoring
tools
I use Wikis for:
• Collaborative
papers (avoiding
emailed MS Word
file around)
• Note-taking
at events
• Social discussions at
events
Writely – Web-based
Remember
when notesword
wereprocessor
trapped inorthe non-interoperable
Wiki?
Does
it inmatter,
it does
theneed
job no longer be
world
flip charts
&information
paper.
This
the case.
A centreof
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expertise
digital
management
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Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPARC
Wikipedia –a communitydeveloped encyclopedia
(but is your core mission
to produce a magazine!)
… and also a well-linked
Web site, which boosts
Google rankings
(Wikipedia link in top 10
Google search for
“PPARC”)
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Openness
Network effect
Syndication
Collaboration
Sharing - Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/search/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/
?w=all&q=iwmw2006&m=text
iwmw2006/interesting/?page=6
Web 2.0 includes
community-building
You can help support
your community-building
by making it easy to
share photos at events
(e.g. this seminar)
Simply suggest a tag e.g.
‘pparc-2007-03-07’
and encourage delegates
to upload their photos
with this tag
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Sharing – del.icio.us
http://del.icio.us/lisbk/pparc-2007-03
Openness
Network effect
Syndication
Collaboration
Another aspect of sharing is
sharing bookmarks
This can be used to:
• Manage your bookmarks
• Allow others to
contribute resources
• Allow lists of bookmarks
to be repurposed
• Carry out impact
analysis
Note how the bookmarks can be
embedded (‘mashed-up’) elsewhere
Who else has bookmarked this resources? What are their interests?
(IA centre
may have
similar
interests)
Howmanagement
many have bookmarked my
resource?
of expertise
in digital
information
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Web 2.0
Tags
Collaboration
Microformats
http://www.worldcupkickoff.com/england/
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/
Add
workshops/webmaster-2006/sessions/kelly
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simple semantics
using <span>, <div>,
etc. classes:
Pages on IWMW 2006
Web site have
microformats
Plugins such as Tails
display contact and
event details & allow
them to be uploaded
to Outlook, Google
Calendar, etc
World Cup Web site also has microformats. This
avoids the cumbersome downloading dates, entering
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
calendar,
selecting import, finding file, …
Web 2.0
Web As A Platform
http://upcoming.org/event/69469/
Network
Users
Tags
Collaboration
Upcoming.org can
deliver traffic to your
Web site, who may
then book for the event
They provide
• Event details
• Microformats
(event, location)
• Exporting
functionality
• Community
space
Other people can take my data and use it to provide my event.
They also
provide
additional
functionality
for me 
A centre
of expertise
in digital information
management
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Web 2.0
Creative Commons
Openness
Tags
Collaboration
Hasn’t Upcoming.com
contributor infringed
my copyright (even
though it’s to my
benefit?)
• Creative Commons
licence assigned to
publicity details
• Also described in
microformat to allow
Note that the openness is a key aspect software to find
of Web 2.0: open source; open
licence
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/
workshops/webmaster-2006/publicity/
standards and open content can all help
to bring benefits through maximising
usage
services
A centre of
of expertise
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Google Maps Mashups
http://northumbria.ac.uk/browse/radius5/
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/
workshops/webmaster-2006/maps/
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Openness
Mashup
APIs
Google Map ‘mashup’
used for IWMW 2006
event:
• ~ 20 lines of
JavaScript.
• Code taken from
Google Maps Web
site and
coordinates added
More sophisticated
mapping applications
are being developed,
such as Radius 5 at
Northumbria
Univ.
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Location Metadata (1)
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/
events/meetings/pparc-2007-02-07/
Openness
Mashup
Open source
APIs
Embedded location metadata
can now by exploited by 3rd
party tools
Why don't all our
organisation provide
location data in this way?
Note issues about quality of
data & responsibilities for
providing the data (e.g. is
this the right address?)
How? Install Greasemap script & add:
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<meta name="geo.position" content="51.569014,-1.774464" />
A centre of expertise in digitalcontent=“PPARC,
information management
<meta name="geo.placename"
Swindon" /
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Location Metadata (2)
http://geourl.org/near?p=http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
web-focus/events/meetings/pparc-2007-02-07/
Openness
Sharing
Open standards
Always beta
Location metadata can be
used by a variety of
applications
Here registered pages which
are near each other are
displayed.
• What, no PPARC
buildings?
• What, no info on local
pubs & restaurants?
Note that the software described is not the important feature – it's the data
and the use of open standards that's important. New software and
servicesAwill
come
and in
godigital
(remember
'always beta')
centre
of expertise
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Web 2.0
Communications
http://www.gabbly.com/
Communications
Clean URIs
Realtime discussion is a key part of
the Web 2.0 & the .net generation
(IM, SMS messaging, …)
How much effort does it take to
provide an instant messaging
service for your organisation?
Try Gabbly.com
Note:
• Most effective with ‘clean URIs’
• Data an be exported using RSS
• User support? What user
support?
Note Gabbly can’t be used on PPARC Web site due to
JavaScript
ininPPARC
pages.
Is this a wise decision?
A centre of expertise
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Deployment Challenges
Web 2.0 Backlash
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 A
anything
else. Any usage will arrive at a follow-up term.
centre of expertise in digital information management
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Takeup Of New Technologies
The Gartner curve
Rising expectations
Service plateau
Enterprise
software
Large
budgets
…
Chasm
Failure to go beyond developers
& early adopters (cf Gopher)
Trough
Need for:
of despair
• Advocacy
• Listening to users
Developers
• Addressing concerns
• Deployment strategies Let’s now look at approaches
Early
• …
for avoiding thewww.ukoln.ac.uk
chasm
adopters
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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IT Services Barrier
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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
• 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, …
• Ownership Fundamentalist: must own everything we
use
• 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!
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information
management
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Library Barrier
The Librarian Fundamentalists
Librarians:
• 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).
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Deployment Challenges
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
• Gain experience of the browser tools – and see
what you’re missing!
• Staff training & development
• Address areas you feel comfortable with
• Risk management strategy
• …
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Deployment Challenges
Staff Development
http://podcasts.alablog.org/blog/
_archives/2006/4/12/1881517.html
There's a need for your staff to:
• Understand what Web 2.0 is
about
• Learn how to make use of
Web 2.0
subject to constraints of lack of
time; resources; etc.
The Library 2.0 Podcasts
Web sites provides a useful
resources for learning about
new tools, techniques, etc.
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Syndication
Your content could be here
(but only if you have a feed!)
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/rss/
Produce an RSS/Atom feed
for key content!
Why?
• Syndicate content to
partners, etc
• Allow users to embed in
their tools, blogs, etc.
• Use of RSS as neutral
format for various
purposes (tag clouds,
generation of PDFs, etc.)
Have feeds for your news,
publications, vacancies, funding
opportunities, staff lists, …
RSS can be produced for legacy
(cleanish) HTML pages using tools
A centre of expertise in digital information management
such as RSSxl
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Deployment Strategy
IWMW 2006 & Risk Management
IWMW 2006 has taken a risk management approach to
its evaluation of Web 2.0 technologies:
• Agreements: e.g. in the case of the Chatbot.
• Use of well-established services: Google &
del.icio.us are well-established and have financial
security.
• Notification: warnings that services could be lost.
• Engagement: with the user community: users actively
engage in the evaluation of the services.
• Provision of alternative services: multiple OMPL tools.
• Use in non-mission critical areas: not for bookings!
• Long term experiences of services: usage stats
• Availability of alternative sources of data: e.g.
standard Web server log files.
• Data export and aggregation: RSS feeds, aggregated
in Suprglu, OPML viewers, etc.
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Tools For Your Staff
A simple approach for
PPARC staff: provide Firefox
to give a rich client
environment:
• RSS Panel: immediate
display and access to
RSS feeds on pages
• Blogger Web Comments:
immediate access to blog
comments on pages
• Various bookmarklets:
such as Webmaster tools
• Various sidebars: such
as the Meebo chat tool
These FireFox extensions are available for
free (although there are costs in enterprise
A centre of expertise in digital information management
deployment – see post on 01 Mar 2007 )
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0 & Science
http://www.connotea.org/tag/
http://moon.google.com/
Gravitational%20lenses
Examples have been given of
how Web 2.0 can be used in
PPARC today
Web 2.0 can also be used by
your community e.g.:
• Mashups of scientific data
& popular services
(Google, Connotea, …)
Web 2.0 approaches can be
used by your developers:
• Open APIs, cool URIs,
open data, …
• Community-building (not
Connotea: a collaborative bookmarking
just for teenagers, but for
service for researchers; share
astrophysicists www.ukoln.ac.uk
too!)
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bookmarks; annotate; …
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Approaches To Blogging
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/
blog-policies/
Why? (clarify purposes):
• Dissemination
• Engagement & discussions
• Reflection
How:
• External vs local
• Team vs individual
Management:
• Policies (scope, quality, style, …)
• Evaluation, impact, ROI, …
Supporting a Bottom-Up Approach:
Bloggers must define a policy and state how the organisation will be safe
from possible
misuse
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PPARC 2.0: An Opportunity
Why do we apply copyright
which reserves all rights?
Why do we want to own all our
systems and applications?
IPR
Ownership
PPARC 2.0
Trust
What are the implications of
trusting our staff & our users?
Ongoing development
Can we apply a process of
continual development?
PPARC merger – an opportunity to challenge conventional
approaches
&inrethink
organisational
assumptions
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Why Not?
Why Not?
Civil
JISCService
prefers ‘best
of breed’
systems
Where’s the
vendor’s
roadmap?
This Web 2.0
thing is
simple to use
and can
provide lots
of benefits!
Adapted from Washington Post cartoon
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I want
JISCto
develop stuff
so I’ll always
have a job)
Google
might go
bankrupt
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Conclusions
Conclusions
To conclude:
• Web 2.0 can provide real benefits for our users
• However organisations tend to be conservative
• We therefore need:
 Advocacy
 To listen to users' concerns
 To address users' concerns e.g. risk management
• The wider community can benefit by adopting Web
2.0 principles of openness and sharing. So let us:
 Share our advocacy resources, risk management
techniques, etc.
 Develop your own social network based on openness,
trust, collaboration, ..
 Read UKWebFocus.wordpress.com Blog
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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