Social Networking and Web 2.0 Wrap Up

The most interesting use of social networking I've come across is this one created for Burberry it's stunning. The combination of the photographs, music and interface really demonstrate how a luxury retail experience can be translated to an online application. It shows how social networking tools can be adapted to meet the needs of an organisation, what Burberry has done wouldn't work for a library, so what would ?

To answer this question I think it's important that there is collaboration between those working with the technology- developing user interfaces and customising applications- and those working with library users. A good example of this is the collaboration between a "user-experience librarian" and software developers at Georgia Tech. Students developed an unofficial iPhone application for university students. It allowed them to access various campus services already available online on their iPhones. One of the librarians suggested they incorporate a tool that showed which computer terminals were available throughout the library. Although not a social networking application the collaboration here shows how libraries can take advantage of emerging technology to enhance services.

One area that I think is set to expand rapidly as far as Web 2.0 applications and libraries is with iPhone applications. Washington D.C. public library were one of the first libraries to take advantage of this technology. Clients can search the catalogue, get information about library services, read reviews and reserve items using their iPhones. I think it's going to be a very interesting year in terms of changes to the way people access information in their everyday lives.

Well this is my last and long overdue post- I've enjoyed each week and am looking forward to looking out for new developments in the world of Web 2.0 on my own.