An Effective Example of Library 2.0 Service

After reading "Building a Library Web Site on the Pillars of Web 2.0" by Karen A. Coombs, I think that the library at the University of Houston has truly understood and embraced Web 2.0 and is making great efforts to effectively incorporate elements of it into its website and services.

Upon determining that their previous website “needed a new structure for both managing and organizing it” and that “the site’s structure was rigid and inflexible and provided no space for staff or users to participate,” Coombs began researching many elements of Web 2.0 including blogs, wikis, podcasts, and social software, and from this research identified six “Pillars of Web 2.0” that the library would use as the foundation for rebuilding its web site.

These six pillars are:

1. Radical decentralization, which Coombs says helped librarians to establish ownership of their library website content due to its “wiki-like nature,” in which “any staff member can make changes to a page if they see a problem.”

2. Small pieces loosely joined. Referring to the library’s previous website as “a monolithic silo that stood separate from the rest of the library’s web-based systems,” Coombs and the other librarians decided to make their new website “a combination of different technologies” which gives the new site “as much flexibility as possible.”

3. Perpetual beta, an idea that “embraces change” and creates an environment where “constant improvements can be made”to their new website.

4. Remixable content, which Coombs defines as “content and/or data that is accessible to be repurposed in other applications,” giving the example of subject guide content being “incorporated into the corresponding department’s website or appropriate classes” in addition to being hosted by the library’s website.

5. User as contributor, which allows library website users to “create content and give feedback,” and

6. Rich user experience, which is what Coombs and the other librarians at the University of Houston hope their website users will have as a result of their incorporation of the previous five pillars of Web 2.0 into their website.

For more detailed information about each of these six pillars and how Coombs used them to improve her library's website, be sure to read her full article. Here is the citation:
Coombs, K. A. (2007). Building a library web site on the pillars of Web 2.0. Computers in Libraries, 27(1), 16-19.