In one word: accessibility.
Certainly, the accessibility of information is something that libraries and librarians have been focusing on since…well, probably since the very first librarian established the very first library, but I'm not talking (or writing, as the case may be) about these traditional ideas of accessibility. That's SOOO Library 1.0. No, what I'm focusing my energy on in this blog post and what I think libraries and librarians should focus their energy on in the coming year and beyond is accessibility in the era of Library 2.0 and social networking.
As we approach the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, I think it's safe to say that most libraries and librarians have by this point embraced the concept of Library 2.0 (or, if not wholeheartedly "embraced," have at least realized that it can no longer be ignored) and social networking and have begun incorporating various Library 2.0/social networking features and functionalities into their library websites. Which is great (in theory, at least).
The problem is that, while feeling obligated to add all of these widgets and whatnot in order to make their website's users feel more welcome and like they are more able to interact with the library and with one another in an online environment, they haven't really made that online environment any more inviting or accessible to those users. If anything, all of the bells and whistles of blogs and wikis have in many instances made those online environments more confusing and closed-off to users than they were before.
What I'm saying is that, libraries and librarians have been distracted by plugging in all of the shiny plug-ins for long enough, and now need to return their focus to the users and to making all of these new Library 2.0 features and functionalities less of a novelty and more of a natural and ultimately accessible aspect of their websites and of their services in general.
