New roles of librarians in web 2.0 environment

Fouzia ShafiqueManager Library, Lahore Gymkhana

& 

Naimat Ullah ShahAsst Librarian, SCEE Library NUST H-

12 Islamabad  

Introduction: Traditionally librarians have been performing

roles like Custodian- selects, organizes Print & other

mediaGuide- assists user in searching relevant

information Preserver-the books and printed documents Public Relations Officer- maintains good

relationships with management, users, other libraries and organizations

The New Global Library & Information EnvironmentGeometric increase in quantity of

Information.Greater and faster access to

wider range of information sources via WWW.

Increased speed in acquiring and disseminating information.

Constantly evolving ITs(Hardware & Software)

The Information World is going through transition From Library centered to

Information centered From paper based environment

to digital interface e.g. search engines, online databases, data mining etc.

From Library as an institution to the Library as an information provider with IT skilled specialists

Introduction:

The information revolution and internet based information has made it difficult to select relevant information in no time, the role of the librarian is not to wait for the client to reach him/ her, but instead he should himself extend his help apart from constraints of time, place and format.

Web 2.0

Tim O’ Reilly in 2004 invented and defined:

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them”.

Library 2.0Library 2.0 is a “very different

library service that operates according to the expectations of today's users. In this vision, the library makes information available wherever and whenever the user requires it”

Realizing this vision requires change across a wide range of systems, processes and attitudes.

Principles of Library 2.0

Library is everywhereLibrary had no barriersLibrary invites participation

New Role of Librarian in Web 2.0 environment

The main roles of librarian in new era which is mainly a digital era are as:-

search intermediary-knowledge ManagerEducator- (End user trainer)Researcher - Website builder/ publisher - (designs & evaluate)Facilitator- (makes access easier )Interface DesignerKnowledge sifter / selector/ evaluator

ObjectivesTo fine out:- The importance of features/ characteristics of

Web 2.0 in the view of professionals.The new roles of the librarian in Web 2.0

environment.To what extent are Web 2.0 technologies

prevalent in University librariesExplore the attitude of professionals towards

the use of Web 2.0

Statement of the problem

In Pakistan this tendency is bit new but still encouraging because many libraries are adopting these technological trends. This study points out, how much important is Web 2.0 among the information professionals? Has the librarian got new roles along with the traditional ones? What is the significance of using Web 2.0 tools?

Research Design and Methodology

The study was quantitative

A questionnaire was developed, for data collection

Thirty university libraries professionals using ICT and

web 2.0 technologies were surveyed. (15 from Islamabad

and 15 from Lahore)

SPSS 19.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)

was used to carry out the results of the collected data.

Results and Analysis of data

The results are as under:-Gender:According to the data collected, out of 27 participants

18 (70%) were male and 9 (30%) were female.

Job Experience:

Most of the participants were very experienced having experience of more than 9 years which is 52%, having more than 4 years and less than 8 years are 30% and only 18 % of the participants have experience of 1- 3 years

Results cont……..How important is web 2.0

How important is Library 2.0

When asked about the importance of Library 2.0, 18 participants ticked the very important option and other 9 selected important, but nobody denied its importance

 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Very important 20 74.1 74.1 74.1

Important 7 25.9 25.9 100.0

Total 27 100.0 100.0  

Results cont…..

Questions relating to importance of several tools of Web 2.0 like:

Content sharing Blogs Wikis RSS Social networks Tagging

55% of total participants marked that these tools very important, 18 % marked these as important.

Results cont…….. Questions relating to some characteristics of Web 2.0 are answered as: Library is every where:

• Library invites sharing and interaction:

  Frequency Percent

strongly agree 13 48.1Agree 9 33.3

Neutral 5 18.5Total 27 100.0

  Frequency Percent

strongly agree 14 51.9Agree 11 40.7

Neutral 2 7.4

Total 27 100.0

Like web 2.0 there is also library 2.0

Digital collections are shared

  Frequency Percent

strongly agree 9 33.3Agree 12 44.4Neutral 6 22.2Total 27 100.0

Frequency Percent strongly agree 11 40.7 Agree 10 37.0 Neutral 3 11.1 Disagree 3 11.1 Total 27 100.0

Cont…..

Librarians are information broker (Print & digital Media)

Librarians are interactive & collaborate

  Frequency Percentstrongly agree 9 33.3Agree 16 59.3Neutral 2 7.4Total 27 100.0

)

  Frequency Percent

strongly agree 9 33.3

Agree 12 44.4

Neutral 6 22.2

Total 27 100.0

Cont…..Librarians are facilitators

Librarians are educators and trainers

Frequency Percent strongly agree 17 63.0 Agree 7 25.9 Neutral 3 11.1 Total 27 100.0

Frequency Percent strongly agree 3 11.1 Agree 22 81.5 Disagree 2 7.4 Total 27 100.0

Conclusion.

With these drastic developments in ICT and in large use of Web 2.0, the role of the librarian does not remain as simple as it used to be, for example custodian of books and book keeper, as he now performs different roles and is known with these new titles:

information specialist, information navigator, information professional global information provider, Innovators, websites designers, educators, trainers, information broker (Print & digital Media),

the concept of library without walls is truly and completely adopted due to web 2.0, and libraries have become library 2.0.

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Thank You