Library 2.0

Library 2.0 is a very interesting concept to me. On the one side are those who believe Library 2.0 is upon us, and we need to immediate embrace user-centered, participative collections and services. On the other hand are those who believe this is a temporary distraction from our real work of providing books and information for people who have no idea what they really want or need. While we're already talking about Library 3.0, it seems to me that just incorporating the useful and effective ideas from Library 2.0 is going to take much longer than the 2.0 enthusiasts would like. For all the talk about trying things, everything is beta, no time to spend planning for 2.0 projects, I think the reality is that we won't begin to see what true 2.0 libraries will look like for some time to come, and by then, they will be incorporating 3.0 and 4.0 ideas and maybe going back to the best of the Library 1.0 services as well. The world does move quickly, but the ideas that fall away probably fall away for a reason, and those that are really going to make things better for our customers may take some time to figure out and realize. It is really an interesting time to be a librarian - almost anything can happen next.