The role of technology in corporate libraries

August 23, 2006

It seems that several librarians use some form of cataloging or database software, which isn’t surprising. With a global network of colleagues and (potential) customers located all over the globe, our research group has been heavy users of instant messaging (and it’s widely used within the larger firm). We’ve got a website for our research group, with the capability for users to register for and/or subscribe to research sources from the website.

What other technologies are widely used in corporate libraries? E-mail, obviously. I’m assuming most firms have some sort of knowledge management application, but I could be wildly overoptimistic about that. How many of you lot are using blogs for work? How many are using wikis? Do you have developers you can call on for applications? What technologies would you like to explore that you haven’t so far?

For those of you with public or academic library backgrounds, do you see any differences in how technology is adopted and which technologies are adopted in the corporate environment versus the public/academic one?

No Comments » | Library 2.0, Workstyle | Permalink
Posted by Steven Kaye

Corporate libraries and Library 2.0

June 5, 2006

A meme that's been sweeping the library blogosphere over the past several months has been "Library 2.0," coined by analogy with "Web 2.0."

Walt Crawford has a good survey of the various definitions offered for Library 2.0, from focus on technologies (blogs, IM, social software, wikis) to a model for service (user outreach, user participation, constant innovation being my favorite, but there are other models).

How do you see Library 2.0 applying to your corporate libraries? Are there modifications required when either librarians or patrons are geographically wide-spread, possibly never meeting face-to-face? How do you make the case for experimenting with blogs, social software and wikis? Do you set knowledge management priorities yourselves for yourselves, or partner with the larger organization?

1 Comment | Library 2.0 | Permalink
Posted by Steven Kaye

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