Richard Wallis in Perth

A blog post could not do justice to Richard Wallis’s thought provoking presentation at the State Library of WA this week.

The questions from the audience added to the interest and left me with a slightly better understanding of the semantic web which we’ve all been hearing about for a few years now.

Wallis is from the UK library software company, Talis, where they are developing a Global Semantic Web Platform. He describes himself as a “technology evangelist” and indeed the next wave of innovation on the web will be technology driven. Web 2.0 by contrast is been driven by social forces.

Some are already calling this new wave Web 3, or the semantic web. It will dramatically alter the underlying foundation of the web, open up the connections between silos of information and expose them to greater exploitation and interrogation.

Richard Wallis’s presentation, “Web 2.0 - Where Next?”, can be found on his blog, Panlibus.

The Talis website also has lots more information and videos on semantic web developments. CAVAL Training sponsored the event.

Michael Stephens on the Hyperlinked Library

Last week I attended Michael Stephens’ Perth session of Hyperlinked Library, brought by CAVAL. He is the well know “web tamer” and Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

Michael’s a dynamic presenter and packaged new and older ideas in a way that engaged the audience. I left with some practical tips and some inspiration to further implement Web 2.0 and really leverage the "library brand". Michael’s PowerPoint slides are on his "Tame the Web" blog

Michael’s key message was:

• Evolve
• Let go control
• Be visible

Michael’s news on some US developments included:

• Library brand is still “books” in our users’ eyes
• Citizen journalism is growing. The public can easily pick up and distribute bad news about the library, eg photos of your awful library signs could appear on Flickr
• Library jobs are being re-defined, requiring new Web 2.0 skills, so that some employers want to see your online presence.
• Emerging technology groups being formed in libraries
• We need a balance between innovation and ROI (return on investment)
• Users are setting up RSS feeds of favourite reads from their public libraries, using catalogue RSS capabilities
• Social networking is now a given and expected by users

5 things Michael says we should do now:

1. Be a trend spotter

2. Form an emerging technology group

3. Get library staff to do a Library 2.0 program

4. Start a “what’s new” blog

5. Explore “presence” and your library brand