Social Media with Sumanjit

Where Do Librarians Fit Into The Future?

August 15th, 2010 · 2 Comments

I read an interesting article by Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle about the future of the web. They talked about the changes that have occurred on the web since web 2.0 and what the possible future of the web will look like. I liked how they clarified the technology involved.

They mentioned how collective intelligence is what the web is so basically we, the people, make up the web and the web is the world. I liked this interpretation of the web because that is exactly how I feel. Every time I log onto the web I feel like I am a part of the world compared to sitting on the bus where I know I’m just a part of this city.

What really got me thinking was their conclusion and how we can use this web, that is beginning to be able to “think” because of the people behind it, for the greater good of the world. Social media should be used to help people. Already we know so much about people from the social tools that we use. The article mentioned several ideas already. Perhaps we should build on those to collaborate, participate and create something more.

The web has changed and will never be the same due to social media. The web is just moving forward by building on our data. What will the web look like in the future? It will be the Semantic Web, where the web will be able to understand what you are thinking. I have a difficult time understanding these concepts; however, I already feel that tools like Google Maps already does this for us. Besides the Semantic Web, mobile technology will be the only way to go. I think everyone will be pulling out mini computers from their pockets (that is what smart phones are basically).

Where do librarians fit into this scene? I think we will be the educators to teach people how to use new technology and the advances in social media tools. Yes, the new generation does come with media literacy, but there are many out there that are still behind and will continue to be behind. One of our challenges will be to outline the affordances of technology and social tools so that users can critically evaluate if it is the best tool for them. Otherwise we will be adding to the information overload already out there.

Tags: Module Reflections

2 responses so far ↓

  • Alison Griffin // Aug 15th 2010 at 10:43 pm

    Thanks for posting a really interesting review of this article, and personal thoughts regarding it. Don’t you think it will be quite a challenge indeed for librarians to continue to prove relevancy into the future regarding digital literacy, not because we don’t play a key role in educating others about how to use these emerging technologies, but because users all consider themselves experts already?

    As the web becomes more intuitive and semantic, I wonder if the trend continues, as people start to feel like they are the web, or will it come full circle, and people start looking to find an outlet to help them catch up to their friends amid the insurgence of new media? Interesting times indeed.

  • skmanhas // Aug 16th 2010 at 5:02 pm

    You’ve made a good point Alison about our future and digital literacy. There already are users out there that think themselves experts so even today we have to prove our relevancy. We just have to point out something different and better. It will be a challenge indeed, but creating life long learners is what we are aiming for!

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