EDITOR'S NOTES
Web 2.0—The Realization
by Dick Kaser
A mere decade ago, nothing discussed in this issue of Computers in Libraries could have been regarded as anything but speculation. Twitter wasn’t even introduced until 2006. The use of Twitter hashtagging is so ingrained in the behavior of the population at large that Paige Alfonzo is able to make a convincing case that Twitter hashtags are the perfect metaphor when teaching students why proper indexing is critical.
When Tumblr emerged as a new blogging/sharing platform (circa 2007), few would have predicted that such a popular medium might serve as a platform for academic institutions to extend their reach, as described in an article by Amber Welch of Mount Holyoke College. A few years ago, who would have thought that videos would ever have become so popular or easy to make? And yet, in this issue Rachel Evans doesn’t even have to advocate that you produce them—she just needs to share her tips and tricks.
And who could have projected how the 2.0 media and the new generation of mobile-computing gadgets that evolved concurrently were going to change the popular perception of data? Or how using data in information systems was going to not only improve relevance and enhance the user experience, but change the nature of how we reach for knowledge and discern the truth?
No one could have predicted these precise manifestations and yet here they are. Here we are. And there’s no way to go from here but fast-forward. To learn how to use technology to make your library more effective, please join us at Internet Librarian International in London and at our Internet Librarian 2014 conference (featuring our Library Leader’s Summit) in Monterey, Calif.—all in October. Hope to see you there.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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