W.B.W.Web 2.0 at Williams

Web 2.0 and its implications for resources and services in IT and

Libraries, more or less

Chris Warren cwarren@williams.edu ficial.wordpress.com

Database Integration Specialist Office for Information Technology

Williams College

What's the current status of web 2.0 at Williams? How is it

being used?

Overview

Overall, limited... BUT• People have really embraced the wiki

(Confluence) for documentation and collaboration among controlled user groups

• We’re continuously experimenting • Individuals and small groups participate in

web 2.0 technologies and activities outside their official capacities

• For students, web 2.0 is simply 'the web'

Student web 2.0

Hardware: laptops, cellphone, wi-fi

Functionality and Tools:• social networking - Facebook - almost everyone• long video - P2P - unknown• short video - YouTube - unknown• messaging - cellphone text messaging, and

various IM - most• blogging - various (about 1% of student body, as

best can be told)• other - unknown - unknown

Administrative web 2.0

• wiki for documentation (shared for reading) and collaboration (private)

• OIT security blog, for announcements / alerts• podcasting for Public Affairs, for special

needs• Sustainability blog, for discussion /

dissemination• wiki-ish back-end for library and some of

WWW

Academic web 2.0

• blogs for classes• Wikipedia as a resource (de facto, not

encouraged / endorsed)• Second Life as a platform (Art Mecho) and an

object of study (the social and philosophical aspects)

• our wiki, for closed discussion and collaboration

• pod- and vod-casting by some individual professors

Alumni and community web 2.0

• social networking on Facebook et al• professional networking on Linked In et al• Ephblog• WSO forums• Willipedia - the WSO wiki• YouTube• Flickr• individual blogs

Web 1.7 - not quite web 2.0Tools having some aspects of web 2.0, but falling short

• Blackboard• Digital Storytelling workshops• Daily Messages email tool• data publication sites• Master Calendar• Peoplesoft Self Service• OIT Workshops Signup• Open Seats tool / service• ContentDM

Under the hoodThe technologies of web 2.0, even if not used for that

• advanced CSS

• AJAX

• data driven

• open APIs

• data streams (RSS, XML, etc)

• standards compliant

• Scriptaculous & Prototype JS

What we're interested in

Specific Technologies and Tools

• Google Docs• Flickr• Swivel, FreeBase• Pidgin, iChat• Slideshare• Ning social sites• YouTube publication• Creative Commons

• Wordpress blogs• Wordpress as CMS• del-icio.us• Google Earth - GIS• Google Maps API• RSS - making and

using• Bloglines aggregator

• Google Docs – collaborative writing, spreadsheets, presentations

• Flickr – photo sharing and finding

• Swivel, FreeBase – sharing datasets and charts

• Pidgin, iChat – instant messaging

• Slideshare – presentation sharing

• Ning – custom social sites

• YouTube – video publication / sharing

• Creative Commons – legalese for content sharing

• Wordpress blogs – electronic publication and discussion

• Wordpress - lightweight CMS

• del-icio.us – social bookmarking and tagging

• Google Earth – lightweight GIS

• Google Maps API - mashups

• RSS creation and consumption – human readable / relevant data streams

• Bloglines – RSS aggregator

Some we're not using / doing

• micro-blogging (Twitter)

• developing flashy UI

• games (WoW, KoL, ARGs, PMOG, etc.)

• news filters (Digg, Slashdot, etc.)

• review / recommendation systems (GoodReads, Pandora, etc.)

• ITunesU

Food for Thought

Obstacles, Opportunities, and Ideas

Obstacles

• adoption – how, and why• support - how and by who• culture - trust, privacy, hierarchy• 1% rule - consumer vs participant• tech environment - very varied• reliability questions (and principles)• lack of self-knowledge• computer focused – vs cell phone et al• limited resources

Opportunities / Applications

• intra-campus communication• user-based support• cross-group social connections• student connections• content creation / contribution• know thyself• re-cast existing services• customized education experience• bend space and time

Some Ideas and Observations• We're not promoting web 2.0 to faculty, but trying

to prepare them to survive when all students use it

• The individuals that make up the college community use web 2.0 for themselves even if they don't in their official capacity

• In many ways web 2.0 is more about individuals than groups or organizations

• The cultural attitudes and expectations (connectivity, accessibility, adaptability, etc.) associated with web 2.0 are more important than any particular technologies