Howdy PALNI people,

I've recently learned a bit about the "microblogging" application called Twitter and I thought I'd ask to see what your thoughts on the application are. My understanding is that the central idea is to keep your posts limited to 140 characters or so, ensuring brief posts about what "one is doing". Such updates can be made not only from the Web, but from one's IM application and phone as well. At a recent conference I met a fellow librarian who has found an interesting use for Twitter.

Is anyone using Twitter, and if so, for what purpose? What are the implications for collaboration among professional peers as opposed to serving your patrons?

Thanks,
Edward from Marian

Library 2.0 is still considered a 'buzzword' by some, but is fast becoming a standard concept at conferences and user groups, in journals and the 'biblioblogosphere', as well as part of the curriculum in many SLIS programs. The debate has been heated, and while there are still some nuances as to what is meant when we use the term, it is most commonly thought of as this:

Library 2.0 is a loosely defined model for a modernized form of library service that reflects a transition within the library world in the way that services are delivered to users. With Library 2.0 library services are constantly updated and reevaluated to best serve library users. Library 2.0 also attempts to harness the library user in the design and implementation of library services by encouraging feedback and participation. Proponents of this concept expect that ultimately the Library 2.0 model for service will replace traditional, one-directional service offerings that have characterized libraries for centuries. The key principles of Library 2.0 are not just about access to books and information. It is about innovation, about people, and about community building, enabled through the participation that social computing brings. Source: Library 2.0.  Wikipedia 11/05/2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_2.0

While there are individual efforts that fall within the aegis of Library 2.0 in specific PALNI institutions, the collaboration and participation that so fundamentally characterizes Library 2.0 has thus far been missing within the consortium as a whole.  I think there are numerous valid reasons for this.