Before you start that blog, Wiki, or other Web 2.0 project, you may want to consider and answer the following questions. By following these steps your Web 2.0 project is more likely to be a success.

Blogging for these past twelve weeks has been an interesting experience. I like how hyperlinks in a blog allow me to write for an informed audience, while providing links to background material for those new to a topic. Libraries can use blogs to inform patrons about upcoming events, services, highlight collections and answer user questions. Because blogs are a bilateral communications tool they encourage patron participation, accountability, and transparency more than one-way news releases.

Scenario Our scenario is that we represent a small library that has seen its patronage decrease over the past few years. A recent survey has indicated patrons are unaware of the material available at the library. The head librarian has asked our group to develop a site using web 2.0 media sharing tools showcasing the library’s collection and services. 

A library’s existence relies on providing information in various media to its patrons.    New “media sharing” sites such as Flicker and YouTube are simply the latest tools libraries and patrons use to exchange information. Using these tools and the power of the Internet, the library can create online communities that share a love of learning.  

Ask gamers their favorite parts from games they have played and they will know the answer as well as cinema enthusiasts know "the duel of the songs" in Casablanca, the final horse race in Ben Hur or Luke Skywalker's run down the Deathstar trench in Star Wars.

Being social online