An Anonymous Patron writes “Rory Litwin at Library Juice brings up the dilemma of privacy vs. Library 2.0.
“If we value reader privacy to the extent that we always have, I think it’s clear that our experiments with Library 2.0 services will have uncomfortable limitations. This is probably going to lead many librarians to say that privacy is not as important a consideration as it once was. They will say that the Millennial generation doesn’t have the same expectations of libraries in terms of privacy that older generations do, and that we should simply adjust.
So does he mean that the Library 2.0 people are all about collaboration and the Library 1.0 people are all about contemplation? Read the whole thing.“
Web/Library 2.0
This article deals with a single subset of Web 2.0 technologies, those that deal with sharing private information in order to provide more customized services.
Many Web 2.0 services that libraries are or can utilize in order to increase services to support user’s needs do nothing to decrease privacy. Blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, etc. have nothing to do with patron records. Customizing a search screen or the web catalog using Web 2.0 technologies can be done without attaching them to a patron record as well.
Libraries should remain concerned about privacy. Many additional services can be initiated without any connection to patron records. If a service is attached to a patron record and the patron requests and/or agrees to this service, why should we be concerned.