Abstract:
Generations of librarians have relied on index cards, notebooks, and file folders to keep track of repeat questions, favorite sources, and local information, and to track statistics. In recent years, we've bookmarked useful websites, and saved files on the reference desk computer. Now many of us are quickly increasing the amount of reference we do away from the desk: in our offices, patron offices, computer labs, dorms, community centers, the park, or a restaurant with Wi-Fi access. We need to be able to access the information currently stored in physical form at the desk when we're away from the desk, so we can continue to use it ourselves, and share it with our colleagues and patrons. Librarians at DePauw University have begun using social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us instead of just making bookmarks that work on one computer. We're sharing notes on a free, but private, blog. And we're experimenting with other Web 2.0 tools like flickr and YouTube to share images. As an extra benefit, our posts and tags on popular web 2.0 sites make it likelier that the general public will find reliable sources of information.
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