I have been around on some of the bigger buddhism sites for a while (Buddhanet, Zen buddhism virtual library, etc), so it's no surprise to me that Buddhists (seemingly western buddhists in particular) are using Web 2.0 technologies to connect with information and each other. Silly, but I didn't realise just how many interactive blogs and groups around buddhism there are as well! - Livejournal, SecondLife, Blogger, wordpress etc....
Just like other remote groups, there are gains and losses with these I guess. You do lose something when a community does not know each other's names or locations or anything about their real lives!
Then there's podcasts and news sites devoted to Buddhism.
What I wonder is, libraries are starting to use web 2.0 technology to engage with their users or patrons, right... and to create spaces for people online in a parallel way to the physical spaces in a physical library... are these being done in a social way, or is it merely replicating explicit library services - in a kind of virtual reference & OPAC way? Which seems kind of limited.
How exciting would it be if libraries developed into places where these sort of interactions, online or physical, were hosted - a way of developing community that could extend from the impersonal to the personal. Public libraries are there not just to provide the information for their community, after all. Isn't there an expectation of the library helping to feed the growth of a community as well?
There is so much online activity and then you go into a public library and (at least where I live) it might as well not exist. These are two disparate experiences. For all I know the person whose blog I'm commenting on might be the person in front of me in the self-checkout queue. Isn't this an opportunity libraries should at least explore??
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! MSN Messenger
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment