Using blogs and wikis to communicate with library clients.

This straightforward title is highly indicative of the style of the article. Watson and Harper have successfully stepped up to the challenge of concisely and clearly discussing the relevance of blogs and wikis in the library context. The authors provide a brief, but highly informative, ‘how-to’ style article that is easily read and understood, making it ideal for librarians new to Web 2.0 technologies.
Watson and Harper’s article initially covers the definition of blogs, wikis and Web 2.0. Their observation on the basic difference between blogs and wikis is (that the former is an ‘online journal’ arranged chronologically and, the latter is ‘online collaboration’ not necessarily arranged by date), is a good example of the authors’ ability to convey meaning in a straightforward manner.
The authors go on to make the important point that many library patrons are already active participants in the online environment and that “The question is no longer if we meet our patrons online, but how.”
Another noteworthy point is that social technologies do not look after themselves; they need promotion and consistent attention to maintain currency and, to ensure relevance and appeal. This is something libraries will have to consider seriously when embarking upon the Web 2.0 path – do they have the capacity to effectively implement these technologies?
Blogs and wikis have firmly established their place in the Web 2.0 environment and are more popular now than they have ever been, so the technologies are highly relevant to libraries today ( a quick look at the website Aussie Library Blogs will show this). Since publication of this article, Twitter is perhaps the most significant new player in this category of Web 2.0 technologies. Twitter’s micro-blog style may diminish some use of blogs but could never make them obsolete given the 140 character limit of Twitter posts.
Watson and Harper also suggest the use of RSS feeds as a means of promotion, and this is the only shortcoming of this article. The suggestion itself is perfectly acceptable but the lack of definition of the technology is an oversight, given that the article is aimed at the novice some explanation and discussion of RSS feeds would have been useful.
Overall the article is refreshingly clear and succinct, and is more like a practical introduction than an academic discussion, which can be as equally important.