#15 tech class web.20

Well the tech class I am working on is for my part time job at the local library. I have always loved the library system being an avid reader since childhood. The wonder one felt when the arrived in the large building with rows and rows of books that were just possibilities waiting to be read. As an adult I still feel that same excitement and energy regarding the library.
I love the "store front" of entering the library and getting the books I love. However I can see where library services can be enhanced by Web 2.0 and how the library should grab hold of the possibilities to better enhance the library experience for their patron.

As a mom of 3 girls ( who were once little babies) I would often get on line at home to search the library catalog and order books into my local library for pickup. (It was much easier to keep a baby happy long enough to run in and pick up the desired books, than go in & try to look at the shelves to "find" a book I wanted to read). The library should take advantage of some of the features that Amazon has to add service in their catalog for their patrons. One of my favorite features of using Amazon for looking at books is seeing below the book; what other customers who bought the book I am currently looking, at what they also bought (take it a step farther checked out)??? I am not a technical whiz but that would be a great feature to add to the system. I find a lot of books and new authors I would not have found or maybe tried otherwise. I often flip back and forth between Amazon and the Library catalog in Windows using this feature that Amazon provides.

I accidentally kept reading and read the article "ripple effect" about a small community school library that was able to increase their budget and grow due to the fact that they were servicing their patrons in where they were at and what they needed thus making their patrons become more dependent on them by increasing their visibility and relevance in their life. I believe by adding more features as above to our catalog system and allowing for feedback from our patrons -which make up our library community we would be making our library more visible and relevant in their life where our patrons spend their time on line.