Libraries and Web 2.0

This blog was created for an assignment in the LIBR 500-Foundations of Information Technology course offered through SLAIS@UBC. The purpose of the blog is to investigate the role of social media at academic libraries across Canada. I have currently prepared six posts, each detailing the use of various web 2.0 tools in different university libraries. The institutions I chose to look at include: The University of Waterloo, The University of Victoria, Vancouver Island University, The University of Alberta, Ryerson University, and finally Lethbridge University.

I will approach each post in the same manner. Firstly, I will give a brief overview and history of the university and its library system. Secondly, I will list the social media features followed by an analysis of how the libraries use such tools on their homepage. Lastly, I will answer a series of questions that are part of the course assignment. These questions are as follows: How easy/hard it is for patrons to locate the tool/service from the library's homepage? How easy would it be for someone to use it if they had never used that tool/service before?
 How well does he tool/service seems to fit in with the other tools/services offered by the library? Would you want to use this tool/service if you were a patron of the particular library?

Finally, I will provide suggestions on how the tool(s)/service(s) could be improved for the particular library. Please note that these suggestions along with the rest of my comments reflect one individual’s opinion and are not meant to critique or offend anyone or anyone’s work; I chose all of these institutions as I was impressed overall by the library homepage and the institution’s use of web 2.0!