Monday 19 May 2008

Google generation, Web 2.0, social networking and University students

There is a good current article by Philip Kent "Enticing the Google generation : Web 2.0, social networking and University students"based on a presentation at the recent IATUL (International Association of Technological University Libraries) Conference in Auckland, NZ. He draws on recent Pew surveys and the CIBER report to attempt a balanced view on how University libraries might respond. In his own library (Victoria University, Australia) this includes the Encore interface for the Innovative LMS. He is strong on the problems of privacy control and the role of universities. More worrying for IL, he repeats the CIBER concern (and repeated elsewhere) that it may be too late to affect student behaviour in HE and that it is a job for the school sector. In the UK this is surely
impactical and it would be better to emphasise that the need for HE librarians to find fresh active ways to reach their students, through active learning and use of Web 2.0 tools where helpful.

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