Investigative Exercise 10 Evaluation

Investigative Exercise 10 Evaluation 

Kogarah Library Service is rather backward with its' use, or rather non-use of 2.0 technologies.
It is a little embarrassing to explore their retrograde website, and then realise that there is a total lack of engagement with the local community via any form of social media.
Both the library service and the community at large are missing out on so much because of this.
As I have only experienced firsthand the physical materials and resources contained within the branch library at South Hurstville, I was blissfully unaware of their ancient outlook on social media in general and their failure to integrate any 2.0 technologies into their website.
Obviously if you ever had the opportunity to work within the Kogarah Library service, this would be one of the first things you would want to change, if given even half a chance!
Some resources available on the Kogarah Council/Library website are quite concise and in depth, for example in their Family History & Local Studies section are some important resources including direct links to National Archives Australia, Index to shipping passengers arriving in Sydney, 1845-1922 (complete to 1894) , and death notices from 239 different Australian newspapers.  
However they are merely links- there is no opportunity provided  for the public to give or receive feedback, and there is no capacity for engagement or interactivity whatsoever.

The reasons behind the lack of 2.0 technologies is hard to fathom, as the benefits are so wide ranging, and the expense to set up these feeds almost non-existent. 
Libraries nowadays are using these tools for sharing news, marketing their services, providing information literacy instruction, providing information about print and digital resources, and soliciting feedback of users.
At Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, they have discovered that "not only do they have 46% of its district-population served holding library cards, but that they now have more than 20,000 registered users utilizing its Web site for library-related interaction and services".
Library 2.0 could be understood to have these four essential elements:

1. It is user-centered.
2. It provides a multi-media experience.
3. It is socially rich.
4. It is communally innovative.

Kogarah Library can ill afford to ignore the obvious advantages of utilising the full gambit of 
2.0 technologies available to it. The only plausible reason for not having already begun to embrace these social media tools, can be conservative management or lack of labour resources, but neither of these explanations seems adequate.
They do have some interesting Eresources for children, including World Book Encyclopedia online, Literacy Planet and the interactive "Tumble Books" , but there is little else to excite anyone.

One can only hope that some time in the very near future, Kogarah Library will begin to explore the possibilities of Library 2.0, thereby providing their local citizens with the opportunity to see, hear, interact and fully experience all the resources libraries are able to provide their citizens in the modern age.