While many Ridgefielders were away on vacation last week, some of the Ridgefield Library staff also went out–of-town, but for continuing education opportunities rather than vacation. This week and next we’ll share a little of what we learned.

A couple of us went to a conference entitled Computers and Libraries, where the theme was Beyond Library 2.0: Building Communities, Connections and Strategies. Library 2.0 is the application of the phenomenon known as Web 2.0 to the library setting. Web 2.0 is the catch phrase describing new methods of online communication and information delivery that encourage interactivity, user participation and collaborative creation of content. Wikipedia and Amazon’s reader reviews are two well-known examples, but the possibilities for the use of the myriad new technologies in libraries as well are extensive and exciting.

Would you like to be able to add your reviews and ratings to items in our online library catalog?

Or get an e-mail reminder BEFORE your books are due, helping you to get them back on time?

How about a blog where members of any book group that has read a particular title can post their impressions and discussion questions for other groups to share?

Or perhaps podcasts of author talks or YouTube videos of story times for those who can’t get to the Library for one reason or another?