Google wave and the future of communication

Google wave is less than a month away for 100,000 lucky invited first release users. Will this mean momentous changes in the way we communicate online? I say yes! This new tool will revolutionise the way we interact with each other, documents, photos, video, news, blogs, social networks and more. Google wave brings all these elements together in one single portal allowing real time communication with so many features it's hard to know where to start.



In Google's words:

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.


Google wave enables users to create a personalised information and communication portal where it is easy to: collaboratively edit documents, share photos, update your blog, check RSS feeds and update twitter, facebook etc. Developers tried to imagine what email would look like it if were invented today and have created features such as: live collaborative editing, live chat, wave playback, drag and drop attachments and natural language spell check. However, features aside, Google wave will make managing email easier by uncluttering your inbox with waves.

Imagine the possibilities of Google wave combined with iGoogle! I'll try to calm myself now and give you a scenario. I start a new wave telling my colleague about an idea I have for a project. She writes back with comments inserted into the wave and suggests we add another colleague who is then able to playback the entire wave so far. The three of us collaboratively write a project outline live in the wave and we each drag some images from our desktops into the wave for inclusion in the document. When we're happy with the outline we add our supervisor to the wave and can see her comments live when it is approved. We then upload the outline and images to our blog instantly from the wave, for comments from the wider world.

As an information professional it is important to be aware of trends in communication and this one has a huge potential to change personal information management. I look forward to seeing this new tool in action.

Physical and virtual library services: social media influences

Web 2.0 has had a significant influence on the way library services are delivered. Clients now face an abundance of library help through SMS, IM, email, phone, face-to-face, classes, workshops, online tutorials and more. The challenge for libraries has always been; how do we reach our clients and provide them with high quality services? Many libraries have recently sought to address this issue by creating social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Ning and LibraryThing with the goal of reaching clients in their online communities. By entering these spaces, libraries are allowing open communication with their clients and breaking down the tradition notion of the library as place. Thanks to mobile devices and social media, the library is transforming from a physical place to a ubiquitous space. For this to happen, libraries need to consider how they reach their clients in both physical and virtual space.

Creating a ubiquitous library service model must fit in with the theory of physical and virtual convergence and the social and personal framework that has been discussed in previous blog posts. Therefore to be ubiquitous, service must be integrated across physical and virtual, make use of social media influences and allow personalisation. Some examples include:

• 24/7 access to online and physical library services
• Wider range of physical and online spaces for clients to interact, share, engage, collaborate
• Being able to 'fave' your favourite librarian for personalised service
• Wider range of online and physical reference help spaces
  
• More interactive and engaging information literacy
• Maximising potential of mobile devices, QR codes and RFID
• Jumping on 'the cloud' - allowing shared spaces for collaboration and information mashups
• OPAC's becomes AIRPAC's then SOPAC's and move towards augmented reality with tagging of physical space and resources

These changes would allow clients to interact and engage with the physical library in a similar way to the online library. In particular, library services need to be customisable across physical and virtual spaces to better meet the needs of clients. For example, libraries could learn from the Apple Genius bar and provide more open plan reference help areas with casual seating, room for groups, laptops, and extended consultations. Following this approach could be a more visible and open plan area providing casual information literacy classes. Librarians also need to be integrated in the physical and virtual by using web 2.0 and social media tools to access clients anywhere, anytime. The librarian or the client could be in the library, cafe, on the bus, at home or in a lecture while at the same time participating in a reference help session using IM, email, SMS, Twitter, or Facebook.

A possible scenario
As libraries go mobile and social, clients will be able to search for resources on their way to the library via their phone, let their friends know they'll be in the e.g. engineering learning commons, look up recommended resources for their subjects as voted by clients, read comments, then create a list and send a request to the library for collection from the automatic storage and retrieval system (ASRS). While at the library, they could scan the latest library tips QR code to watch a video on their phone of what's new, participate in an online information literacy session or meet their 'fave' librarian in the cafe for a reference question. Finally, this could all be happening at anytime of the day or night.

This scenario may seem far off for some but I believe we are already close to being there. The exponential growth of technology and mobile device use will see expectations change in such a short time that clients will demand the types of services described in this scenario. The ubiquitous library is coming and it is up to us to anticipate the ways we can provide the types of integrated services our clients will need and expect in such a continuous and ever-changing physical and virtual environment.

The physical and virtual converge: social media influences

The rise of web 2.0 and social media has created an online world of interaction, sharing, and community engagement. This online behaviour is now so much a part of everyday life for many people that we expect the physical world to more closely mirror aspects of the virtual world. This convergence of the physical and virtual is already displayed in libraries for example, in the trend for group study spaces and 'information/learning commons'. However, certain aspects of online social media could be transferred to the physical world to better meet client expectations.

Social media is well known for allowing users to tag online content such as text, video, images, and bookmarks. This allows users to create a personalised metadata system that is shared with others to create folksonomies. While not replacing traditional classification systems, folksomonies make it easier for clients to find resources by allowling them to search and browse using everyday language. If the online world of information can be navigated more easily through this personalised classification system, why is the physical world not following suit?

A possible scenario
Traditionally, a new library client arrives and is confronted with the daunting prospect of finding books by number. Most clients have little understanding of Dewey numbers and find the system confusing and hard to navigate. The serendipitous finding of information in a Dewey library is limited because often, books on a similar subject area can be spread across many levels of the library. If we allow the physical space of the library to more closely mirror the online realm perhaps we can create a more engaging space with more opportunities for serendipity.

For example, resources could be arranged by subject area around an information common space. This would create a natural gathering place for people interested in that subject area to meet, share ideas and collaborate. In this scenario, the library catalogue is able to accommodate tagging and clients can tag items while they are at the shelf looking at them via their mobile phone. This could allow clients to physically browse the shelves and scan items with their phone to see user-generated tags, comments, ratings etc. to determine if the resource is worthwhile. They could then 'share' the resource with their project team, tutorial group etc. in much the same way they currently share items online.

The library could be responsive to user generated tags and move resources accordingly to allow more serendipity than is currently possible with Dewey systems. Of course, resources must to be located easily when a client knows what they need. In this scenario, the implementation of an RFID system would ensure that clients are directed to the exact location of the item they require.

The scenario described above creates a further integration of physical and virtual realms within the library. It enables the development of a more responsive and interactive physical space that more closely mirrors what clients have come to expect online. With the advancement of the semantic web there is even greater potential for user-generated tags to be a useful tool for the personalisation of information access and discovery (Specia & Motta, 2007). Information/learning commons already create a social space within the library but more can be done to create an interactive library that allows genuine community engagement and information sharing. Customisation of the physical space to more closely mirror virtual space is one way this can be achieved.

Semantic search and customisation

The words 'semantic web' fill some library folk with dread; mostly because the vague term seems to be lacking any real meaning for most people. Here are some examples of the semantic web in action.

Dorthy.com is a semantic search engine for dreams (RRW article). The idea is that you can enter your dream, ambition, aspiration and dorthy will find you articles, video, photos, tweets and more on your chosen dream. The more you share about your interests and background the more the search can personalise your results. For example, you might want to 'walk Mount Kilimanjaro' and Dorthy will help you get there. Dorthy is in private Alpha at the moment so there are some bugs and anyone outside the USA might find there is no way of limiting your results to content from your own country. Hopefully this will be improved as it moves out of Alpha. At this stage it is an interesting example of the direction search is headed and it's only a matter of time before the big search engines follow suit.

Hunch helps you make decisions so well, that you'll never have to decide anything for yourself again (RRW article). This is a fun search engine that asks you questions to build your profile and compare to others with similar traits. For example, I asked hunch 'where should I go on vacation' and it asked me a series of questions before suggesting 'Maldives' - who wouldn't want to go there? But in addition to this suggestion I get alternative options and pros and cons about the place from fellow hunch users. You can give your results a thumbs up or down and add to faves so you can keep a record of your searches and provide further information for refining your results. Beware, if you are addicted to quizzes - hunch could suck you in and never let go.

Pandia reviews what they consider the top 5 of the growing number of semantic search engines. However, after playing with some of these you'll see that they all act in different ways. If we are to customise library search we need to understand the possibilities of the semantic web and investigate ways it can be introduced to libraries in a sustainable and manageable way. Surely it should be possible for clients to login and enter their preferences, answer a few short questions and viola! The traditional catalogue is reborn as a semantic search engine of stunning proportions! We'll have to wait and see.

The Personal Web

There has been a growing trend in recent years towards a 'personal web' which allows people to have a personal online experience without clutter and information overload. Emarketing has been a leader in this field through personalised advertising by using profile data such as that available in Facebook. However, more and more the personal web has become about users deciding what they want to see and how they want to see it. For example igoogle, pageflakes and Netvibes allow users to create a personalised home page with only the gadgets, news and tools they want to see. These services make it possible for one page to contain your: email, calendar, RSS, docs, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, YouTube and much more. This essentially creates a single personal web portal which diminishes the need to be constantly navigating between all these sites individually.

RSS was the first big step in personalising the web by allowing all the blogs, news and awareness services you follow to be aggregated by an RSS Reader such as Google reader. The personal web takes this idea one step further by collecting all your social networks, calendars, emails, news, blogs etc all to the one personal online portal. This process began with sites such as igoogle but now for example, Facebook has such a wide network and variety of apps available that it is able to compete as a personal web portal.

Mobile devices are also leading the way on the personal web front through the proliferation of apps and the improved technology of smart phones. Apps are available to help you with the usual tasks such as: email, news and social networking but some of the more unusual ones can also help you: create a personal soundtrack to your life, track and plan your daily exercise and hygiene regimes, help you find a public toilet or create a digital postcard from a photo to send to your friends. No two mobile devices in the world would have the exact same set of apps and the way people use these apps would be even more varied.

There is now so much information available, tools to use, news to follow and places to look that it can seem impossible to keep up. A personal web diminishes the stress and burden of keeping up with all of this by providing a single portal containing only the things you need. There are so many more examples of personalising the web and I aim to continue blogging on this theme. Future topics will include: Google wave, Hunch, augmented reality, Drupal, mashups and how these things could be used in future library contexts.