Abstract

Web 2.0 technologies hold the promise to open new communication channels, also called "touch points" in marketing theory, with key stakeholders of library services. Be them through blogs, social networks, web based collaborative editing tools like Wikis or other ways, library professionals are faced with a myriad of possibilities to engage their communities and market their services.

Behind the hype hides many potential pitfalls. Without a carefully crafted communication strategy based on measurable objectives, Web 2.0 technologies could become a distraction or worse, a wasteful endeavour. As well, the label “Web 2.0” may create stakeholder expectations in the deployment of the initiative.

In order to assist library professionals to better understand Web 2.0 technologies, manage stakeholder expectations with such projects and craft successful communication and marketing projects, this paper will present an analytical framework called the Collaborative Document Management Framework (CDMF). The CDMF was developed during a research project by the author of this paper, analyzing how Web 2.0 technologies could assist the user community in the context of open and free access to primary legal materials via the Internet (www.canlii.org). The CDMF provides for a simple tool to assist the professional in leveraging the appropriate Web 2.0 technology to successfully implement a communication message or engage a community around a common goal in any Library institution.

After a brief presentation of the Collaborative Document Management Framework and how it relates to Web 2.0, each Web 2.0 tool will be analyzed in order to present how they can best be employed to market library services and institutions in different contexts. This paper will address the following question in detail: “Which specific Web 2.0 application are best for marketing specific library and information organisations (academic, public, school, corporate)?”