Chat, commons and collaboration: inadvertently Library 2.0 in Western Australia

Abstract

When staff at Murdoch University Library (a small multi-campus academic library in Perth, Western Australia) first read about Library 2.0 in April 2006, we discovered that we had already implemented several programs that could be considered Library 2.0. Participative, egalitarian and interdisciplinary aspects of Library 2.0 were already ingrained in our culture, as part of an institution initially viewed as an "alternative university" We have provided a chat reference service since 2003. We have renovated two floors of the library to create a Learning Common. We have immersed ourselves in a collaborative project to learn about Library 2.0, creating an Emerging Technologies Group, and are experimenting with a virtual library service in Second Life. This chapter gives background about our library, and describes how we implemented our Library 2.0 services. WE explain why we pursued these initiatives, some challenges they presented, and our future plans for them. The theme running throughout is that our University already held some of the core values of Library 2.0 and that these services flowed naturally from this background.