WebJunction

Michael Habib, a 2002 Boston College graduate with a degree in philosophy, had always been interested in teaching. Finding libraries a great place to be involved with teaching, he took a position as a reference technician at the Northborough Free Library in Northborough, Massachusetts. There he gained a wealth of experience, both at the reference desk and with technical services – and ended up as the “systems department” once he realized there wasn’t one.
 
During his two years at Northborough, Michael spent considerable time trying to determine if he’d chosen the right profession: he took some part-time courses through the University of Rhode Island’s GSLIS and sought out Web resources related to librarianship. Library blogs proved particularly helpful. In fact, that’s how he first learned about WebJunction, which soon became a favorite site.

Falling in love with community

While hanging out in librarianship-related online communities, Michael was also developing a strong sense of community at his own library, which he basically “fell in love with.” He put two and two together and began to wonder why they weren’t providing this same sense of community to their online users. “If patrons enjoy connecting with us and to one another in the library,” he thought, “why wouldn’t they want to connect online through the library’s Web site?”
 
So when he entered graduate school at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science as a full-time student, Michael decided to focus his energies on learning about online communities and exploring how libraries might begin to build online spaces that would support community in the same way the physical infrastructure does. His approach was two-pronged: first, he continued to work as a public services librarian to further develop his sense of community. Second, he studied other online communities and the best practices involved in developing them.

The Academic Library 2.0 Concept

As it turned out, the biggest hurdle in explaining his mission to other librarians was getting them to conceptualize online spaces as places. Michael’s argument was that if offline community develops through face-to-face interactions in the library as physical place, it’s necessary to gain a concept of library as digital place to create online spaces that support community-building interactions. To get this point across, he developed what he now calls the “Academic Library 2.0 Concept Model,” which he expanded for his Master’s paper.
 
After grad school Michael took a consulting position at BiblioCommons, Inc., a company that is developing a social layer for public library OPACs. In this position he was able to conduct user studies and assist with the design of what is essentially a large online community for public library patrons. Though his work with BiblioCommons has ended, it provided the perfect opportunity to come full circle from his experience of physical community at the Northborough Free Library.

Web 2.0 tools aid professional development

Michael plans to keep fostering online community in libraries as he continues his career. He has also become an active participant in online communities related to the profession. In addition to his own blog at http://mchabib.com/, he is currently on a Membership 2.0 Task Force for the ALA’s Membership Committee. He’s excited about the new Library 2.0 network Bill Drew recently set up as well as the new face of WebJunction. Always thinking ahead, Michael believes that using Web 2.0 tools for his own professional development is one of the best ways to gain insight into how these tools might benefit other users.

[Feature image courtesy of Michael Stephens. Used with permission.]