Koltay review

Koltay's article brings up several key points that librarians/information specialists should keep in mind when working with 2.0 tools and services.

• One must evaluate the ability of the latest technology to meet user needs
• Mentions the lack of evaluative criticism necessary to reach a balanced view of the positives and negatives
• Readers of online information must become vigilant in their ability to distinguish the inherent differences between informal content and formal authoritative knowledge (Very important point)

Working with middle school students everyday, I witness the intense need to help students develop strong techniques for evaluating online information and web 2.0 tools.  It is a strategy that should be introduced to today's children as early in their educational training as possible.

I especially liked Koltay's discussion on information styles; the pragmatic and the analytic, and that librarians/information specialists much remember that user needs very often change over time. I wonder about Koltay's statement that "serving the amateurs is the closest possibility of using Web 2.0 properly."
Is he suggesting that these are not as useful in the academic setting? Or just that those seeking authoritative content would not necessarily be interested in as much user participation?

Loraine