5) Recommendations

Local Studies: I would recommend that Manly Library take greater advantage of Flickr to present its local studies section to the public. Manly Library could look at how the State Library of NSW or the National Library of Australia present their historical photographs through Flickr and thus proceed. I would also suggest that Manly Library creates a separate but linked Facebook page for its local studies section. Manly Library already has an excellent local studies blog and this could be linked to the prospective Facebook page and Instagram page. Manly Library could also make use of YouTube to create a channel of historical local film, although this might be subjected to copyright constraints. Of course, all of these Web 2.0 applications need to be linked back to the Manly Library webpage.

Adult Fiction: As with "Local Studies", I suggest that Manly Library makes use of its already excellent adult fiction blog and link it to an "Adult Fiction" Facebook page and also link it back to the Library website. A Pinterest page or other social bookmarking page would be useful as well. This page could bookmark webpages and images of pertinent adult fiction or literary webpages such as goodreads and novelist.

Information/Reference: This is perhaps the area where Manly Library could make the most use of Web 2.0 technology. By utilising a wide range of social media applications, Manly Library could become a leading institution for local information and community networking on the Northern Beaches. I would suggest a multi-faceted campaign which would inlcude a dedicated Facebook page, a Twitter feed, a seperate Flickr account, a YouTube Channel and a blog. These applications would all be closely linked, perhaps under one specific title such as "Manly Library Community Information and News". The network would address a wide range of information, news and events pertaining not only to Manly Library but to the wider Northern Beaches community. The possibilities are literally endless. The content could feature interviews, reviews, news, art and culture, local history and educational materials - just to name a few. The benefits of a campaign such as this would be multi-dimensional: it would provide a valuable service to the local community and would also increase the value that Manly Library has to the local community. This, as a result, could create more funding and business opportunities for the library and local government.

Some examples of best practice libraries:

• The State Library of NSW: uses a wide range of Web 2.0 technologies. Uses professionally presented social media pages such as facebook, twitter, instagram, flickr, blogs, podcasts and pinterest and all are linked to the main webpage. Link:  http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/
• New York Public Library: one would expect a strong social media/web 2.0 presence for an operation as large as this and this is certainly the case. The New York Public Library utilises blogs, facebook, twitter, youtube, instagram, tumblr and podcasts. Link: https://www.nypl.org/
• The Boston Public Library: makes excellent use of web 2.0 applications. They use facebook, twitter, instagram, flickr, youtube and pinterest as well as blogs. The Boston Public Library also uses an online catalogue where users can tag, comment, review, rate, and add other content to any item. This is perhaps the best example of Web 2.0 technology use by a library that I have seen, so far. Link: http://www.bpl.org/contact/socialmedia.htm 

4) Evaluation of Web 2.0 technologies at Manly Library

• After having closely examined the Manly Library webpage, there appears to be a dearth of Web 2.0 technologies on this webpage. The Manly Library webpage appears to be very small and is really only a minor adjunct to the Northern Beaches Council webpage. There are a series of blogs for people to access and comment on, all of which use Blogger by Google. The library also uses "historypin.org", "photosau.com" and some film and video websites (beamafilm.com and rbdigital.com). However, these last two webpages are not really good examples of Web 2.0 technology because they allow only limited user engagement (i.e. comments etc). Manly Library incorporates a small "MyAccount" section of its ILMS, where library clients can create online reviews of library books. Manly library has a facebook page (with very few posts) and also several other connected facebook pages that promote events and programs, however, these facebook pages are completely unlinked to the Manly Library webpage. Manly Library does not have a twitter feed, does not have a youtube channel and does not appear to use social bookmarking sites such as pinterest. Manly Library does, however, have a flickr account and an instagram account, but these accounts contain what appears to be a random assortment of photos without any perceivable classification or organisation. The problem for Manly Library, as with its facebook pages, is that none of these social media applications are linked to the Manly Library webpage. In summary, it is reasonable to say that Manly Library could greatly improve its social media presence and its use of Web 2.0 technologies.

• - Local studies: Manly Library publishes a blog titled "Manly local studies", and also uses historypin.org and photosau.com to post historical local photographs. 

- Children's: Manly Library publishes a blog titled "Youth at the beaches" and the Manly Library            facebook page contains information about children's programs and events.

 - Adult fiction: Manly Library publishes a blog titled "Novel ideas" which contains adult fiction book     reviews and recommendations from staff, upcoming events and other book news. The Manly Library facebook page also contains informationa nd news pertaining to adult fiction.

 - Information / Reference: Manly Library publishes other blogs titled "Manly families" and "Green and groovy @ Manly Library" that discuss information such as geneaology, environmental sustainability and arts and crafts. The Manly Library facebook page also contains information such as opening/closing times and address details.

• Some of the reasons for the lack of Web 2.0 technologies associated with Manly Library are a) a lack of government or private funding; b) social media presence may be considered a lower priority by the library management; c) staff may lack the time or appropriate skills to take full advantage of Web 2.0 technologies.