The November 2009 issue of CILIP’s journal Library + Information Update has two pieces on staff Web 2.0 development programmes, both well worth a read. The first piece by Jenny Evans and Lynn Barrett compares and contrasts the programmes developed at Imperial College London and the University of Huddersfield, while the second piece by Leo Appleton and Alex Spiers reports on the programme at Liverpool John Moores.

All programmes ran over an extended period of time, with individual ‘lessons’ on specific aspects of Web 2.0. An integral part of all the programmes was the requirement to try out various Web 2.0 tools and services. The reports also include useful information on what worked and what didn’t.

Imperial College London and the University of Huddersfield both used the 23 Things programme created by Helene Blowers as the basis for their staff training programmes. Blowers invited people to re-use her work by licensing it under Creative Commons and it’s since been adapted by more than 350 libraries across the world. But there’s no reason it shouldn’t be equally useful to museums and archives. So why not have a look and see whether it could work for you?

Web 2.0 and the Social Web are terms which are now being used widely. But what do these terms mean? And what, if anything, can Web 2.0 and the Social Web offer to museums, libraries and archives, especially small organisations with limited budgets and technical expertise?

A one-day workshop sponsored by the MLA and entitled ‘An Introduction to Web 2.0 and the Social Web’ will be touring the country in the next few months. The workshop will attempt to answer the above questions. It is free to attend but places are limited. Bookings are now open so why not sign up!

• Preston (the Gujarat Centre) – 13th November
• Devizes, Wiltshire (Wiltshire Heritage Museum) – 16th November
• London (Clore Learning Centre, Museum of London) – 3rd December
• Leeds (Leeds Discovery Centre) – 9th December
• Leicester (School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester) – 18th December

More workshops in other areas will take place after New Year.