Web 2 Awards - A Brave New World?

As we delve deeper and deeper into the potential educational value of the Web, it is obvious that as librarians we need to be au fait with every aspect of this incredible method of global communication and information transfer. Despite my concerns about privacy, misinformation and possible censorship, I'm beginning to hope that the world wide web will indeed be the means to regaining paradise, operating as I do on the premise that "ignorance is not bliss, ignorance costs and ignorance kills" as put forward so wisely by Lee Kuan Yew. If libraries are to remain the custodians of man's contribution to enlightenment and the banishment of ignorance, then we will have to participate in the global debates about what constitutes enlightenment and civilization, and we will have to do it on the Web with the whole world as well as in our libraries.

I had a good look at the short list of Web Awards and am stunned and impressed by the sheer inventiveness of the sites to provide information as simply and as comprehensively as possible. My personal favourite to date is Library Thing because it is easy to use and provides individuals, and small to medium libraries, both public and private, with the means to catalogue their collections without spending a fortune doing so. The links to libraries and everything related to books, librarians, bibliophiles, etc is also a strong feature in its favour. It isn't currently one of the winners, but I think that it will gain popularity as it becomes more widely used.

Once these exercises are completed and I am more proficient in my use of these tools, I will go back to all these sites to search even deeper into their educational, philosophical and practical contributions to the well being of everyone and everything on the planet.

At this stage I will thank the organisers of this initiative because it has opened my eyes to as yet undreamed of possibilites for that illusive dream of world peace and prosperity on a planet that has more than enough for everyone, but which to date has been exploited by the few at the expense of the many. Now all we have to do is supply food, schools, libraries, electricity and computers to the many who currently do not have access to the basics for survival and then maybe the dream will become a reality. With all this information at our fingertips we can no longer say that we don't know what is going on around us - ignorance is no longer bliss, ignorance is costing and ignorance is killing.

Roll on a new Brave World!