Web 3.0, where are you? I'm waiting....

I am so ready for Web 3.0. Think how nice it will be to have an internet that works with you, that can think in a more "human" way. Instead of having to think of different terms for what you want, the internet of Web 3.0 will already have a good idea of what kind of information you are looking for and will be able to find exactly what you want with little effort on the part of the user.
With the ease of searching the Web 3. o will likely bring the world of information, what will people need librarians for anymore?

Although searching will be easy, the most important aspect of Web 3.0 is the interpenetration of information. I believe this will be the future of the librarian. Instead of being an expert on finding and organizing information, the librarian will have to help patrons evaluate what they find. Web 2.o connected people and Web 3.0 will connect information and how knows more about information than a librarian? No one, thats who. Even though Web 3.0 promises to make searching easy as pie, I still believe that librarians will be needed as much as ever to help patrons deal with all the information that is provided to them. The librarian will move from finder to evaluator. Since Web 3.0 is still in the works, it will be interesting what fields within the library community will find it useful.

Sweet, Sweet Metadata

Since I am the Metadata Maven, I thought that I should address this subject in some way. I recently took a metadata class at the University of Alabama with Dr. MacCall (great teacher). I really enjoyed the class in which I learned more about Web 2.0 than I could have ever hoped to learn on my own. Although the class was taught in a more "this is the future of metadata and not the creation of metadata itself" I still became fascinated with the topic. I work in a archive at the University and I spend all day looking at metadata as I scan documents into their database. I really would like to explore this topic in some type of job where I would be able to interact with both people and metadata.

The field of metadata is developing before our eyes. Its not like cataloging, where the rules have been set down and everybody follows them. When dealing with metadata, everyone has their own way of doing things. Standards are developing, but they are by no means suitable for every user. Its going to take several years before we even begin to really get into figuring out how to deal with metadata and how to make its creation efficient for more people.