Web Trends for 2010
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable (one of Time‘s “25 Best Blogs of 2009“) has come up with his list of 10 Web trends to watch in 2010. All of these are trends libraries need to pay attention to, but I was struck in particular by one called “content curation.” It will come as no surprise to reference librarians that information overload is becoming a problem, and sites like Google are looking for ways to provide more personalization. There is even a place for professional “curation,” with experts (librarians? Booklist editors?) helping to direct people’s attention.
Also interesting is the brief discussion of e-books, which in 2009 emerged from under the rock of reference publishing to become a phemonenon that everyone seems to be talking and thinking about. The e-book reader is gaining in popularity because, while laptops and PCs are too big to be practical for reading, and smartphone screens are too small, devices like the Kindle are just right. Still, it’s another thing to carry, and the trend is towards convergence, so look for one gadget that does it all in the future.
