The Use of Web 2.0 for Readers' Advisory Service on North Carolina Public Library Websites

The modern public library seeks to foster literacy and education, and forge lasting relationships with members of its community. Readers' advisory service is a popular way to meet this goal. Web 2.0 is playing an increasingly important role in online library services. This study is a content analysis of a sample of 84 public library websites in North Carolina to determine the current level of use of Web 2.0 for readers' advisory. The results show that 65 public library websites in North Carolina offer readers' advisory services online; 7 of those websites are using Web 2.0 technologies to provide readers' advisory services online. The author concludes that these seven sites are good examples of how to implement Web 2.0 for readers' advisory. Other North Carolina public libraries can learn from these websites, though further research is needed to gain the perspectives of users.