User Generated Content In Brief

Have you ever created a blog/uploaded a video/made a Facebook page/created or edited a Wiki/published a story online/posted a comment on a discussion board or uploaded photos? If the answer is yes then you have created some User Generated Content (UGC). In broad terms UGC is any content created by a user or users and available in some form on the world wide web.

UGC is a significant part of the whole Web 2.0 philosophy with users not wanting static information but to be able to interact with it (for example through editing or feedback) and to create material themselves to share with others. In a library context users might do this through creating a book review on TALIS (Tasmanian Automated Library Information System) or editing content on the Trove site.

Emarketer, an enterprise that prepares reports on digital marketing and ecommerce, has projected that, by 2014, about two-thirds of an estimated 165 million regular web users will frequently go to sites based on visitors' content contributions. (Tomaiuolo 2011, p. 18.)

The use of UGC in libraries raises a number of possible issues for library staff. These include ownership, access, privacy, controlling the information, finance and staff training.

So, that's a brief description of User Generated Content and what it means for libraries. Stay tuned to this blog for more.

Tomaiuolo, N. 2011. Library Uses for User-Generated Content. Searcher The Magazine For Database Professionals, 19 (8), p. 18.