A Mutable Cloud: Fostering Community through Cloud Computing

t o say that the next generation of the Internet has changed things is to utter a severe understatement. While the Internet changed the nature of instant communication, it was constructed and utilized with a focus on a unidirectional distribution of content. Anyone who has ever worked collaboratively on a document is familiar with the headache of tracking changes, drafts, versions, and comments through endless e-mails, some of which were sent to everyone involved, and some of which were not. Web 2.0 and cloud computing have made collaborative efforts a Web-based social endeavor, one that can be customized and tailored to the individual or the institution’s needs without sacrificing efficiency or effectiveness. However, a system is only as good as its operator and design, and one that reinforces silos and barriers will, by its very nature, limit its own efficacy. To avoid silos and to make the most use of the social nature of cloud computing solutions for library workflow issues, library administrators and leaders must have an understanding of the building blocks of community. Using McMillan’s and Chavis’s model of community as a framework of analysis,2 this article examines how cloud computing and Web 2.0 technologies can be used by library administration and leadership to foster a sense of community and is guided by two questions: What are the core patterns of Web 2.0, and how can these technologies facilitate bidirectional influence to promote a sense of emotional attachment and fulfill the needs of the community members? This article does not examine the seemingly infinite possibilities for using Web 2.0 technologies for community-building outside of the library as a marketing vehicle with the community of library users. Instead, the author examines trends in the literature dealing with Web 2.0 and libraries, outlines a brief history and definition of Web 2.0, and applies the framework of McMillan and Chavis to cloud computing solutions in libraries. Readers should gain an understanding of how library leadership can foster a wholesome sense of community within their organizations using easy-to-use, and often free, Web-based computing solutions.