Patron Reviewer Capabilities

Today I took a look an interesting Web 2.0 technology, the user review feature on the online catalogue. This technology allows library users the ability to rate and review items held by their library. This feature has been utilized in the past and today with proven success by various corporations such as Amazon, Angus & Robinson and many cinema and film hiring/selling website's and is an effective method of providing library patrons with a variety of views about items which they are interested in borrowing. It is also quite nifty in bringing readers together to discuss their views and comment not only on the books they review but the views of other patrons -enabling reviews to be almost "forum-like" in style. The benefits of reviewing capabilities is many-fold -I personally love it! How many of us have sat there wondering whether a book or film would be worth a read, consulting book and film review website such as Amazon for answers? Most of us. This capability brings the library community together and enables book and film lovers and ardent readers to share their views in a constructive environment. It may also raise the amount of loans for an item and could even provide more insight than the item summary (if even provided!).
Currently the UNSW Library catalogue (Primo) does not have a review feature but could benefit from it very much so, particularly academic reviews and comments of publications which would be vital for students studying the course. Therefore the feature could promote online learning and academic critiquing. Currently our library catalogue has a linking feature in the catalogue record of an item which links a patron to the item held in amazon -providing the patron with further information about the item.

When considering this new initiative always remember that content control is one thing that must be considered, reviews should always be monitored and a patrons identity must always be kept anonymous online (but in term of content control an author should be known to the staff member responsible for web design and management).