Introduction

Recent years have seen an increasing imperative for health librarians and information professionals to demonstrate that they possess, and use, mechanisms for ‘keeping current’ (Health Executive Advisory Group, 2004; Cunningham, 2010). As the speed of organizational and technical change becomes increasingly rapid, the requisite skill base covers an ever wider range of competencies (captured in the acronym COMPLIANT). Increasing user expectations, coupled with demands for quality, accountability and efficacy of practice, further emphasize the need to demonstrate strategies for periodic refreshment of skills and knowledge (Lacey and Booth, 2003). At the same time, conferences and workshops, traditional routes for acquiring such updates, are becoming less accessible as budgetary constraints and lack of time, combined with the need to provide continuity of front-line service, limit opportunities for staff to attend external training courses. E-learning, delivered via the web and facilitated by an increasing array of Web 2.0 technologies, offers the prospect of delivering staff development to library staff in the workplace (Ayiku et al., 2005).

Requirements for staff development

Our review of workplace-based e-learning identified five major themes: (1) peer communication, (2) flexibility, (3) support, (4) knowledge validation and (5) course presentation and design (Booth et al., 2009). The implications of these themes are as follows:

How Web 2.0 measures up

It is immediately apparent that Web 2.0 technology has much to offer in meeting the five identified needs of workplace-based learners rehearsed above. The interactivity and ease of use of blog and wiki technologies facilitate communication with (Grassley and Bartoletti, 2009) and peer support from fellow learners (Moen et al., 2009).