You may have noticed that several of the sites/tools you have worked with so far have the word “beta” attached to them (Bloglines, LibWorm, and Google Blog Search to mention a few) In software development, something is said to be “in beta” when it is mostly finished and is being tested by a larger group of people who give feedback so developers can polish the product for its final release.

In the past, you might have had to wait years for a new version of software, in the meantime putting up with any shortcomings. More recently, there has been a shift toward being very responsive to user feedback and making constant small improvements rather than saving it all up for a big release — hence, an extended or even perpetual beta phase. This is particularly true of web-based software.

You can see a more in-depth definition of “perpetual beta” on Wikipedia, but also think about the implications of this concept for library services — both technology-dependent ones as well as in-person services. We should always be thinking about ways to align library services more closely to the needs and expectations of our users and be prepared to make small changes on a regular basis. We need to be creative and solutions-oriented. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” does not fly anymore.