The metamorphosis of world wide web: an overview of web 1.0, 2.0, semantic web 3.0 and their application in library and information services delivery

Abstract

In the past few decades, Internet has grown leaps and bounds changing in terms of outlook, content, flexibility and capability. The gradual evolution of the World Wide Web (W3) attests to its unprecedented penetration into human day-to-day activities through its larger than life affordabilities. This paper, therefore, presents an overview of the evolutionary stages of Web 1.0, 2.0 and Semantic Web 3.0, highlights some of their differences with emphasis on various scholars' perceptions and concepts. Also, the challenges and implications of the new Web 3.0 to libraries and what librarians should' do to keep pace with this' trend of technological evolution formed part of the discussions of this paper. The paper concluded that the librarians should increase their technological knowledge-base, become proactive and think ahead of these streams of technologies and how, they can be adapted professionally for the good use of their client