[Web4lib] Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't Be Left In TheDust...

Mon Jan 14 09:22:58 EST 2008

Hi, all,

Some excellent questions here. This is not the first report that has come back questioning WHY libraries are spending so much time in social tech right now. One earlier report was looking at the metrics of where do our patrons live -- sort of "if only 10% of all undergrads use Facebook, why is the library wasting time there?"

I agree that there are economics involved. We all have budgets growing ever tighter for both stuff and folk (collections and staff). Some of the social tech tools can be useful immediately in providing content to our existing "faces" (web pages) via RSS etc. With social networking, in particular when compared with other social tech tools, the return on investment may not be as immediately obvious. That is, if you are taking the short view of the timeline, looking for immediate ROI. ;)

Libraries and librarians have historically tried very hard to balance the long view with the short view. We all know that we are in a time of change, and that a new type of information environment is evolving. We do not, at this point in time, know what shape that environment will take. We can hazard an educated guess that social elements will be integral to the new information environment if for no other reason than that Homo sapiens is a social creature. We tend to embed social elements in every aspect of what we do. As a species, we are not lone wolves. 

Assuming the validity of the prior paragraph, it would behoove those of us who are able to explore widely in the new social tech environments. We don't know which directions will become the important ones. At this time of rapid change, positioning ourselves to respond rapidly means diversifying and decentralizing. I read a blog somewhere that talked about being a tech ninja. We need for SOME of us (non necessarily all of us) to be information ninjas -- positioned quietly in the background of daily operations but able to function convincingly as a worker in the same daily environment, focused, flexible, light on the balls of our feet, able to shift direction rapidly, scanning the environment in all directions, hands loose, both willing and able to move swiftly.

I assume that many of you will have already read the IBM GIO report on leadership and gaming. One of the key take home points from the report is that IBM is looking to hire people who use the online game World of Warcraft (WoW). "Hunh?", you might say. Well, listen to why. In WoW, progress is made toward goals by teams. In those teams you have a mix of skills and abilities. For a specific task, one person might have many relevant skills and became a team leader for the purpose of successfully completing that task. Upon the resolution of that task, that individual may return to the role of a supporting team member while others will step into leadership roles for other tasks. The basic concept here is Flexible Leadership within a strong team. 

This is not just an interesting idea corporate is taking on, but a lesson for us as well. The idea of being flexible is central to our future. For now, that means keeping an eye on many tech innovations and a foot in several. Not all of them will be a success, but if we aren't ready, we won't be able to move quickly into those that do become important. If we aren't where our patrons are, if we aren't there (wherever it turns out to be) when they get there, we aren't relevant. Some of us are not just responding to the flow with the rest, but are instead the scouts, the front runners who report back to our group.

Just pondering the issues here. Feel free to poke holes in this thought process. :)

 -- Patricia Anderson, pfa at umich.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Vaughn-Tucker, Dani A.
Sent: Mon 1/14/2008 8:19 AM
To: Gerry Mckiernan; lita-l at ala1.ala.org; asis-L at asis.org; web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't Be Left In TheDust...

So does this mean that librarians/information professionals should
consider throwing in the towel when it comes to using current social
networking sites?  Or, could this be this generation's reaction to the
older generation's reaction to using the telephone for reference
services?  Probably a stretch, but I'm sure there were people back in
the day who were saying, "If I want library assistance, I'll go into the
library.  I don't want to call'em up."  

I think using social networking sites is a proactive option that should
be used without being intrusive into the lives of the patrons (e.g.
library's probably should not actively friend patrons, but should allow
patrons to friend them).

Regards,

Dani 

"Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with..." Billy
Dee Williams in Mahogany

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Gerry Mckiernan
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 5:14 PM
To: lita-l at ala1.ala.org; asis-L at asis.org; web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't Be Left In The
Dust...

***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS***
Colleagues/

I have discovered A Most Interesting Post That Has Thrown Chills Up My
Liver [:-)

[University of Michigan Survey] / Posted December 15, 2007 /
userslib.com 

QUESTION: If you could contact a librarian via Facebook or MySpace for
help with your research, would you? If not, why?

Data/Analysis

A total of 23% of respondents stated that *yes* or *maybe* they
would be interested in contacting a librarian via these two social
networking sites.

Undergrads had a slightly higher than average percentage of 34%.

Nearly half of the total respondents stated they would not be
interested, but for various reasons - the biggest reason being that they
feel the current methods (in-person, email, IM) are more than
sufficient. 14% said no because they felt it was inappropriate or that
Facebook/MySpace is a social tool, not a research tool.

Links / Graphics / And More at 

[
http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/data-students-facebook-
library-outreach.html
]
[ http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/ ]

Thanks to Suzanne Chapman, interface and user testing specialist for
the University of Michigan Library*s Digital Library Production
Service, and Team !!!

>From A Snowing Central Iowa ...

/Gerry 

Gerry McKiernan
Associate Professor
Science and Technology Librarian
Iowa State University Library
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu 

There is Nothing More Powerful Than  An Idea Whose Time Has Come 
Victor Hugo 
[ http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ]

Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind Blows

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4lib at webjunction.org
http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4lib at webjunction.org
http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/