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

[Casey Bisson]

The problem may be that we misunderstand these (virtual) places.

I doubt the patrons of an average bar would welcome libraries if we  
tried to set up shop there, and not just because we'd get nitpicky  
about the weekly trivia games. Bars and libraries are both social  
spaces, but that doesn't make them equivalent spaces. Whether  
libraries belong in Facebook anymore than they belong in my local bar  
is still an open question in my mind (one major factor is that FB is  
working to make itself a social applications platform, something that  
should have all of us paying attention).

That doesn't mean Facebook and other social applications don't matter.  
Quite to the contrary, so let me say it again: Social Applications  
Still Matter To Libraries.

One giant lesson we can take from the entire history of the internet  
is that _social_ matters. There have been blips and bubbles where we  
lost sight of it, but the internet spread because of social  
applications like email and chat. And more than Ajax and rounded  
corners, web 2.0 has been all about Social. And now we find it  
everywhere. Flickr defines itself as a photo sharing site, but it only  
works because of the social features there. And though Facebook allows  
image sharing, the different purposes of the two sites is clear to any  
who use them.

It is essential that we build social features into our libraries.  
Comments, easy linkability (short, sensical URLs), and findability in  
search engines are must haves in our systems. But that isn't enough.  
We also need outstanding librarians to breath life into them.  
Librarians who can speak in a post-Cluetrain voice, and be accepted  
and respected in Facebook, Second Life, and in the comment threads in  
our own libraries.


--Casey Bisson
__________________________________________

Information Architect
Plymouth State University
Plymouth, New Hampshire
http://MaisonBisson.com
ph: 603-535-2256


On Jan 14, 2008, at 8:56 AM, Suzanne Chapman wrote:

> I think it just means that some students don't equate social  
> networking with
> research or being productive. This may change over the next few  
> years or
> perhaps something new will come out that will be better suited for  
> both
> social and educational purposes.
>
> Some students are just now starting to figure out that it may not be  
> a good
> idea to post compromising pictures of themselves on the web - so the  
> idea
> that they'd "friend" some librarian is understandably weird.
>
> -suzanne
>
>
>
> On 1/14/08 8:19 AM, "Vaughn-Tucker, Dani A."
> <dvaughntucker at osterhout.lib.pa.us> wrote:
>
>> 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
>>
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