[Web4lib] Facebook

Fri Sep 11 00:05:10 EDT 2009

David Cloutman raises some very interesting points...

Bernie Sloan

--- On Thu, 9/10/09, Cloutman, David <DCloutman at co.marin.ca.us> wrote:

> From: Cloutman, David <DCloutman at co.marin.ca.us>
> Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Facebook
> To: "web4lib at webjunction.org" <Web4lib at webjunction.org>
> Date: Thursday, September 10, 2009, 8:42 PM
> I read about libraries trying
> Facebook all the time, and I've held off,
> even though I use the site myself. Initially, I was
> hesitant because it
> was another information silo to monitor, and I wasn't
> certain where the
> platform was going. Of course it may change, but what I
> have seen since
> the last revision of the site makes me want to steer clear
> of it. 
> 
> As pointed out below, you can publish new about your
> library (good)
> which will show up in the feeds of your "fans" (good). What
> often
> happens after that is some of your fans, who would not have
> communicated
> through Facebook ordinarily start commenting, and possibly
> dialoging.
> This can be good or bad, but consider this real life
> scenario.
> 
> I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have several fine
> aquariums
> here, but the best known is a little further south in
> Monterey. I saw
> that other people I know had become fans of the Monterey
> Bay Aquarium
> myself.
> 
> The Aquarium folks were pretty good. They didn't over post,
> and usually
> what they did put in my feed was mildly entertaining and
> occasionally
> made the think, "Ooo... pretty fish." Then one day they
> posted about how
> they had trained their sea otters to do tricks for the
> public, and a
> major meltdown followed.
> 
> One person posted a comment that they didn't believe
> training the otters
> to do tricks was in keeping with the scientific and
> educational mission
> of the Aquarium, which has a reputation of bring a fairly
> serious
> institution that does hard science. Another person posted
> back that they
> knew sea otters in captivity got bored, and this was a good
> way to
> engage them. Someone else posted that it was cruel to keep
> sea otters at
> all. Then the F-bomb started dropping, and pretty soon
> there were
> hundreds of angry, opinionated, aquarium fans cussing each
> other out, a
> pretty stark contrast to the high scale, family friendly
> experience one
> gets making an actual experience.
> 
> So now I'm not a fan of the Monterey Bay Aquarium because
> of how their
> fans behaved.
> 
> Basically, my point is this. If you're going to do Facebook
> for your
> organization, you've got to think seriously about how
> you're going to
> monitor comments and keep everything civil. Personally, I
> don't want my
> patrons getting in swearing matches about some esoteric
> library policy
> or spend time policing them. Perhaps I'm being too risk
> adverse, but I
> don't want a negative online experience that I have minimal
> control over
> damaging the reputation of my institution. Of course,
> others' mileage
> may vary.
> 
> - David
> 
> ---
> David Cloutman <dcloutman at co.marin.ca.us>
> Electronic Services Librarian
> Marin County Free Library 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org]
> On Behalf Of Andrew Bangert
> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:28 AM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Facebook
> 
> 
> Michael,
> 
> Aside from the potential for interaction (absent from most
> library web 
> sites),  it is about pushing information to students.
> 
> To expand on what Chester said, regarding putting the
> library where 
> students will encounter it as part of their normal
> routines,
> it isn't just about being at hand, but about not requiring
> them to come 
> to you at all, anywhere, in order to learn of something.
> 
> If a student follows (becomes a "fan" of) the library FB
> page, updates 
> to the page will show up in the stream of updates that is
> the student's 
> FB homepage.
> It is a way to reach into the stream of information that
> they are paying
> 
> attention to, to drop information they aren't seeking out
> in their lap.
> 
> As others have pointed out, you can use the FB page as a
> conduit for 
> existing RSS or Twitter feeds.  Doing so puts these
> feeds in a form that
> 
> a student, rather than a 30 year old blogger, developer,
> etc., might 
> actually use and monitor.
> 
> -Andrew
> 
> Mitchell, Michael wrote:
> > What are the advantages of Facebook over Web pages on
> the library Web
> > site? I'm afraid I really don't understand. I just
> don't see anything
> > special there. I'm really asking, not trolling.
> >
> >
> > Michael Mitchell
> > Technical Services Librarian
> > Brazosport College
> > Lake Jackson, TX
> > michael.mitchell at brazosport.edu 
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> > [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org]
> On Behalf Of Leo Robert Klein
> > Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 9:22 AM
> > To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> > Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Facebook
> >
> > John Fereira wrote:
> >   
> >> Christine Zeitler wrote:
> >>     
> >>> One of the academic libraries at which I work
> is attempting to
> decide
> >>>       
> > if
> >   
> >>> they want to use Facebook to interact with the
> students.  
> >>>       
> >> I think that the more important question here is
> whether students
> want
> >>     
> >
> >   
> >> to use Facebook to interact with libraries.
> >>     
> >
> > Good point but increasingly it seems as if Facebook is
> more an entry 
> > point for various types of communication, including
> friends of course,
> 
> > but also professional and personal interests.
> >
> > I mean, just looking at my own list, I've got the
> Chicago Historical 
> > Society, a couple of my old schools and something
> called 'Static FBML'
> 
> > whose meaning I honestly can't remember.
> >
> > Assuming a similar collection (adjusted for age) on
> the part of our 
> > users and I don't think it's too exotic if the library
> starts banging
> on
> >
> > their Facebook door as well.
> >
> > LEO
> >
> > -- -------------------
> > www.leoklein.com (site)
> > www.ChicagoLibrarian.com (blog)
> >
> > aim/msn/yhoo/goog: 'leorobertklein'
> > -- -------------------------------
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
> >   
> 
> 
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