On social networking and libraries....
I think that whether we have a presence on various social networking sites or not, it's important for us to be informed about and open to them. Lots of libraries have MySpace pages--some of them are pretty cool, some of them are really boring. It doesn't seem like any of them see all that much action, but it says something to me about the library and its staff that they're on MySpace in the first place. It says that they're interested in meeting their communities where they stand; in finding ways to be relevant to their target populations. And I think that's an essential pursuit. Louise and I have discussed establishing a MySpace page for the library, which we will probably do eventually. On the new website, we will almost certainly have an RSS feed for library news, events and commentary. In my daily work life, I feel that I am a more valuable reference librarian to the whole of our population if I am well-versed in the variety of options people have for communicating electronically.
Sites like Facebook and MySpace are increasingly a primary means of social communication, and not just for "kids" either. I have MySpace and Facebook accounts, both of which I use regularly to communicate with friends and/or colleagues. Some might consider me a kid--compared to the average age of our profession--but none of us is getting any younger, and none of this is going away any time soon. I also use LinkedIn, a social networking site focused on professional contacts. They all have their merits for me. I have the most friends and family members on MySpace. And they are all actually friends--meaning people I know personally, bands I've seen play, and a select group of other organizations I support or identify with. Facebook is the most fun, and is easier to use than MySpace. And LinkedIn has a totally different purpose, based on professional contacts that you can vouch for and vice versa. Each of them has been valuable to me for keeping in touch with or finding people I wouldn't be in touch with otherwise, or simply for being an easy way to communicate with people I am related to or see regularly.
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It's great to know that you're pretty well-versed in the different types of social networking sites out there. Now I know who to ask if anyone needs help!
It'd be neat to have a library Myspace page just as a way to get our name out there, but whether people would use it, I don't know...
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