Social Networking

I have a MySpace account and much as I loathe the whole system, it keeps me in touch with friends and what's going on around town. MySpace is so youth-oriented that libraries as a whole will definitely have trouble attracting viewers there. Libraries simply aren't "cool" in places like that.

However, youth programs like the YAAB are sure to grab a good level of interaction, since they've made the connections already with the kids in person and those kids' networks are now all connected with the library. I like FVRL's YAAB site and I think it was a great idea.

I'm not so familiar with Facebook, but I think it's a bit more mature, perhaps. Libraries might find a place there if they can appeal to the users. The focus should probably be on book picks and readers, not necessarily library cards or library programs.

People like libraries a lot, but they're usually not desirable on friend/contact lists for personal profiles on networking sites. Your library is your friend, but it's not your Friend.

Instant Messaging

I prefer e-mail to instant messages, but I can see how IM can be helpful, even more so than the phone, because it gives you a little time to think and revise your sentences. If you have a staffed reference desk, IM can be a great tool, but at a small branch like ours, where our circulation desk doubles as reference and our staff tops out at four, there might not always be someone there to type out responses. The IS dept at VA might be better equipped to field IM reference.

As far as communication between branches, IM only works if the two people are at their computers at the same time, which can be tricky with our varying hours, meetings, and field work. E-mails seem to work better for now.

I would be interested in trying a meebo application on our webpage to see how many people would respond, and how many staff would be available to answer their questions. I have a feeling we'd get a lot of immature comments and chatting, and some people who type very slowly. However, if there are a lot of web-savvy patrons who want to make inquiries this way, it would be an exciting new way to communicate with them.

News feeds

Feedster - the link wouldn't open for me

Topix.net - I added the top stories news feed because sometimes it's handier to scan headlines than browse articles. But when I started to browse comments, I lost my faith in humanity again. An article on the tragic school shooting in Illinois brought up all the nastiest bickering about gun control. I think maybe I will just stick to the articles.

Syndicate - a bit too technical for me. I had no idea to start here but poked around and came up with a lot of technical gibberish. I finally found a feed I wanted and figured out how to add it to Bloglines, but I can see how confusing this might be for many people.

Google Blog Search - I typed "library" in and got an awful lot of blogs mentioning library, but not many actually focusing on libraries. Maybe if I played abound with the advance search, I could find more, but I was lazy. I can see how this might be handy, but how many people actually search for blogs? Usually we stumble upon the ones we like and want to keep reading.

Technorati - Similar to Topix.net, lots of articles with people saying whatever they feel like. I don't like having to click on the blurb and then click on the link to the article. Why can't it just take me straight to the article? I don't care about what all the web crawlers have to say about it.

Library Weblogs - I found a few with LISWiki that might be helpful, but the ones on The Blogging Libraries Wiki seemed too specific. It might be interesting to peek in on what the Seattle Friends are doing, or what programs the main library in Portugal is putting on, but I don't see any purpose in subscribing to their blogs.

I think patrons might enjoy getting news from their favorite sites. If the library wanted to start a blog, the best ideas might be one advertising upcoming programs and one on book picks and/or new books.