Implement Social networks into the library
by zchang3 ~ July 25th, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.This week we are discussing web/library 2.0, and our group project is “Tag clouds in the OPAC”. Actually, there are so many issues I don’t know about although this is a hot topic since I started my program at SLAIS. I am pleased to take more than a month to learn this topic. As information professionals, why must we learn social networks? How can we integrate them into the library services? In the articleLibrarians Face Online Social Networks, Breeding states, “The natural early adopters tend to include two groups: the millennials that gravitate to all forms of media and communication and those with techie tendencies.”(p. 30)
Online social networks are widespread among web users of all generations. Many social tools exceed their original purposes, and have added more features and captured more users. For example, Flickr is a great social networking tool since its start as an initial photo sharing platform. Likewise, Facebook is not limited to students and serves as a comfortable venue for all sorts of conversations and interactions such as wall postings, status changes and tagging. (Breeding, 2007) While observing the fact that social networks are becoming mainstream, librarians should get involved in building interconnections within the virtual community to discover ways to improve library services and reach out to users who walk away from OPACs. In this sense, putting Tag clouds onto the existing traditional OPAC is an ambitious attempt of enhancing user-friendly library 2.0. In doing so, we must bear in mind, only when librarians strategically plan and implement Web 2.0 technologies into library’s innovations, library 2.0 can have the expected impact on users and the library evolution. (Cvetkovic, 2009)
July 27th, 2010 at 11:16 am
You’ve made a good point about the need to “strategically plan and implement” Web 2.0 features into library technology. I completely agree! All too often, libraries dive into a new technology just because they are becoming popular in the wider culture – and the strategic planning step is missed. We need to understand how social media reflects and furthers our institution’s goals and mission before implementation.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Hi Jack,
I think this is an ambitious plan, but to be honest, I still have a difficult time using most databases and indexes through a traditional library catalog. I think the interface for most of them are inadequate. I know that UBC, for instance, has tried to make this easier with their new “search for articles” format, but this inevitably fails. I can put in an article title for author name, and I have yet to see results come up that match what I’m looking for. I think until these basic problems are solved, tag clouds can wait!
July 31st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Good post, Jack. I agree that Web 2.0 platforms represent an important opportunity for libraries to reach out to patrons beyond the OPAC. In essence they can build stronger bonds of community not only between the library and its users, but among users as well. One thing I am interested in is this need for ‘strategic planning.’ As I have mentioned in my own blog, it almost seems this need for careful planning is something that institutions need to do a little less. Some planning is needed, of course, but I wonder if libraries need to dive into social media and adopt a little more of the playful stance that most of us (should) adopt in discovering our personal online identities.
August 1st, 2010 at 12:52 pm
It’s funny – just as you mention that facebook was originally ‘by students – for students’, I’m thrown back to 2005 – and trying to remember why MySpace wasn’t able to keep it’s top spot in the social media world. Would the online landscape be significantly different if everyone still had a MySpace account, and facebook maintained its limited mandate to serve only students?