LIS 9763

I have to say this week's readings appeal to me much more on a theoretical level (related to sociology, cultural studies, info & media studies) than on the practical level required for this course.  I found Danah Boyd's article particularly insightful; it comes as no surprise she is considered an expert on social networking sites. 
 
Meredith Farkas highlights that soliciting user feedback and library portals are two ways in which some libraries have successfully used online social networks (OSN).  When I looked at the case studies, the first thought that occured to me was that the portals look pretty unappealing from an aesthetic point of view.  On top of that, the way information is laid out on the page probably breaks all sorts of web design and usability rules.  The profiles looked very busy and disorganized.  I'm presenting taking the Web Design course and we talked about the behaviours of web users and how they "look" for information in an online environemnt.  It comes down to not making someone think.  The content and design of a website/page should intuitively lead the user to the information she/he is looking for.  If a user has to think too hard to figure out how to navigate the site to get to information or understand what the site is about, she/he will leave.  It seems to me that profiles on social network sites all conform to some sort of template.  You can customize it somewhat but not to the point that maximizes design and usability.  One of the comments to Farkas' blog mentioned the same problem.  If libraries intend to use MySpace or Facebook as a library portal to present information, they'll have to address this issue of usability.
 
Using OSN to get feedback from users reminds me of blogs and how they can accomplish the same goal.  The difference may be the intimacy level that can be generated by OSN.  A feedback blog will be associated with the library as a whole (e.g.Virginia Commonwealth University - Library Suggestion Blog) while librarians (through their individual Facebook profiles) can develop closer relationships with their patrons that generate feedback.  To evaluate the impact/effectiveness of OSN incorporation into library functions, more research should be done similar to the informal stats compiled by the Penn State University librarian in Mack, Behler, Roberts, and Rimland's article.  As always, it's one thing to implement, but another to evaluate the usefulness of social software in libraries. 
 
I don't have a Facebook account, and as far as I'm concerned, I don't need one--on a personal level; however I'm beginning to see the benefits of having one for professional reasons, particularly in terms of library outreach.  I remember a guest speaker in my Advanced Reference course talking about liason activities and saying that being on Facebook allows her to communicate with faculty and students and stay on top of faculty news, events, and research.  This guest speaker was an English subject librarian.  This week's readings emphasize the popularity of OSN among youth and higher education students but it seems faculty can also be counted among users.