LIS 9763

I’m in total agreement about how quickly this semester has flown by – shocking! Hard to believe this is my final blog post…but here we go with answers to the lucky 7 questions:
 
1.      Has your view of social software changed since starting this course? If so, how?
 

This week’s readings point to several important ways that social software has changed the web landscape, and thus the best practices we must incorporate into library services. To me, Shirky's (2008) video in which he discusses society’s current form of “cognitive surplus” is all about potential.

The marketing and evaluation of library services is definitely a challenging responsibility. As librarians, we are full of great ideas, and the enthusiasm to see them through to fruition. The tough part often comes in getting users to take advantage of our efforts, and this includes the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies into libraries. Unfortunately, simply creating a blog announcing new programs or a Facebook profile with links to various library services is not enough to maintain our relevance with users.

So I was talking with my supervisor at work the other day and she asked me what this week’s topic was in my distance course. When I told her it was media sharing, she immediately wanted to know the following: Is this a good thing for libraries? This question caused a long pause in the conversation because, unlike with other social software tools, I didn’t have a definite answer at hand. Frankly, I’m not entirely convinced.

In my blog post last week, I linked to an article against gaming in libraries written by a columnist at the Ottawa Citizen.
 
A reply from the City Librarian advocating for gaming in libraries has since been published, which prompts an interesting discussion about the definition of literacy, especially in relation to library missions and services.
 

After reviewing this week’s readings and case studies, two major issues related to gaming in libraries, specifically public and academic, stood out to me. The first is how gaming affects public library patronage, and whether this is a good thing. I bring this up because a public library where I worked had a teen area, which was always packed full of kids (not just teens actually) playing online games.

Do libraries have a place within online social networks? I say yes, there is great potential to reach current and potential users in a variety of meaningful ways, but we must tread carefully into this territory. As Roush (2006) illustrates, there are huge numbers of inhabitants in social networks – 95 million MySpace users in 2006…and then came the ridiculously successful advent of Facebook. If all of these people lived in one physical place, they would make up one of the most populated countries on the globe!

Hi All,

I'll be taking a blog holiday this week but continue to enjoy reading your posts. See you with my own again next week!

Hi Everyone,
 
I'll be taking a blog holiday this week but look forward to reading your posts. See you next week!

I really enjoyed the case studies from this week as I felt they encompassed what is both right and wrong with wikis. On the right side of things, I was quite taken by the Princeton Public Library book lovers’ wiki. I found it easy to navigate and especially liked how the library divided reviews by genre. Consistent overall structure is definitely key to wiki success. While not the most advanced wiki out there, this one captivated my attention.