Media Sharing
This week’s readings and case studies shed some valuable light on how libraries should be engaging their users through the use of familiar technologies. This topic came up in previous weeks when we touched upon things like Facebook, but there were many underlying issues with these types of technologies that prevented libraries from incorporating them into their organization. Thankfully, this is not so much the case with media sharing tools like Flickr and YouTube.
The two tools for this week are ones that allow libraries to reach out to their users in ways that they were not able to before. I think that the greatest example of this is the Georgia Tech YouTube Channel. These videos provide valuable info that was previously limited to summary sheets or via in-person instruction at the library. But the reality is that users should not be required to travel to a physical library in order to obtain this type of information. And some users just outright refuse to do this regardless of how hard we try to get them into the physical library. Having video tutorials about topics like citing resources can be very valuable to users. Not only are users becoming increasingly dependent on what the library has to offer in terms on online content, but it also helps to break down many of the barriers that exists in terms of access. Many rural public libraries are constantly struggling with the issue of physical space and many users are not able to make it to the library as regularly as they (and librarians) might hope. Rural roads, harsh winter weather, and so on, can sometimes make it difficult for these patrons to travel to the library. Providing online videos through YouTube can help these users to get the direction they need and it truly gives librarians a way to reach out to their users.
Flickr also helps to break down some of the physical barriers that exist to users. Personally, I would LOVE to be able to visit the Library of Congress one day. But the reality of the situation is that this likely won’t happen for quite some time. Photo sharing tools like Flickr can help me, and other like-users, to explore some of the amazing resources that are available at this library without having to purchase an expensive plane ticket. YouTube and Flickr are both tools that should be explored by all libraries. There is a lot of potential in these tools that can be exploited by libraries in order to help reach their users.
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Kelly, This might be a
Kelly,
This might be a little off-topic, but do you think that these kind of tutorials/media sharing tools are more helpful in smaller libraries than in larger libraries? I find that larger public and univeristy libraries tend to have so much images, graphics and links leading everywhere on their websites that things tend to get buried. It's like information overload and people are able to notice only maybe 5-10% of the content. I think you can strip at least 50% of content from some of these websites before the users will even notice a difference.