LIS 9763

Of the readings this week, the Farkas blog entry identified what I consider to be the most relevant thing libraries should keep in mind when exploring the possibilities offered to them by social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. While Mack, et. al. claim that “if librarians truly wish to be where students are, Facebook is an effective way to reach them,” Farkas clarifies that, “there is a big difference between ‘being where our patrons are’ and ‘being USEFUL to our patrons where they are.’”
 
With this in mind, I have come up with a few things that I think libraries should and should not consider doing on/ with/in regards to social networking sites if they wish to stay “useful”:

• In line with Farkas’ sentiments in her blog, libraries should not create profiles, groups or fan pages on social networking sites that simply feature the location of their library, the hours that they are open and a few pictures of their facilities (though many, many do). Without dynamic and frequently updated content, people are unlikely to visit the site or become engaged members. At the same time, librarians are apt to forget about the site, which could result in information like library hours not being updated when changes are made. Bottom line is, for this kind of information, the library’s own homepage is a much more practical, reliable source for this type of information, and I will safely assume that most patrons realize this. 

• Libraries should use sites like Facebook to promote events. Creating groups for specific library events and inviting users within a university network (or other regional, relevant network), for instance, is an easy way of reaching a broad population. Furthermore, it increases the chances of people finding out about events who might not look at the library website or other places used for event promotion.  

• Libraries should use sites like Facebook to ask users for suggestions and feedback about library services and resources. Libraries should not, however, disregard comments that people make, and should instead commit to timely responses to all who contribute their opinion. (And libraries should also realize that sites like Facebook afford people no anonymity when giving feedback, which may limit the types of things people will contribute).

• Libraries should keep track of groups on social networking sites that others have created about their services. There are, for instance, a number of groups that have sprung up over the years that speak to services at McMaster University Libraries (e.g., complaints that they aren't open 24/7, and about various library renovation projects) that offer staff a valuable opportunity to gain library feedback they might not receive otherwise.  

• Libraries should create virtual social spaces for their users if they identify that there is a need and/or interest. These measures can be useful as a means of outreach and simply as a way to engage their users. This could be particularly successful among teens, where the library can not only encourage their interests in library resources, but various other topical and appealing areas (the My Own Café serves as a great example, as does the UWO Live Journal [though it’s not library-related, maybe it could be]). When we created our group project this week, we had the same notion in mind. We wanted something relevant, fresh, and directed toward a specific group of users who were likely to be interested in the types of content/resources and opportunities for engagement with others we were providing access to.

• Libraries should create and support applications/ widgets for social networking sites that lead to such things as library catalogues and virtual chat services (as exemplified on Hennepin County’s FB page). I remain unconvinced that examples of these are widely used or more convenient than going straight to a library homepage. However, they do offer users another access point, so they are worth a shot, so long as the library has the time and resources to promote and maintain them.  

• Libraries should moderate the content that is on their social networking sites, and set clear terms of service that define what is and is not appropriate. This can help ensure a friendly and inclusive environment for all.  

• Libraries should strive to keep their social networking spaces structured and professional looking whenever possible. Though this can be difficult on sites like Facebook and Myspace, which do not afford users a lot of control over layout, it’s still possible to do what one can to avoid clutter and spam, which thus makes the site hard to navigate and engage with.  

• Be wary of site updates. Every time Facebook and Myspace make “improvements” to their layouts, they confuse the masses and throw things out of whack. For instance, I just went to McMaster’s Mills Library fan page since I was going to comment on its clean layout and use of widgets. However, due to recent changes Facebook has made, it now has a number of new tabs that make it look disjointed and unmanageable. Even over the three weeks that we were making changes to our group project on www.ning.com, they made a series of changes without warning, which included moving and altogether redesigning their chat feature.

• Finally, this is somewhat unrelated, but Farkas brought it up so I will too. In (academic) libraries themselves, library staff should non-aggressively take measures to ensure students are not hogging computers for the purpose of being on social networking sites for non-research purposes when others need these machines for their schoolwork. I am not suggesting that they ban Facebook or Myspace access from public computers. However, a few signs asking students to be cognizant of others’ research needs at times when available computers are scarce would help matters.  

All in all, I think libraries have a place on social networks, but it needs to be a place with a purpose. Furthermore, these efforts need to be treated with the same professional commitment that library homepages and other library services receive, with proper updates, engagement, and relevance to users’ needs.