LIS 9763

When preparing our Media Sharing project last week, one of the biggest issues we encountered was control over the content, and this includes the advertising on free resources. And while a frequent user of the internet might not think much of the tons of advertising thrown our way, libraries have to be careful to cater to all demographics. I think, although slightly dramatic and over the top, David Lee King makes a decent point.
 
There are still groups for whom the internet is not a pervasive entity, and still somewhat of a novelty. And all it takes is one patient to stir the pot, and the library could be in a world of trouble. This (along with content ownership and legal issues with regards to hosting content externally) is one of the reasons I think libraries need to be ultra-cautious when using free resources to promote or provide their services. In reality, it’s not free. The service is being paid for with users’ time and energy.
 
In terms of using 2.0 technologies to promote the library: Yes. I think they are great resources for promotion of library services – when used properly. As with any strong marketing plan, effort must be made to use the tools well. Just because it’s free it doesn’t mean it should look free. I think this is one of the biggest downfalls of recent library utilization of the 2.0 technologies – it looks half-baked.  Often I’m embarrassed for the library when I see Facebook accounts, Myspace accounts, youtube videos that clearly had some enthusiasm directed towards them at the beginning, but which seems to always eventually taper off. I think my biggest criticism is that these types of projects never seem to be planned all the way through, and to properly market something (and to do it successfully!) it should be planned thoroughly prior to implementation.
 
I realize that I’m full of criticisms with very viable suggestions, but the fact is, libraries aren’t going to be able to properly utilize 2.0 for marketing until they restructure their budgets to include time towards these projects as legitimate library promotion tools.