Deep Thoughts on Social Networking

So I'm sitting here in San Diego, looking at the sunny blue skies, enjoying the breeze of the 60 degree weather... and pondering all the homework I have stacked up with Project Play... immediately I turn my wistful gaze from the great weather and hunker down at a laptop, determined to pen some "deep thoughts" on social networking.

Although, depending on your point of view, these may be as deep as a wading pool. Anyhoo...

I rather enjoyed "Winnie Fox's" myspace page - I think it incorporated a lot of great information. What I was really pleased to see on a few of these pages were links to their IM a Librarian. Some people have questions that may need a quick response time - so I believe it's fairly important - if a library HAS IM - to put that on their social networking page.

Libraries, unfortunately, for many many years have had a reputation of being a quiet (cue librarians shushing) and a somewhat somber place to be. IE You have to be quiet all the time, no talking, just reading.... yada yada yada. Giving a library a presence on a major social network ups its "cool" factor. And, while that may sound weird to some people, for others - especially teens and younger adults - being "cool" is an important way to get them into the library. So, whereas you might not get your traditional library users through facebook and myspace, you might get some non-traditional non-library users who might really deepen the dimensions of your patron base - allowing you to reach patrons of all sorts.

Of course you might also get your fair share of whackos - but I believe all of us have seen that whackos come from anywhere, not just the Internet.

If we want to lobby for libraries - legislate for libraries - keep spreading the message how important we are to public welfare - establishing a presence on a major site like myspace is critical.

My deep thoughts for today - time to sip my pina colada....

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Merry Christmas in November rant

Does anyone else think that stores get into the Christmas thing way too early? Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas.

Opening presents, getting stuffed on food, peace and goodwill to all - what's not to like?

But, seriously, people, get a grip and don't play Christmas music until AFTER Thanksgiving! I kinda feel sorry for Thanksgiving - it's like the red-headed stepchild of holidays. I think we need to demand Thanksgiving Carols and Thanksgiving Trees. And by the time I actually GET to Christmas - I'm glutted with the overabundance of sentimental commercialism, the smell of fake pine, and chirpy little salespeople who get paid squat to push their products on you.

But what do I know? I'm the weirdo that prefers warm sunshine and beaches for Christmas, not messy, icky, dirty snow we like to think is "white."

I'm also probably considered anti-American because I don't I don't like baseball OR apple pie.

Go figure. (I think I need some anti-cynicism medicine this morning.)

Tag, YOU'RE IT!

Cue "pontificating" music - as I settle down in to lecture mode:

Tagging can be a very useful tool... oh, nevermind the pompous language... let's start this little post over again...

I like the idea of patrons "tagging" library materials. For Pete's sake, the ordinary patron has no clue about "controlled vocabulary" or official LOC language so, oftentimes, they put in how they think of searching for an item and it yields zilch results in the catelogue. Now, wouldn't it be nice if Infosoup or other catalogues were enabled such that a patron, when they see an item they want, can "tag" it so next time they're looking for it, they can put the tag word into the search bar and it would yield the item! It'd be pretty helpful for OPAC searching - as patrons aren't always very knowledgeable on how to find things. (I'm still not all that great at advanced keyword searching - much less Sue Jones or John Smith. (Both of whom are my BEST friends... ;0 )

As for tagging being unsettling - on the contrary, the wild uncontrollableness of it is liberating! No restrictions, no goofy Sears headings... none of that "by the book" stuff... how wonderful.

I am now waiting for the rotten tomatoes from the cataloguers....

(Not so) Deep thoughts about Flickr

Flickr or Shutterfly are extremely useful for library events, especially those with a lot of child participation. Kids love getting their pictures taken - and it is a GREAT way to advertise your library and services by showing patrons - young and old alike - having fun at the library. Potential cons? People are pretty leary about having their personal information (including photo) on the Internet for all to see. A possible way to circumvent this is simply posting a picture of patrons involved in library usage without any personal identifiers... such as name, last name, etc.,

Any additional potential issues can be addressed by drafting a sensible "personal photo usage" policy which patrons can read before agreeing to have their picture posted.

Another bonus? You can do a lot of fun stuff with Flickr... can't wait to fiddle with it some more... maybe put a mustache on my stogie picture...

Relaxing in Texas

When my mind is overworked with Project Play, I sometimes need a bit of a change of pace....

My favorite quote of all time

"Eagles may soar but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." A fabulous quote - especially in the business world. On that inspirational note, I wish you all a great WLA and weekend.