Suggested Readings
(Huge thanks to Anne Marie Gruber at the University of Dubuque!)
Mathews, Brian S. Do You Facebook? College & Research Libraries News, 67(5), May 2006, pp306-307.
Using Online Networking to Engage and Retain Students. Recruitment & Retention in Higher Education, 20(4), April 2006, pp1-5.
MySpace is Your Space: Virtual Social Networks and Library Outreach Session at 11th California Academic & Research Libraries (CARL) Conference, Beyond the Ivory Tower: Creative Strategies for Learning & Leading, April 20-23, 2006.
Presentation slides and handout available from: http://gort.ucsd.edu/myoung/
The New Media Consortium & EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. (2006). The Horizon Report. Accessed September 04, 2006 from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2006_Horizon_Report.pdf
Research on Social Network Sites
(Huge thanks to Heather Huey at the New Jersey Institute of Technology!)
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2006/08/19/research_on_soc.html
Libraries with MySpace Profiles for Teens
(Huge thanks to Kelly Czarnecki at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County!)
http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=MySpace_%26_Teens
55 Respondents
17 – No Facebook or MySpace, but INTERESTED in pursuing
4 – No Facebook or MySpace; NEGATIVE impression or experience
9 – LIBRARIES with profiles on MySpace
7 – LIBRARIANS with profiles on MySpace
10 – LIBRARIES with profiles on Facebook (approx. 20%)
11– LIBRARIANS with profiles on Facebook
3 – GROUPS for the library and/or library workers on Facebook
Note: There is some overlap, as some libraries have profiles on both MySpace and Facebook.
While Facebook seems to have the strongest presence in the academic community, a surprising number of respondents were MySpace users as well; one school even cited a higher number of students with MySpace profiles than with Facebook profiles.
Some interesting issues and/or dialogues that emerged in responses:
· Isabel Espinal (University of Massachusetts) offered a response from a student who said that a library presence on Facebook and MySpace – supposedly the students’ space – would be “cool” and “not all that intrusive.”
· Brooklyn College Library had an article published about their online networking: Carlson, Scott. (May 19, 2006). The library at CUNY’s Brooklyn College makes friends on MySpace. Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(37), A33.
· One library was forced to remove their MySpace profile because of administrative decisions resulting from discussions that had gone on behind the library staff’s back
· And perhaps the funniest statement in all the responses, “If I am guilty of intruding on “their space,” then pardon my sarong!” (Thanks to Gary Klein at Willamette University for that day-brightener!)
Overall Issues and Concerns
· How do we aggressively market our online presence to students without their thinking us intrusive or annoying (e.g. by sending too many unwanted messages)?
o Passively exist and wait for students to find site and befriend library on their own
o Send out mass messages to students introducing library, then wait and see if they add library as a friend
o Add students as friends and wait for them to accept
o Target messages to members of library-related Facebook groups
o Create library group and either invite students or wait for them to find it
· Who would be responsible for maintaining online profiles? Should a committee be formed to make formal decisions prior to implementation and deal with issues as they arise after implementation?
· Should we publicly endorse sites that we discourage students from using in the library? (Many libraries have policies that strongly encourage academic use only on library computers.)
· How does the school’s administration/public relations committee/alumni/other important people we can’t really piss off feel about this issue?
· With MySpace especially, should we be endorsing corporate-owned space, gratuitous advertising, and remarkably crass content?
· How many of the features – brightly colored MySpace layouts, Facebook flyers, photo uploads, MySpace profile songs, Facebook groups, posting comments on walls, etc. – should we take advantage of? With something like this, is it “Go Big or Go Home,” or should there be some delineation between us and the student body? (I don’t think posting photos of library staffers doing keg stands, for example, would quite be the best way to reach our target audience. Although I am quite amused by the mental pictures I have right now. What would Nancy Pearl say??)
o Post pictures of library, library map or directory, staffers, and new resources on MySpace and Facebook
o Use MySpace blog to write about new resources
o Use “About Me” sections in MySpace and Facebook to publicize hours, resources, little-known facts (e.g. many students would not expect to find Walk the Line or The Devil Wears Prada (the novel) in an academic library. If they knew about these things, their opinion about the library may change.
o Post flyers on Facebook to advertise services/special events
· What kind of response do we expect from the students? How would we decide whether or not an online presence is “successful” or not?
o We can’t just throw a profile together, wait for students to find us, and then when we see little or no response, claim our efforts were “unsuccessful.” If we want to be successful, we must market ourselves – advertise via table tents in the dining hall or ads in the student newspaper. Throwing a profile out there and seeing if it sticks is fine if you’re just implementing a profile out of curiosity; however, if you expect results, you must find some way to encourage participation.
During my explorations on MySpace and Facebook, I saw more networking going on between different libraries and librarians than I did between libraries and students. This kind of networking has the potential to be extremely powerful. Even if we don’t end up reaching out to our entire constituent of students, we can form an online consortium of awesomeness that may eventually become big enough to take over the world. Both MySpace and Facebook allow the creation of global groups. Someone get on Facebook and create a global group for libraries and librarians only!
Also, quite a few librarians have been creating individual profiles instead of general library profiles. This works well with our nationwide movement to put a “face” with the library. If administration balks, or if you decide a library profile isn’t for you, think about personal profiles. Students, faculty, staff, and alums all have profiles on MySpace and Facebook It could be a great way to develop more personal relationships and get more students in the library.
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