RE: Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't Be Left In The Dust...

So does this mean that librarians/information professionals
should
consider throwing in the towel when it comes to using
current social
networking sites?  Or, could this be this generation's
reaction to the
older generation's reaction to using the telephone for
reference
services?  Probably a stretch, but I'm sure there were
people back in
the day who were saying, "If I want library assistance,
I'll go into the
library.  I don't want to call'em up."  

I think using social networking sites is a proactive option
that should
be used without being intrusive into the lives of the
patrons (e.g.
library's probably should not actively friend patrons, but
should allow
patrons to friend them).

Regards,
 
Dani 
 
"Success is nothing without someone you love to share
it with..." Billy
Dee Williams in Mahogany
 
 
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf Of Gerry
Mckiernan
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 5:14 PM
To: lita-lala1.ala.org; asis-Lasis.org; web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't Be
Left In The
Dust...

***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS***
Colleagues/

I have discovered A Most Interesting Post That Has Thrown
Chills Up My
Liver [

[University of Michigan Survey] / Posted December 15, 2007
/
userslib.com 

QUESTION: If you could contact a librarian via Facebook or
MySpace for
help with your research, would you? If not, why?

Data/Analysis

A total of 23% of respondents stated that *yes* or *maybe*
they
would be interested in contacting a librarian via these two
social
networking sites.

Undergrads had a slightly higher than average percentage of
34%.

Nearly half of the total respondents stated they would not
be
interested, but for various reasons - the biggest reason
being that they
feel the current methods (in-person, email, IM) are more
than
sufficient. 14% said no because they felt it was
inappropriate or that
Facebook/MySpace is a social tool, not a research tool.

Links / Graphics / And More at 

[
http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com
/2008/01/data-students-facebook-
library-outreach.html
]
[ http://onli
nesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/ ]

Thanks to Suzanne Chapman, interface and user testing
specialist for
the University of Michigan Library*s Digital Library
Production
Service, and Team !!!

>From A Snowing Central Iowa ...

/Gerry 

Gerry McKiernan
Associate Professor
Science and Technology Librarian
Iowa State University Library
Ames IA 50011

gerrymckiastate.edu 

There is Nothing More Powerful Than  An Idea Whose Time Has
Come 
Victor Hugo 
[ h
ttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ]

Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind
Blows

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
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bjunction.org/web4lib/
_______________________________________________
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bjunction.org/web4lib/

I think it just means that some students don't equate social
networking with
research or being productive. This may change over the next
few years or
perhaps something new will come out that will be better
suited for both
social and educational purposes.

Some students are just now starting to figure out that it
may not be a good
idea to post compromising pictures of themselves on the web
- so the idea
that they'd "friend" some librarian is
understandably weird.

-suzanne



On 1/14/08 8:19 AM, "Vaughn-Tucker, Dani A."
<dvaughntuckerosterhout.lib.pa.us> wrote:

> So does this mean that librarians/information
professionals should
> consider throwing in the towel when it comes to using
current social
> networking sites?  Or, could this be this generation's
reaction to the
> older generation's reaction to using the telephone for
reference
> services?  Probably a stretch, but I'm sure there were
people back in
> the day who were saying, "If I want library
assistance, I'll go into the
> library.  I don't want to call'em up."
> 
> I think using social networking sites is a proactive
option that should
> be used without being intrusive into the lives of the
patrons (e.g.
> library's probably should not actively friend patrons,
but should allow
> patrons to friend them).
> 
> Regards,
>  
> Dani 
>  
> "Success is nothing without someone you love to
share it with..." Billy
> Dee Williams in Mahogany
>  
>  
>  
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf
Of Gerry Mckiernan
> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 5:14 PM
> To: lita-lala1.ala.org; asis-Lasis.org; web4libwebjunction.org
> Subject: [Web4lib] Facebook for Library Outreach :
Don't Be Left In The
> Dust...
> 
> ***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS***
> Colleagues/
> 
> I have discovered A Most Interesting Post That Has
Thrown Chills Up My
> Liver [
> 
> [University of Michigan Survey] / Posted December 15,
2007 /
> userslib.com 
> 
> QUESTION: If you could contact a librarian via Facebook
or MySpace for
> help with your research, would you? If not, why?
> 
> Data/Analysis
> 
> A total of 23% of respondents stated that *yes* or
*maybe* they
> would be interested in contacting a librarian via these
two social
> networking sites.
> 
> Undergrads had a slightly higher than average
percentage of 34%.
> 
> Nearly half of the total respondents stated they would
not be
> interested, but for various reasons - the biggest
reason being that they
> feel the current methods (in-person, email, IM) are
more than
> sufficient. 14% said no because they felt it was
inappropriate or that
> Facebook/MySpace is a social tool, not a research
tool.
> 
> Links / Graphics / And More at
> 
> [
> http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com
/2008/01/data-students-facebook-
> library-outreach.html
> ]
> [ http://onli
nesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/ ]
> 
> Thanks to Suzanne Chapman, interface and user testing
specialist for
> the University of Michigan Library*s Digital Library
Production
> Service, and Team !!!
> 
>> From A Snowing Central Iowa ...
> 
> /Gerry 
> 
> Gerry McKiernan
> Associate Professor
> Science and Technology Librarian
> Iowa State University Library
> Ames IA 50011
> 
> gerrymckiastate.edu
> 
> There is Nothing More Powerful Than  An Idea Whose Time
Has Come
> Victor Hugo 
> [ h
ttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ]
> 
> Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West
Wind Blows
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Hi, all,

Some excellent questions here. This is not the first report
that has come back questioning WHY libraries are spending so
much time in social tech right now. One earlier report was
looking at the metrics of where do our patrons live -- sort
of "if only 10% of all undergrads use Facebook, why is
the library wasting time there?"

I agree that there are economics involved. We all have
budgets growing ever tighter for both stuff and folk
(collections and staff). Some of the social tech tools can
be useful immediately in providing content to our existing
"faces" (web pages) via RSS etc. With social
networking, in particular when compared with other social
tech tools, the return on investment may not be as
immediately obvious. That is, if you are taking the short
view of the timeline, looking for immediate ROI. ;)

Libraries and librarians have historically tried very hard
to balance the long view with the short view. We all know
that we are in a time of change, and that a new type of
information environment is evolving. We do not, at this
point in time, know what shape that environment will take.
We can hazard an educated guess that social elements will be
integral to the new information environment if for no other
reason than that Homo sapiens is a social creature. We tend
to embed social elements in every aspect of what we do. As a
species, we are not lone wolves. 

Assuming the validity of the prior paragraph, it would
behoove those of us who are able to explore widely in the
new social tech environments. We don't know which directions
will become the important ones. At this time of rapid
change, positioning ourselves to respond rapidly means
diversifying and decentralizing. I read a blog somewhere
that talked about being a tech ninja. We need for SOME of us
(non necessarily all of us) to be information ninjas --
positioned quietly in the background of daily operations but
able to function convincingly as a worker in the same daily
environment, focused, flexible, light on the balls of our
feet, able to shift direction rapidly, scanning the
environment in all directions, hands loose, both willing and
able to move swiftly.

I assume that many of you will have already read the IBM GIO
report on leadership and gaming. One of the key take home
points from the report is that IBM is looking to hire people
who use the online game World of Warcraft (WoW).
"Hunh?", you might say. Well, listen to why. In
WoW, progress is made toward goals by teams. In those teams
you have a mix of skills and abilities. For a specific task,
one person might have many relevant skills and became a team
leader for the purpose of successfully completing that task.
Upon the resolution of that task, that individual may return
to the role of a supporting team member while others will
step into leadership roles for other tasks. The basic
concept here is Flexible Leadership within a strong team. 

This is not just an interesting idea corporate is taking on,
but a lesson for us as well. The idea of being flexible is
central to our future. For now, that means keeping an eye on
many tech innovations and a foot in several. Not all of them
will be a success, but if we aren't ready, we won't be able
to move quickly into those that do become important. If we
aren't where our patrons are, if we aren't there (wherever
it turns out to be) when they get there, we aren't relevant.
Some of us are not just responding to the flow with the
rest, but are instead the scouts, the front runners who
report back to our group.

Just pondering the issues here. Feel free to poke holes in
this thought process. 

 -- Patricia Anderson, pfaumich.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org on behalf of
Vaughn-Tucker, Dani A.
Sent: Mon 1/14/2008 8:19 AM
To: Gerry Mckiernan; lita-lala1.ala.org; asis-Lasis.org;
web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't
Be Left In TheDust...
 
So does this mean that librarians/information professionals
should
consider throwing in the towel when it comes to using
current social
networking sites?  Or, could this be this generation's
reaction to the
older generation's reaction to using the telephone for
reference
services?  Probably a stretch, but I'm sure there were
people back in
the day who were saying, "If I want library assistance,
I'll go into the
library.  I don't want to call'em up."  

I think using social networking sites is a proactive option
that should
be used without being intrusive into the lives of the
patrons (e.g.
library's probably should not actively friend patrons, but
should allow
patrons to friend them).

Regards,
 
Dani 
 
"Success is nothing without someone you love to share
it with..." Billy
Dee Williams in Mahogany
 
 
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf Of Gerry
Mckiernan
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 5:14 PM
To: lita-lala1.ala.org; asis-Lasis.org; web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't Be
Left In The
Dust...

***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS***
Colleagues/

I have discovered A Most Interesting Post That Has Thrown
Chills Up My
Liver [

[University of Michigan Survey] / Posted December 15, 2007
/
userslib.com 

QUESTION: If you could contact a librarian via Facebook or
MySpace for
help with your research, would you? If not, why?

Data/Analysis

A total of 23% of respondents stated that *yes* or *maybe*
they
would be interested in contacting a librarian via these two
social
networking sites.

Undergrads had a slightly higher than average percentage of
34%.

Nearly half of the total respondents stated they would not
be
interested, but for various reasons - the biggest reason
being that they
feel the current methods (in-person, email, IM) are more
than
sufficient. 14% said no because they felt it was
inappropriate or that
Facebook/MySpace is a social tool, not a research tool.

Links / Graphics / And More at 

[
http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com
/2008/01/data-students-facebook-
library-outreach.html
]
[ http://onli
nesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/ ]

Thanks to Suzanne Chapman, interface and user testing
specialist for
the University of Michigan Library*s Digital Library
Production
Service, and Team !!!

>From A Snowing Central Iowa ...

/Gerry 

Gerry McKiernan
Associate Professor
Science and Technology Librarian
Iowa State University Library
Ames IA 50011

gerrymckiastate.edu 

There is Nothing More Powerful Than  An Idea Whose Time Has
Come 
Victor Hugo 
[ h
ttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ]

Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind
Blows

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/