Final Project ~ Some First Impressions: The Libraries

Here are some initial observations about the libraries I will be following for the rest of the term.

Kingston Frontenac Public Library ~ 132 Fans

This library is located in a smaller Ontario city.  Like the other facebook pages I observing Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) posts contact information such as hours, location, phone number and library website.

For profile pictures KFPL posts covers of different books that are held at their library.  This provides patrons with an ability to browse, at least partially, the shelfs of the library from home.  People can copy down titles and authors they are interested in, link to the library catalogue and look up, place holds and retrieve books that they found via the facebook page.  To me this seems like an innovative way to advertise to patrons books you have in your library.  It seems similar to books you put on display at the library.  I am curious to know if this virtual display of titles increases circulation of these items the way that an in library display increases circulation of displayed items.

KFPL also posts a book of the week on their facebook page.  When you click on the link you can view an excerpt of the original review.  Then to see the entire review you click the link which takes you to their own website.  This seems like a great way to increase traffic to the KFPL website.  However, I think that a cover photo attached to the weekly link would make it more enticing to read the book review.

Similarly to other sites KFPL advertises library events, changes in hours and branch openings.  On average they post 3-5 times per month.

Under their boxes tab they also post their library Twitter feed reader.

Despite their book review posts and event advertisements KFPL does not have many comments by fans.  It seems that people may be viewing posts but not commenting.  They have two recent comments one of which seems to be spam.  Their facebook page seems to be more of a gateway to their library page rather than a forum for comments and discussion. It seems like a successful way to encourage people to use their library site by providing access in a possibly more familiar way via facebook.

Vancouver Public Library ~ 997 Fans

In contrast to KFPL Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is situated in a much larger city.  As a result it has a greater fan base, and therefore a greater number of fans.  This seems to translate into more patron activity on their facebook page, however, not more comments.

Like the other facebook pages VPL lists their hours, phone number, website and location information.

VPL posts on average 3-5 times per month.  They advertise events along with links to RSVP to the events as well as view the guest list.  The events are also listed under and event heading showing them in chronological order.  VPL posted about a showing of “Carts of Darkness” a film about Vancouver Cart Racers.   This post received multiple comments, this may be a result of the film being locally relevant to patrons.  Otherwise patrons seem more likely to post a like or dislike rather than a comment.

VPL has a discussion tab where patrons as well as library staff can post discussion about different events or other related library topics.  Here VPL even bravely asks about feedback on their new website.  There has not been much response to discussion pieces that have been posted.  VPL received one positive comment about the new website.

On their wall VPL posts links to favorite videos and webpages as well as online reference services.

Despite attempts to foster discussion on a separate discussion tab there has been little response.  Most people feel more comfortable posting likes or dislikes about VPL’s posts rather than comments.  However, enabling patrons to RSVP and view the event guest list via facebook is an interesting feature and may encourage some people to come if they see their friends are going.  However, I wonder if there have been patron complaints about their participation in events being publicly accessible via facebook and the world wide web.

Overall, it seems that patrons are becoming fans of these library pages, commenting with likes or dislikes but despite the difference in the library’s sizes it did not increase the number of actual comments.  However, it does appear that each site acts as a link between facebook, a perhaps more familiar site to patrons, and their library website.

Is the Policy Taking Out the Freedom?

While looking at the case studies this week it made perfect sense that organizations would want to have a policy regarding social media.  It is important to ensure that employees know what is expected of them.  Furthermore, it is important to have a document that aids in discipline when an employee does not follow the expectations.  However, what I found interesting was the way that the public’s comments are mediated.  Understand that I realize comments that are hurtful, demeaning, racist or otherwise inappropriate must be mediated.  However, it seems to give the organization (or the individual moderating) the ability to remove or disapprove comments that may reflect negatively on them.

Multnomah County Library does a great job outlining their expectations for patron use of their social media. They even state that it is to be used for information sharing as related to the library.  They outline acceptable use which seems very reasonable.  I think that this policy is important, however, I worry about abuse of power.  What if a patron posts a negative comment about the library service received, or a program?  Will the person(s) in charge be tempted not to approve the comment for fear that it will make their library look bad?  I hope that use of social media to air out complaints provides libraries and other organizations with an opportunity to address concerns and make changes where appropriate.  The truth of the matter is that I guess we will never know if a library or organization is refusing to accept and therefore, publish comments that are considered negative to the organization.

Did not have enough Twitter followers to Qualify for the Job

Me again,

Armano your article scared the pants off of me!  While I was aware the potential employers may follow your online blog, facebook and twitter activities I had no idea they may evaluate your use of them in order to consider you for a job.  I thought they would look at them to judge your personality, level of professionalism and any other incriminating information that could be gleaned from them.  For me the idea of online posting still remained as a free space to express yourself much in the way that photocopiers opened up zine creation and publishing via the post.  It seems that my naivety in regards to social media is once again showing.

It had never occurred to me that potential employers would evaluate twitter posts as a way to judge your succinctness, that they would read your blogs to evaluate your written communication skills and your followers as a gauge for your communication skills and public appeal.  Since it seems employers are doing this is it better to never use these tools so that your use of them cannot be evaluated.  Or is absence of use of social media an indication that you are not as tech savvy as the job requires?

Are libraries evaluating potential employees use of social media in their hiring process?  If they are I do not think I will qualify.  Before this course I had never written a blog post, I do not have a twitter account and while my facebook is not in the least risque, it is primarily composed of boring communication and photo sharing with family and friends.

So while I am not sure it is fair to use social media to judge a job candidates communication skills, I am also nervous that my lack of experience may actually disqualify me in my future job search.

Repercussions of Free Social Media Tools

Hello All,

Much to my delight I am writing this post from a Via Rail train in T.O. Union Station.  I am on my way to visit my family for a week, and I was pleasantly surprised that at least for the time being wi-fi is free on the train!  Therefore, I am taking the opportunity to get a little ahead in my posting.

I want to take a moment to reflect on David Lee King’s post.  I had never thought of the potential problems that may arise from the advertisements that often come along with using free social media.  His article really brought to my attention how patrons may associate the advertisements with the library.  It seems very reasonable that a patron who may not be very internet savy, or a patron who just isn’t really evaluating the website/social media tools they are using to communicate or follow the library, would mistake the library for promoting, or endorsing certain products or advertisements.  How can the library combat this error without having to spend scarce budget dollars on social medial tools?  Will libraries need to have a public service announcement on the site much like an informercial “any views shared on this site are not endorsed by xyz library”?

Although many of King’s examples were humorous, I don’t think that it is that far fetched that disgruntled parents may hold the library responsible if their child accesses a dating site through the social media that the library uses.  Most parents consider the library and anything associated with it as safe for their children to use/be involved in.  If a child told their parent that they signed up for the dating service via the library facebook page the parent would likely be shocked and appalled, especially if they don’t understand how advertising on free online resources works.

Is this to be solved by a public use policy, education about how advertisements on free tools works?  A combination of both?

All in all, regardless of the solution and it may be a combination of different things depending on the library, King brought up possible negative implications for using free resources.  Ones that I at least had not considered.

Final Project ~ Some First Impressions: The Librarians

Hello All,

I kicked off my final project in earnest today and began to explore the aforementioned facebook pages.  Today I will be posting some first impressions of the librarian pages.

The Green Librarian – 36 Fans

Like all of the other pages I looked at The Green Librarian (GL) posted address, phone and website of the Hastings Public Library in Michigan of which he is an employee.  In line with his title he posted many current articles and videos related to environmental topics especially in the Michigan area.  His most recent post was regarding the visit of The Green Machine to Michigan, and his hopes that all who generate excess heat waste will consider it as a solution.  Despite the opinionated nature of his posts, and the somewhat controversial topics there was little response.

GL also advertised environmental events such as Marsh Madness – a local bird sanctuary event.  Again no response from readers.

The GL did get one comment on his posting of a new title “Doubt is their Product”, a book looking at how science is skewed to encourage purchase of products.

GL posts 1-2 times per week.  His posts are related to environmental issues in his area, as well as interesting books and popular media regarding the environment.  Even though these posts are potentially controversial his fans are not responding.  However, this may have to do with the small number of people (36 fans) who are following his page.

Jennifer Freer – Business Librarian – 128 Fans

Jennifer Freer (JF) is the business librarian for Rochester Institute of Technology.  Her facebook page had many interesting and potentially useful features.  Like the GL she includes the phone number and website for RIT Business Library in the sidebar of her facebook page.

Some things she did differently:

JF included many pages that would be relevant to students under her favourite pages.  Such as the RIT Housing Operations page.  Through her page she is providing information not just on the business libraries topics and events but also enabling students to use her page as a portal to access other relevant RIT information.  I think that this encourages students to visit her page more often because they know that they can find a variety of RIT info in one spot.

Under the “Boxes” tab on her facebook site JF has links to many business related blogs that may prove useful to students.  Another great feature is the RIT library app that is also found under the “Boxes” heading, here you can search the RIT business library catalogue right from JF’s facebook page making access to information even more convenient.  Another useful item posted under “Boxes” were multiple links to relevant online tutorials such as “Advanced Searching in ProQuest”.  To me this seems like an ingenious idea, students can access these tutorials when they need them.  Making the information more relevant and easily accessible.

As you can tell I think that JF’s facebook page is really useful, and the fact that she has over one hundred fans supports this.  However, the page has one short coming.  It seems that JF was posting 2-3 times per month prior to January and she has not posted since.  Her previous posts advertised school events, relevant business resources and articles and she did have a couple of comments in response.  Not sure what happened but her site is becoming quickly dated due to a lack of activity on JF’s part.

Some Overall Comments

These sites illustrated to me how a facebook page can act as a portal to multiple different things such as the libraries website, the libraries catalogue, tutorials and so much more.  It seems to me that providing access to patrons and potential patrons in a forum that may be more familiar to them gives them the ability to explore the library in their comfort zone and then branch into using the library website and other sources through links from facebook.  Overall, this may be the encouragement that those more comfortable with facebook than the library may need as a point of access.

Final Project ~ An Introduction

Hello All,

I wanted to take a moment and explain to you my final project for the course in order to contextualize the posts that you will be seeing over the last few weeks of the course.  After the readings and exploration of how facebook is being used by individual librarians and libraries themselves my curiosity was awaken.  How are libraries and librarians using facebook?  What seems to be successful, what seems to be unsuccessful?  Is it a worthwhile way to reach patrons and potential patrons?

In the last few weeks I am going to follow four facebook pages in hopes to gather some information to answer the above questions.

Pages I am following:

Vancouver Public Library

Kingston Frontenac Public Library

The Green Librarian

Jennifer Freer – Business Librarian

In addition to following these four facebook pages and blogging about my observations I will also attempt to contact each library or librarian via e mail to see if the would be willing to share their personal experiences using facebook to reach patrons.  With their permission I will include some of their experiences in my blog posts.

I will be paying particular attention to if these facebook pages are primarily advertising events, for discussion of programs or for reference.  As well as, if people are commenting and responding to posts or if they are simply being read.  Of course I will be keeping an open mind to any other uses of facebook that crop up during my observations.

Feel free to follow along, and as always I welcome your comments!

Final Blog Holiday :(

Text: Reference

Texting in reference questions seems as though it is a successful use of technology that many are able to access via their phone.  In the Text Generation Setve Kolowich mentioned that the amount of text reference questions increased 300 percent between 2006 and 2009 at Agnes Scott College in Georgia.  Although this is only one institution it seems to exemplify the trend.  Texting is a relatively cost efficient mobile communication tool, much cheaper than mobile internet and many people use texting on a regular basis.  Furthermore, I think that text reference is adding a service that may cater to a certain population but it is not eliminating access to other forms of reference query such as e mail, live chat or good old fashion face to face interactions.  In this way I think that text reference is a way to augment current reference services without leaving out those who may not have access to text technology.

However, texting a reference query may have its own difficulties.  Joe Murphy states that texting is a more efficient form of communications.  While some questions may be easily answered by short text messages, others may require an increase in character limits, as well as, a lot of back and forth as in any reference question in order to understand the patrons information needs.  Therefore, I think that texting for some reference interactions may be the start and finish.  For others it may be the starting point with more in depth e-mails, telephone conversation or  face to face meeting depending on the depth and complexitiy of the query.

In short I think that text reference is a great way to make contact with people who are most comfortable communicating via text.  It is a way to answer simple queries easily and acts as a starting point for more complex questions.  However, most importantly it augments current reference services without taking away from existing services that are used by those who do not have access to texting.  Now the real challenge may be to find staff who are comfortable with this technology and are willing to preform their reference duties via this technology.

Who are we leaving out?

Hello All,

While listening to this weeks lecture the though of who we may be leaving out with this focus on technology entered my brain.  All of this technology, all of these libraries catering to the tech savvy / people who can afford all of this new technology: but what about those who can’t?  What about the people who come to the library as their sole source of internet and perhaps even computer access?  Are we leaving them to the wayside in order to cater to those who can keep up with technological innovations?  This though plagued me throughout the readings and I was hesitant to post about it, waiting instead for something else to enter my head. When the readings failed to illicit any other pressing thoughts I began this post.

In the lecture Amanda mentioned that perhaps libraries should focus less on desk top applications and focus more on cloud computing applications.  However, it must be kept in mind that for many people computer and internet access is a major part of their time spent at the library.  Many patrons do not have access to a computer or the internet at home and they attempt to make up for this gap with free library services.  Therefore, many desktop applications that many of us take for granted because we have instant access to them on our laptops, desktops or cell phones are important to others.  Libraries (particularly public) need to remember that for some we are providing access to even the basic computer needs of patrons such as resume writing and printing, typing up of assignments (since it is now the general rule that all assignments even for elementary school children should be typed and printed out), as well as, communication with friends and family via e mail and facebook.

QR Codes

I had never heard of these codes prior to listening to the lecture.  While it seems that QR codes add interesting links to displays and posters offering people access to related web information or electronic versions of essays or songs that nagging voice asked “who benefits from these?”.  I would not be able to use them with my cell phone, many of my friends wouldn’t either.  Moreover, many patrons would not be able to use them.  In fact the people who are gaining extra knowledge from these QR codes are the people who can afford high end cell phones and have the technical skills to know how to use them.  What about everyone else?

Keren Mills states that many of the students she surveyed preferred to text message from their phones rather than use mobile internet because of the cost of internet on their phones.  To me that states that if we are using new technical tid-bits of information that require mobile access to the internet we are leaving out 50% of people who use cell phones, and all of the people who don’t.

While I agree that libraries should make an attempt to accommodate the information seeking habits of all patrons, I believe that all patrons include those who don’t have access, or knowledge to use all of the high tech gadgets that are becoming available.  Libraries should roll with the changes of technology while keeping an eye on patrons that may be left by the wayside of technological change.

I welcome your comments, I would love to hear other opinions on this issue for I am still in the process of forming my own.

Still Skeptical

Twitter, seems like a waste of time to me.  Just one more thing to check, read and update when hours of my day are already used to check my e-mail, answer e-mail, creeping friends on facebook and updating my profile.

I am still reluctant to see Twitter as useful to my personal day to day life, as well as the day to day life of many people I know.  But the readings this week have shown that it is useful and used by thousands daily.  Johnson‘s article really helped to persuade me that many people are using it daily and for much more than sharing mundane snippits about their life.  Thinking of my facebook use I could agree with Johnson in his assessment that people find useless personal posts much more interesting that expected.

Most interesting to me was how the community was so involved in creating new tools and uses of Twitter.  It seems like the creators provided the backbone and then gave creative freedom to its users in an honest way.  It seems incredible to me that the community is creating an “enitre Home Depot of Twitter Tools” (Johnson) and the creators of Twitter aren’t trying to paten and make money off of them.  Instead they are allowing their creation to be truly changed by the users.

Furthermore, after this weeks readings it seems that using Twitter as a jumping off tool for information needs is becoming a trend.  It makes sense to use it as a link to news articles, websites and the like to get more information about a recent event.

In the end I have to reluctantly cave a little and admit that Twitter is popular, being used creatively, its a good place to start information seeking especially about current events and provides a forum for conversation about about a variety of topics.  Some topics of course are the “what I am having for lunch” variety, but others are related to conferences and discussions of current events.  All and all I am glad I know more about it, and can see the uses as potentially beneficial for the community at large.