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Embracing Social Software: The Future of Libraries and Community Engagement

In an era defined by digital interaction, libraries must adapt by integrating social software to enhance services and connect with patrons. Social software facilitates collaboration and community building, driving the evolution of Library 2.0. By leveraging tools like instant messaging, blogs, wikis, and social networking services, libraries can meet patrons where they are, fostering engagement and providing new marketing opportunities. This presentation explores practical examples and strategies for libraries to utilize social software effectively, ensuring they remain relevant in the modern information landscape.

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Embracing Social Software: The Future of Libraries and Community Engagement

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  1. Future of Libraries:Social Software Sarah Houghton-Jan Information and Web Services Manager, San Mateo County Library Librarian in Black: http://www.librarianinblack.net

  2. What is social software? • Social software enables people to rendezvous, connect or collaborate through computer-mediated communication and to form online communities. --from Wikipedia entry, revised 04.25.06 • Social software is the driving force behind Library 2.0.

  3. Examples of social software • Instant messaging • Internet forums • Blogs / RSS / podcasting • Wikis • Social network services • Social guides • Social bookmarking • Social citations • Social libraries • Virtual worlds and multiplayer online games

  4. Why should libraries care about SS? • There is a great potential for new and enhanced services • There are free marketing opportunities just waiting for us • Our patrons are there—where are we?

  5. What is instant messaging? • Instantaneous, simultaneous text chat • Add-ons like video, audio, file sharing Transcript Type here

  6. IM client software: the holy trinity They’re all free—to you and users • Other Software • ICQ • IRC • Jabber • Google Talk • MySpace

  7. IM aggregator software • Trillian: http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/ • Gaim: http://gaim.sourceforge.net/ Both let you monitor multiple IM accounts (AOL, MSN, Yahoo!) through one interface. Oh yeah…they’re both free!

  8. Web-based IM with Meebo • Completely web-based—no installations • Sign in with multiple accounts at once • Even if IM is blocked, this still works • MeeboMe—web-based anonymous IMing

  9. Why use IM for reference? • Traditional web-based chat has technical and service problems • Your users are here already • It’s free • Easy to use for both the librarian and the user • You’re right there on the user’s buddy list • Did I mention that everything is free? For many users, not having IM is like not having a phone.

  10. Example of Library IM webpage

  11. Internet forums • Website bulletin boards for discussion • Feedback and recommendation engines • Examples: • Google Groups: http://groups.google.com/ • Reviews and ratings on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com • Gnooks.com: http://www.gnooks.com • Storycode: http://www.storycode.com

  12. Sample Internet Forum: Storycode

  13. Blogs • Websites frequently updated with new content • Examples: • Lansing Library Teen News Blog: http://lansinglibraryteen.blogspot.com/ • St. Joseph County Public Library Game Blog: http://www.libraryforlife.org/gameblog/ • Framingham Public Library Teen Blogomatic: http://fplya.blogspot.com/ • Marin County Free Library - What’s New: http://www.marincountyfreelibrary.blogspot.com/ • Waterboro Public Library H20boro: http://www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm

  14. Sample blog: H20boro

  15. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) • RSS is more than just blogs • New books and other items • News at the library • New content in subscription databases • Examples: • EBSCO feeds for new articles (favorite searches) • Hennepin County Library feeds for all types of things • Edmonton Public Library feed for new teen books • Seattle Public Library feeds for favorite authors and subjects • FirstGov feeds for government information

  16. Sample RSS feeds: Hennepin CL

  17. Podcasting & Vidcasting • Creating audio and video content and pushing it to users through an RSS feed • Has nothing to do with iPods • Examples: • Thomas Ford Memorial Library audio teen book reviews:http://www.fordlibrary.org/yareviews/ • Manchester Public Library video book reviews:http://feeds.feedburner.com/primesboxlive • Cheshire Public Library - audio of local teen magazine:http://www.cheshirelib.org/teens/cplpodcast.htm • University of Sheffield Library audio library tours:http://www.lbasg.group.shef.ac.uk/downloads/mainlibrary.html

  18. Sample podcasts: Thomas Ford ML

  19. Wikis • Collaborative resource creation • Multiple authors, ongoing creation and revision • Examples: • Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page • Wiktionary: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page • St .Joseph County Library’s Subject Guides: http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page • University of Minnesota Libraries Staff Website: http://wiki.lib.umn.edu/

  20. Sample wiki: St .Joseph CL’s Subject Guides

  21. Social network services • Places to meet people and communicate • Examples: • Friendster, Dogster, MySpace, Facebook • Libraries with MySpace accounts • Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Teens) • Denver Public Library • Hennepin County Library • Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library • dozens of others

  22. Library MySpace Page: Denver PL

  23. Social bookmarking • Putting your favorite websites in a web directory to share with others • Examples: • del.icio.us: http://del.icio.us/ • furl: http://www.furl.net/ • La Grange Public Library’s del.icio.us ref links • Thomas Ford Memorial Library’s del.icio.us ref links • San Mateo City Library’s del.icio.us ref links

  24. Library del.icio.us: La Grange Park

  25. Social libraries • Keep track of collections • Often include recommendation engines • Uses tagging, user-created metadata: Folksonomies • Examples • Flickr.com for photographs • discogs.com for music • LibraryThing.com for books • Stuffopolis.com for everything else

  26. Social library: Reading PL on Flickr

  27. I have all of these cool ideas now. But how do I convince our IT Staff that doing this is okay?

  28. Working with IT Staff • Ask Questions. Are IM, MySpace, or other sites/services banned or blocked? Why? • The boogeyman of network security? “It’s a time-waster”? • Ban behaviors, not technologies. • Be enthusiastic. • Do your research ahead of time.

  29. Again…why should we care? • Get our knowledge, helpfulness, and information expertise out there where the users are • Get people to think of us as the “go to” resource for their online information needs • Make us findable in an online environment

  30. For more information about social software in libraries: Web 2.0 and Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software by Michael Stephens The Library Success Wiki: http://www.libsuccess.org/

  31. Questions? Contact Sarah any time. E-mail: houghton-jan@smcl.org IM: LibrarianInBlack (AOL, Yahoo!, MSN)

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