Are You On Facebook?

A comprehensive guideBy Kerry BruceLIS 5313 – Web 2.0 Article

Media Component

Social Networking for Libraries

You have to be where your patrons are!

Social Network sites combine the abilities to: Create profiles; Acquire friends (your

network); and Explore the

connections between you and other people

Sites to take note of…

MySpace – www.myspace.com The largest of the online

social networks, with more than 100 million users

Facebook – www.facebook.com The fastest growing, and

most associated with colleges & universities

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com For business networking

Flickr – www.flickr.com To share images and

video Twitter – www.twitter.com

A microblog, answering the question: “what are you doing?”

LiveJournal – www.livejournal.com A journaling/blogging tool

where you can share your thoughts with your friends or the world

Facebook – a history

Founded by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, for Harvard students

Opened to other colleges and universities as demanded

Membership open to high school networks in 2005

Membership open to all since 2007

Librarians Invade Facebook

Librarians and Journalists form two of the largest networks on Facebook

Professionals 25 and up are the fastest growing demographic

Build a network through your colleagues

Facebook for Librarians and Libraries

And estimated 85% of undergraduates have Facebook profiles

Librarians can build personal networks while promoting their library through Groups and fan pages

Market your library’s web services or offer them directly with Facebook Applications

Visit the Group “Librarians and Facebook” to discuss Library 2.0 activities with more than 7,000 librarians http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/group.php?gid=221

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Your Guide to Getting Your Library on Facebook

Create a personal profile Include a picture Update your status Upload some images Find your friends and

colleagues “Friend” any students

you know Join a group or two Update often – use the

feed as advertising!

Group Pages for student workers

MSU libraries (Powers, et. al., 2007) began their presence on Facebook as a tool for their student workers

Group pages were created for student workers in each department to communicate with library staff and each other

Students were encouraged to contribute content and edit the group page, to make it their own

It was found that students were more likely to communicate works concerns/comments on Facebook than email, and their was greater response to work related-discussion, etc.

Going where your patrons are…

Creating a fan page: Show them the library

(literally) Include updated hours Include links to

important pages on the library’s website

Add services using Facebook Apps – upload WorldCat, JSTOR, or create your own

Facebook Applications

Flickr’s app. allows users to display images from their Flickr accounts as a mashup

JSTOR’s app. allows searching directly from Facebook

WorldCat’s app. allows users to search libraries in their area and beyond

“CiteMe” by WorldCat creates citations of books looked up in user’

And many more…

Create Your Own App…(Facebook Platform)

Facebook allows outside developers (including you) to create applications for your page

Many libraries create search tools for their own catalogs within their fan pages

The Olin Library @ Rollins College fan page includes a Meebo widget that the library’s electronic resource librarian created to embed in Facebook

Final Thoughts…

“The focus is shifting away from the traditional library as place and toward a more ubiquitous presence, striving to meet users where they are” (Mathews, 2007, pg. 82)

Like a good profile, a good librarian never remains static!

References Consulted

Cooper, J.D. (2008). Facebook applications for the library community. The Alabama Librarian, 58(1), pp. 8-11.

Mathews, B.S. (2007). Online Social Networking. In N. Courney (Ed.) Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and Tomorrow’s Users (pp. 75-90). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Miller, S.E. and Jensen, L.A. (2007). Connecting and communicating with students on Facebook. Computers in Libraries, 27(8), pp. 18-22.

Powers, A.C., Schmidt, J., and Hill, C. (2007). Why can’t we be friends? The MSU libraries find friends on Facebook. Mississippi Libraries 72(1), pp. 3-5.

Images

The Library at Trinity College by winkyintheuk Lykkeoft viser Facebook by Jacob Botter Facebook by Alessio85 The independent guide to Facebook by Moe_

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