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Embracing Technology: Using High-Tech Tools to
Promote Libraries to Teens
•Websites
•Blogs
•Podcasts
•Social networking
•Gaming
Websites
• “…it is another point from which your patrons can access your library and its services: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Internet is a way to reach out to teens, the lost generation of library patrons. You can find the time….I’d encourage you, too, to involve teens in this process. You’ll all learn something”. Samuelson, Michael. “Teens, the Internet, and Library Websites”. Idaho Librarian. 53, 3. (February 2002).
Pros: • provide a teen-friendly entry point for services
• platform to explore the use of new media and develop unique content
Concerns: • Balance of education and
entertainment• Money
• Working with technical staff• May have restrictions on what you
can/cannot provide
Website examples
• Denver PL Evolver; Book Reviews
• Loudoun County Teen Scene
Blogs
• Short for web log, blogs are web-based content that is updated on a regular basis and sorted in reverse chronological order
• May include text, pictures, audio, video and hypertext links
• Used by businesses, news agencies, non-profits, educational institutions across the world
• Approximately 10-20 million active blogs. Johnson, Bobbie. “Are there Really 50 Million Blogs?” The Guardian. 11 Aug 2006.
Pros:
• Deliver content directly through RSS feeds
• Interactivity with patrons
• Highlight special events and part of a collection
Cons:
• Moderating patron posting
• Privacy of patrons
Blog Examples
• FCPL Teens Talk
• Worthington Libraries Worthingteens
Pros:• Allows libraries to expand content to audio
and video, connecting with a different type of patron
• Like Blogs, podcasts deliver content to the patron via RSS feeds
Cons:• Technology requirements higher than with
blogs and basic websites• Higher learning curve
Podcast Examples
• Cheshire Public Library
• Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County Library Loft Podcasts
Social Networking Sites
• Web-based tools that allow one-on-one and community-wide communication
• Include MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and dozens more
• 4 of the top ten websites are Social Networking sites. Alexa Internet, Inc. “Alexa Web Search-Top
500”. Alexa Internet. 23 November 2007. <http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500>
Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World OCLC, 2007
• 28% have used a SN site
• 80% of these regularly use a SN site
• Only 12% of those surveyed saw a use for SN for libraries
• 48% of librarians surveyed saw a use for SN sites for libraries
Pros• Deliver content to where teens already spend
their time• Allows libraries to promote themselves more
directly to the patron• Often free
Cons:
• Associations with pornography and child predators
• lack of security
• privacy issues
MySpace
• Developed in 2003 as a promotion tool for local musicians
• Allows group message boards, audio and video clips, hypertext links, and more
• With 47 million accounts, more than half of social networking users use MySpace. De Rosa, Cathy, et al. Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 2007.
• FCPL• Worthington PL
Second Life
• Began in 2003 as a “3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents”.
• Non-web, graphics-heavy interactive software that allows users to create avatars, environments and interact with each other
• Teen Second Life started in 2005
Pros: • Interact in real-time in a setting that makes
teens feel comfortable• Deliver programs like online readings, online
reference services in real time, information literacy, book groups and more
Cons:
• High technology requirements
• Large startup time
• Costs
• Adults of both sexes play games over seven hours a week
• The average age for players is 33• 25% of game players are over 50 years old• 38% of game players are female• www.ala.org/gaming
Pros:• Gets hard-to-reach teens in the door• Increases teen participation and sense
of community• Can include console games, PC games,
Role playing games, and even board games
Cons:•Disruptive to other patrons
•Challenges perceptions of what a library does
•Technology requirements