Online Social Networking and Libraries

You may notice that I am not specifically referring to MySpace in the title of this post. This is largely a reflection of my opposition to so many of the things that the owner of MySpace (Rupert Murdoch) stands for, and you couldn't make me like him or it in a thousand years... having said that, I'll write the rest of this with an eye to the concept of online social networking in general, rather than focusing on specific sites.

Like many of those whose articles are featured in this discovery exercise, I think that online social networking is a very interesting and intriguing development, and one that holds much potential for librarians and libraries. The idea of libraries connecting with these established and growing online communities is especially interesting since it represents new ways of thinking about promotion of our programs and services. The ability to connect with large numbers of users at once presents us with a wealth of new opportunities to market to these communities and to help them to better understand what the library can be and do for them. OSN also presents us with a unique channel for receiving feedback from customers and potential customers about the quality of our current services, and new ways to connect those customers to our services as well.

Of course, there are some concerns that OSN use raises, and these are not to be taken lightly. However, institutional use of these networks does not expose us to the same types of risks that individual users face, and even presents us with some opportunities that are not available to individual users as well. Overall, I think that many libraries could benefit from establishing an online presence in these communities as long as they are willing and able to keep up with the added work and responsibility that may accompany that presence. I am excited that we, as a system, are actively engaged in exploring these communities and thinking about how we might use them to our benefit.