I created a generic myspace page for a public library as my final project in Doc Martens' LIS web class in Fall 2006. I also work as a reference librarian at a public library. My fellow librarian and comrade liked it, and thought he would show it to our library director, who also liked it, and asked me to tailor it to our library, Stillwater Public. I no longer have the beta-version available, but here is what the "finished" product looks like.
Luckily for our library, we do not receive e-rate funding, so we do not have to block social networking and blogging websites, like other schools and libraries do. Patrons come to our library to access the internet and www.myspace.com, more specifically, because it's banned in so many places. I put up signs last week advertising that our library is now on myspace, and got a few extra friends requests. Hopefully, as word spreads, more people will be interested in joining our friends' list and getting all sorts of up to date and local Stillwater information, not just related to the library. A misconception that some librarians have that to be over-proprietous means you are doing a good job. Regarding library matters. we ought to remain very open-minded. Hold programs to entice community members, what do they want to see? Not what do you want to teach them. So if we do this in our "real" lives, why not our virtual lives as well? I always take the more holistic approach regarding just about anything, but in this case, I think it's important. If the myspace page is just like the library's webpage, what is the point?
I sought out local bands, movie theaters, various other forms of entertainment and requested to be friends with some of these, while others have sought us out. There are online quizzes, literature map that works as readers' advisory, blogs, online book clubs, links to our catalog, etc. So far, the page hasn't seen too much activity, but it's only been up and fully functioning for a few weeks now. I suppose these things take time...
Luckily for our library, we do not receive e-rate funding, so we do not have to block social networking and blogging websites, like other schools and libraries do. Patrons come to our library to access the internet and www.myspace.com, more specifically, because it's banned in so many places. I put up signs last week advertising that our library is now on myspace, and got a few extra friends requests. Hopefully, as word spreads, more people will be interested in joining our friends' list and getting all sorts of up to date and local Stillwater information, not just related to the library. A misconception that some librarians have that to be over-proprietous means you are doing a good job. Regarding library matters. we ought to remain very open-minded. Hold programs to entice community members, what do they want to see? Not what do you want to teach them. So if we do this in our "real" lives, why not our virtual lives as well? I always take the more holistic approach regarding just about anything, but in this case, I think it's important. If the myspace page is just like the library's webpage, what is the point?
I sought out local bands, movie theaters, various other forms of entertainment and requested to be friends with some of these, while others have sought us out. There are online quizzes, literature map that works as readers' advisory, blogs, online book clubs, links to our catalog, etc. So far, the page hasn't seen too much activity, but it's only been up and fully functioning for a few weeks now. I suppose these things take time...
Comments
If you think about it, I'd love it if you posted the link to your library's MySpace page on www.ambientlibrarian.org, and gave a little explanation about it. I think I have a page with Library 2.0 examples...
Kudos to you!
But I will definitely add some more explanation.
Each day, there are new friend requests. Just keeping the page current can be dizzying, but it's well worth it. Thank you!