Assignment 3: Social Networking Tools

I think it is good that MLA is considering social networking tools to connect to members. However, MLA needs to keep in mind that not all members have the time or want to use social networking tools. I have noticed many email messages related to lack of time and this CE course, as well as messages about confusion regarding where to find information (Email? Blog? Wiki?).  Librarians are experiencing information overload, just like our patrons. These members will not appreciate one more place to check for information in addition to email, work phone messages, cell phone messages, blogs, etc. For myself, I value my privacy and am just not the sort of person to hang out on Facebook or any other social networking tool in my precious moments of spare time (Forget work time, because things are just to busy for that!).

The key to this is making information available in a variety of places such as email, blogs, etc., so members can choose the format that is most useful to them. I realize that makes MLA's communication efforts more difficult and time-consuming, but it is the only way to reach the wide range of age groups and interests represented in MLA. If members, especially younger members, prefer to use social networking tools to communicate, then MLA needs to accommodate that.

My library, like most libraries, has limited staff, decreasing budgets, and increasing demands for service. We have to carefully prioritize our work, and I do not believe spending time creating a Facebook or MySpace page will be a high enough priority for a while. If I hire a student assistant that is comfortable in Facebook and/or MySpace, however, that is an assignment I would consider giving them.

I agree with Meredith Farkas observation in one of our readings:  "I think before we do anything, we should really get to know our patrons and what their attitudes are with regards to social networking software and privacy. We can’t pretend that what works at one library will work at all of them."

Our health sciences library' patrons tend to be non-traditional students who are juggling marriage, children, full-time jobs, and school. They also tend to be older and less techno-savvy, so I do not believe Facebook or MySpace would be effective ways to communicate with most of them right now. Because many of these patrons are less older and techno-savvy, they also more commonly raise concerns about privacy in online environments. If Ranganathan were alive today, he probably would adapt his law of library science, "Every reader his book." to now say, "Every reader his choice of communication."

Marcia