I was excited to see that the topic for Week 3 is social networking. I personally think that social networking is one of the most fun 2.0 tools! There are many opportunities to integrate or promote library services and resources into social networking.
I have had a facebook profile for a few years now and have experimented with adding many applications, friends, and events. With facebook, I really like to be able to connect with people I've lost touch with to see what they're up to. I also like all of the applications (although I've learned to use them in moderation) and can only imagine how many more library related applications could be developed in the future. I had heard of, but never joined LinkedIn. I like that LinkedIn provides opportunities for professional and career networking. Not only did I find several fellow librarians on LinkedIn, but also professionals from other fields. As a librarian at an academic institution, something like LinkedIn could be used to describe, encourage, and facilitate collaborations with faculty in my liaison areas or with people from other professions.
The MSU Libraries currently has a facebook page (most of the fans are librarians here). We also very recently devoted a staff technology brown bag seminar to the topic of facebook / facebook applications. As an academic institution, we realize that many of our patrons are extremely comfortable with social networking sites like facebook and spend a lot of time on them. Therefore, many librarians at the MSU Libraries feel it's important to establish a presence on facebook so we're able to reach these students. We're still trying to determine how to best advertise and utilize our presence on facebook, an issue I'm sure other libraries are dealing with too.
The MSU Libraries currently has a facebook page (most of the fans are librarians here). We also very recently devoted a staff technology brown bag seminar to the topic of facebook / facebook applications. As an academic institution, we realize that many of our patrons are extremely comfortable with social networking sites like facebook and spend a lot of time on them. Therefore, many librarians at the MSU Libraries feel it's important to establish a presence on facebook so we're able to reach these students. We're still trying to determine how to best advertise and utilize our presence on facebook, an issue I'm sure other libraries are dealing with too.
There are certainly privacy issues when it comes to sites like myspace and facebook. I do feel, however, that individuals are responsible for the content they choose to display. People should only enter and display information they feel comfortable with others seeing. The social networking sites I'm familiar with allow users to choose from a multitude of privacy settings.
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