Libraries on MySpace – MySpace group – I didn’t find this site extremely useful. Some of the links to discussion about online social networks are broken (a pet peeve of mine!) and the other links seem kind of random. I’m not exactly sure why they chose to post just one article. There is a myriad of information available online, but just one lonely article is posted. I did find the powerpoint presentation insightful and I felt that it did a good job of providing an overview of using MySpace and FaceBook for outreach and learning in libraries
My Own Café – I was a little confused by My Café. I spotted the “register now” and “login” links, but I could not see a list of friends. Am I missing something here? I thought that all online social networks listed their members. The only real communication seems to be taking place in the My Café forums, but these all have specific themes. What happens if teens want to talk about different issues?
MySpace & Teens – Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki - The library MySpace profiles that I checked out in the Best Practices Wiki are really great! These libraries are using online social networking to benefit their patrons and not just to look cool! Many of the sites had useful links embedded right into their profile. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how many services were being promoted through MySpace profiles. Most sites include links to their library blog, calendar and chat services, but some include a lot more on their profile. The Hennepin County Library also has links to homework help and advice on college, dating and health. I think that this is such an awesome idea. While looking through these profiles, I only noticed one library that asked teens to add the library as their friend. I think that this message should be on all of the library profiles, right at the top of the page. If teens just look at the library profile and do not add the library as a friend, they may forget all about it. It is important to get onto teen’s friend’s list so that they will be aware of library events and can be sent reminders.
UWO Western Community & Livejournal – It seems that this online social network is very useful to Western students. Students with all sorts of questions, from living accommodations in London to course selection, are communicating. I must say that I am pretty impressed by the exchange of information. Almost all of the posts seem to have comments and everyone seems to be very helpful.
3 comments:
I agree that the UWO community site is a success. Do you think libraries could host that kind of network?
I tend to agree with your analyses of this week's case studies. The broken links is a definite peeve of mine, as is the poor choice of background on the Libraries on MySpace group. While it includes a couple of links to interesting items (e.g., the free photo editing software and the ppt presentation), for the most part, the information is insufficient.
As for the Livejournal community, it does have all the advantages you mentioned. Did you know that there is also an MLIS UWO Livejournal community? http://community.livejournal.com/uwo_mlis/
It also has a fair bit of comment-contribution, and it demonstrates how helpful librarians can be! If only I'd found it before starting at Western...
Christy
Libraries on MySpace – MySpace group doesn't seem to be so useful to me either. It's not informative.And yes, broken links are really annoying. I don't like the design of it. It's not well structured, and it's not easy to navigate it.
Thanks to Christy. I don't know there is an MLIS UWO Livejournal community. It looks great. I'm thinking that I may get into the program more quickly and select courses more wisely if I know this site when I first started my study.
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