Weeks 10 & 11: Building an Online Community

Of the examples of online communities we were asked to explore for this unit, only a couple piqued my interest enough to really pull me in.  Some of the appeal had much to do with content and my personal interests.  For example, I stopped clicking around long enough to read some reviews at  Television Without Pity because it looked hilarious...and, in fact, was.  But besides a personal preference for content, there were a few other factors that contributed to my interest in that and other sites.

One big factor was layout.  The sites that had a boring or confusing layout were harder to get into.  It was especially difficult to be interested in sites when I wasn't sure what the point of the site was.  For example, the purpose of Slashdot is not immediately apparent.  The layout of The Simplest was also a bit confusing, without any explanation of it's features or purpose on the main page.  Most of the other sites had interesting (or at least, not confusing) layouts, though in my opinion, The Java Ranch could use some updating, design-wise.

Simplicity of use is another big factor.  If I can't figure out how to use the site, how to sign up, and how to contribute to the community, it's pretty much useless. A site might have tons of features, but if I can't find them or figure them out, what's the point of having them?

My favorite sites overall are the ones that have simple but engaging layouts combined with subject matter that appeals to me.  TeenRC is probably my favorite of all of the sites, because: 1) It features teen fiction, which I adore, and 2) it's pretty. :)  The site also manages to stay easily navigable while being pretty, something that many sites forget how to do.  Another site that appealed to me was Duke City Fix.  I have never lived in Albuquerque or even visited, but the layout and features of the site appealed to me.  The layout was simple, it was easy to see the purpose of the site, and the content was updated and relevant.  I found myself wishing that my local area had something similar.

Week 8: Internal Collaboration

One of the technologies that I found the most promising was GoogleDocs.  One big reason I feel this way is because the technology belongs to Google, whose apps are already in wide use by many people.  Even if an organization does not use Google apps for other purposes, many, many people will still be familiar with the Google brand.

GoogleDocs also has the benefit of simplicity.  True, this means that it has fewer of the special features that many other collaboration programs possess.  But it also means that its learning curve is relatively small.  I have some personal experience working with GoogleDocs, and have found it very easy to learn and use.  It makes collaborative work on a document simple.  The doc can also be shared with anyone via a link, and editing permissions can be changed depending on who you want messing with the document.

One thing I feel could be improved upon in GoogleDocs is the final product.  GoogleDocs is great at making a space for collaborative work, but it's not so good at creating a final product. The content of the doc is usually transferred to another word processor for final formatting and editing for appearance.  Formatting applied in GoogleDocs doesn't transfer well to a program like Microsoft Word, so the text usually requires a little tweaking to come out right.

All in all though, GoogleDocs is a simple, easy-to-use collaborative tool for creating documents.  And since documents are the bulk of what most organizations produce, I feel that it is a promising tool for internal collaboration within those organizations.

Exercise 5: Internal Collaboration -- Using Delicious

For the most part (before this class), my interactions with the social bookmarking site Delicious have been minimal.  It always seemed like too much trouble to set up an account using my Yahoo! ID (which I rarely use for anything) just to put my bookmarks up on a website, especially since I already had a perfectly serviceable bookmark function in my browser.  I did set up an account for another class as part of an assignment, but as soon as the class was over, I never visited my Delicious bookmarks again.

Of course, I now realize that I was really only using one aspect of the service: saving my bookmarks.  What I wasn't utilizing was the thing that makes Delicious what it is: I wasn't sharing my bookmarks with anyone.  Nor was I using the social tagging feature to find good links posted by other users.

Now, after completing this exercise, Delicious seems less like a gimmick and more like a tool.  Not only can users browse around for interesting links with those tags, Delicious provides people with similar interests a way to share resources.  It can be especially useful for communities of users with similar interests who need online resources.  People like teachers, librarians, students, or any other community with research needs can combine, share, and organize the resources they've found online.  Just link-sharing with my classmates provided me with a ton of great new resources relevant to my studies.  And searching for tags like "socialbookmarking", "web2.0", and "socialmedia" produced even more great resources.

I can definitely see how using a service like Delicious can be helpful when looking for resources.  I might worry about inaccurate tags, though.  The lack of any standard tags could also be a problem.  For example, when looking up resources on social bookmarking, some links were tagged with "socialbookmarking," while others were tagged with "social" and "bookmarking."  Still others were tagged with "tagging," and "social" "tagging."  So in conclusion, Delicious can be a great resource, but users should be aware of possibly inaccurate tags or tags with multiple meanings.

Week 7: Wikis and Social Bookmarking

Tagging can be a wonderful thing.  Leaving the creation of metadata to the masses can save time and money by freeing up librarians for other duties.  Tagging also creates a unique democratized classification system free of hierarchies and imposed structures.  Natural language can be used, making materials easier to find for those who may not be familiar with the official vocabularies.  And there's also the concept of "the wisdom of the masses," which is also the basis for wikis.  If 1,000 people tag something with the word "dog", they're probably right.

Of course, the same characteristics which make tagging amazing also make it unreliable.  The democratic nature of tagging can lead to incorrect, unclear, or just plain offensive tags.  The tagging community must be large enough to equalize (intentional or unintentional) incorrect tagging.  And without hierarchies and structure, relationships between tags can be difficult or impossible to distinguish.  The "wisdom of the masses" may also be completely off...popular beliefs are not always correct, and mistakes in tags can create confusion when trying to find something.  It can also lead to just plain inaccurate information.

I think tagging can be great in a lot of ways.  But libraries and information providers should be careful in how they are used.  In my opinion, tags should be used to supplement already-existing classification systems, not to replace them.  In the right context, tagging can be a unique and powerful tool for information retrieval.

Week 6: Social Networking Software and Going Where Your Patrons Are

I think that many libraries could benefit from creating an online presence on Facebook or MySpace.  Facebook especially is widely used by college-aged patrons, who are likely to be doing research and will probably need the library at some point.  By creating a presence on Facebook, libraries can provide services to these patrons in a medium they are already comfortable with.

However, I have to say that I find the idea of my local librarian sending me messages via Facebook kind of creepy.  My Facebook is for my friends and family, not the general public, and the intrusion of a stranger into my private "space" feels strange to me.  Libraries should remember that not all patrons will appreciate being contacted in this way.

But I have no problem whatsoever going to a group or organization profile and following it.  In fact, I find that very useful, and have "liked" a few public libraries and other local businesses.  I find it a much more comfortable solution...I can still post to their wall or ask questions, and I get to control how much interaction I have with them.  We can communicate, but there's no unwanted or unsolicited contact.  I can feel like I'm part of the library's online community without actually committing to anything.

So in conclusion, I think that libraries should use Facebook and/or MySpace if it is appropriate for their patron base.  But libraries should also be careful of intruding on their patrons' online privacy.  They may unwittingly put patrons off by making them uncomfortable.

The Humboldt County Library's Online Presence

For this assignment, I've decided to look my local library system, the Humboldt County Public Library system.  Although I have visited my local Arcata branch library often and have also made occasional trips to the Eureka main branch library, I have never encountered the library online except through their main website.  I was curious to know whether or not my local library system used other online tools to connect with the public and how well they worked.

The Humboldt County Public Library system in California is a fairly small, rural library system that includes eleven branches and a bookmobile.  The library’s main branch is located in Eureka, the county seat.  Other branches are located throughout the county in Arcata, Blue Lake, Ferndale, Fortuna, Garberville, Hoopa, McKinleyville, Rio Dell, Trinidad, and Willow Creek.  Although Humboldt County is geographically large, its population is relatively small.  The 2009 population estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau for the entire county was a little under 130,000.  The largest city in the county, Eureka, has a population of about 26,000.  The county's other cities and towns are much smaller and many are quite isolated.

Despite small populations, many towns in the county boast branch libraries.  The library system's collection is shared between them, with the largest part of the collection housed at the Eureka main library.  The branch libraries are small with small print collections, but patrons who want to borrow a book not present in the branch library can have it delivered there by requesting it. 

As for web presence, most of the library's online communication with patrons happens on their main website.  It is updated regularly with current events and library news and provides information and a link to the library's online catalog, which is connected to WorldCat.

For the most part the Humboldt County Library does not seem to have taken advantage of any Web 2.0 technologies.  There are no RSS feeds on their website, nor are there links to any other social networking site like Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace.  Each branch has its own webpage within the site with branch-specific contact information including addresses and phone numbers.  However, none of the branches provide an email contact (nor does the main library).

Searches of Twitter and MySpace returned no results for libraries in the Humboldt County system, but a search of Facebook was more successful.  The branch library in Trinidad has a Facebook profile with updates and comments from users.  However, it has not been maintained in some time--the most recent wall post is from January 11, 2011, and before that from October 10, 2010.  The lack of recent posts is very likely due to the recent closure of the Trinidad branch library last October.  Though the library is reopening soon, there have not been any new posts.

The Fortuna branch library has also created a Facebook group page for its Youth Advisory Council.  At this time, the page has only been in existence for about two weeks and has only two members.  The Facebook page appears to be a method of outreach to teens in the community and a forum for communication between Advisory Council members.  It is unclear whether or not the Advisory Council program has been put into effect, or if the Facebook page has been put into use yet.

The only other Web 2.0 service for the Humboldt County Library I was able to locate was actually a feature of WebCat.  On the library's profile, new additions to the catalog are displayed prominently.  Users can subscribe to this page via RSS to receive updates when new items are added.  Though not provided through the library's site, this service could still be useful to patrons.  Unfortunately, the library itself does not appear promote this service.

Because the library system has not put much effort into creating an online presence, they do not have a very strong sense of "brand" online.  Isolated efforts by individual branches help to reach their local communities, but they do not add much to the image of a unified library brand--especially when the main branch is not participating.  Much more could be done to create a more solid online presence and brand.

If I were hired as a social media marketing consultant (and assuming the necessary funding was available), I would first suggest a re-vamp of the library's website.  As it stands, it looks very sparse and outdated.  An organization's website can put a patron off quickly if it is confusing or poorly laid-out.  And an attractive, modern-looking website sends a positive message about the library.  RSS feeds would be a very simple addition to the new website, and could help patrons keep track of the library news and current events posted there.

I would also suggest some sort of system-wide social media marketing policy in order to maintain consistency across the branches.  A common structure and professional guidelines for Facebook pages and other accounts would help to maintain the library's brand image no matter what branch's resource a patron is using.

Not all branches need to have Facebook profiles or Twitter accounts; in fact, it may be impractical for some of the very small branches.  But those that do have them should at least have links placed on their branch webpages.  Those webpages are currently patrons' primary online contact with the library.  Without links to profiles and accounts, how will patrons know they exist?  Also, some librarian somewhere in the system should be contactable by email for reference.  As it stands, the only way for a patron to ask a question is to either walk in or call the reference desk during normal business hours.

Whether through lack of desire, staff, knowledge, or funds (most likely funds), the Humboldt County Library system does not have much of a web presence.  However, it is encouraging that local branch libraries seem to be taking some initiative in creating their own online presences.  Hopefully their efforts will inspire the library system as a whole to take steps and make changes.  Especially in this rural setting, a solid online presence could be very helpful in reaching out to an often dispersed and isolated community. 

Week 5: Microblogging and Lifestreaming

Before this class, I had never even considered using Twitter.  I was under the same impression as most of the uninitiated: that I would receive endless updates about the minute details of people's lives.  I've never been one to follow celebrities, and the constant status-updaters on Facebook always kind of drove me crazy.  All in all, Twitter seemed like more of an annoyance than a useful social networking tool.

Now that I've tried it, it is still far from my favorite social network application.  But it's not as bad as I thought it would be.  First of all, I don't have to subscribe to all the posts about "what am I going to wear today?" or "Coco Puffs for breakfast!"--thank goodness.  It was also a nice way to communicate with my classmates and to share links.  As far as real-time goes, it's somewhere between instant messaging and blogging.  Sort of like texting on a large scale.  It's nice to get updates from sources I'm interested in as well. 

But as far as the updates go, I would rather subscribe via RSS than get a tiny, 140 character tweet.  And as for communication, frankly I found the organization of the site a bit too confusing to use daily.  No folders to organize your twitter friends...it had a list function that worked ok, but not great.  I suppose that's what all the aggregating programs and such are for, but I don't really think it's worth the extra trouble.  I was already getting lost in my slosh of "followed" tweeters, and I can't imagine trying to sift through many more.  And many of the tweeters we subscribed to post several times a day.  To be honest, I don't know that I want that level of communication with strangers (not counting my classmates as strangers of course!).

But like so many of our readings say, libraries should go where their patrons are.  And if patrons are on twitter, that's where libraries should be too.  Despite my personal feelings about the medium, I realize that it could potentially be a powerful, low-cost marketing tool for libraries. Just because I think it's annoying doesn't mean it can't be useful too!