Social Networks

Proud to say I'm part of the Library 2.0 community. A social networking site that was created with Ning. This network is for librarians and others interested in Library 2.0. Also on Ning, I belong to the Mid Atlantic Librarians network.


When someone at the Ning network couldn't understand what all the hubbub about social networking was about here was my reply:

My response to Michael would be that the appeal of these sites is based in community or in the human need to communicate, to interact, to share. I suppose not everyone has that drive but if you look at the history of the Internet and things such as IM/Chat rooms and their popularity .... well to me it wasn't a big jump from that to the social networking sites that are out there now. To me it is just a natural progression. No longer do I just talk about say my love of dogs or libraries but I can share with others pictures, videos, etc. Think of it as still a big chat room that now had AV capabilities.

Yes, you could do a search box on a MySpace page that would redirect them back to your catalog. We have that on one of our MySpace pages for our library system (we also have it on our PC4Kids site). Our Web Programmer gave our branch manger the code - you type in your search term(s) and it enters that into our AquaBrowser catalog. It is a great way to be "out there" and bring people into your site.

There are many, many possibilities for using Library/Web 2.0 and social networking. If nothing else, if it helps to bring customers to your library or library site it can't be all bad.

Another site that I'm part of is Joomla In Libraries. Joomla is the software that runs Si!

The great thing about belonging to communities like these is being ask questions of others that are experiencing what you are or have been through it and have solutions.


I hope others will see what Web 2.0 and programs like 23 Things are just a natural progression of what was established a long time ago. Change can be scary or it can be embraced and looked upon as a positive experience. It all starts with you and your viewpoint.