Add Me to Your MySpace!Social Networking for Libraries

Cliff Landis, Reference Librarian/Instructor

Valdosta State University9/21/2006

COMO 2006

Before We Even Begin….Addressing the MySpace Fears

• Predators1:– Only 7% of those teens interviewed were ever approached by

anyone with a sexual intent and nearly all of them simply ignored the person and blocked him from their page.

– Two-thirds of the parents were sure that there were many sexual predators on MySpace, while only one-third of the teenagers shared this concern.

– When asked about media coverage, 66% of the parents felt that it was either understated or close to the truth.

– Conversely, 58% of the teens felt it was vastly overblown.

• Is MySpace safer for teens than for predators?2

Addressing the MySpace Fears (cont’d)

• DOPA (Deleting Online Predators Act (H.R. 5319)– Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 2006 (still has

to be passed by the Senate and signed by the President).

– Broadly defines social networking sites as:

Sec.2(c)(J) a commercially operated Internet website [sic] that-

• (i) allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and

• (ii) offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email, or instant messenger.

– DOPA is not yet law! Write to your Senators!

What are the questions we should be asking?

• What is the nature of this technology?• How are my patrons using this technology?• How can I use this technology to benefit my

patrons?– Traditional services

– Innovative services

• How will this technology improve my service?• How should we represent ourselves?

What is the nature of the beast?

• Profiles as Identity Performance3

– Dynamic and static• Social Networking4

– Connections between individuals create a network (Vizster)

• Groups and Identity– 4th Floor Odum Library Bathroom Users (active)– Odum Library Is Only Good For One Thing and That

Thing Is Facebook!! (group identity)– I Like To Hang Out In the Library after Hours (failed

group identity)

How are patrons using social networking websites?

• Image representation (the Profile)

• One-on-One communication

• Communication in Groups

• Writing on Walls/Comments

• Sharing pictures

• Linking to other social networks and websites.

How can I use social networking websites to benefit my patrons?

• Traditional Services– Reference

• Consultations

• Groups

– Marketing• Photos

• Flyers

• Events

– Instruction• Groups• Links to traditional

resources

How can I use social networking websites to benefit my patrons?

• Innovative Services– Acquisitions

• Asking the students on their own turf (Crossett Library at Bennington College).5

– “Ubiquitous Librarianship”6

• Using a student’s public information (blog) to meet their information needs.

How will social networking websites improve my service?

• The user-centric approach– “The User Is Not Broken” 7

• Meet people where they are—not where you want them to be.

– Point-of-Need service– Effective marketing

• Using the market that is already in place

Choosing your Identity• How should we represent ourselves?

– The living library• Kresge Library

– Relationship Status: It's Complicated with Biomed Library (Minnesota)

• Tisch Library– Interests: Watching kids cry, admitting sketchy old men to late night study, amusing myself

by eating souls at late-night study, pre-meds, engineers, finals period– Favorite Music: silence– Favorite Books: Everything... clearly. I have millions of volumes over here, how can I pick

a favorite?

– The librarian collective• UIUC Undergraduate Library, Maryland Engineering Library

– The librarians ourselves (stranger than fiction) • David Free, Michael Stephens, Sarah Steiner, Brian Matthews, etc.

What if your Identity is chosen for you?

• ProfilesFrom: Brown Library (UVA)To: Cliff LandisSubject: <no subject>Message: I'm actually just a student so I don't have any actual

connections to UVA's library system. I just made the facebook profile for fun. (personal communication, Jul 26, 2006)

• Groups– I Be On My Cell Phone In the Library– Odum Library Is Only Good For One Thing and That Thing

Is Facebook!!

• Events– Hide and Seek in Odum Library

Who “owns” the library?

• We like to think of the library as “mine” since we work there.

• For academic libraries, the University likes to think of the library as “mine” since it is part of the larger institution.

• The patrons think of the library as “mine” because it is designed for their use.

• Take the compliment, and work with the patrons to get the word out about the Library!

Seeing it in action:Lansing Public Library MySpace

Seeing it in action:UIUC Undergraduate Library MySpace

Seeing it in action:UIUC Undergraduate Library Facebook

Seeing it in action:Ask-A-Librarian Group Facebook

Footnotes1. Rosen, L. D. (2006, June). Adolescents in MySpace: Identity Formation,

Friendship and Sexual Predators. California State University, Dominguez Hills, Psychology Department. Retrieved July 13, 2006 from http://www.csudh.edu/psych/Adolescents%20in%20MySpace%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

2. boyd, d. (2006, April 20). Is MySpace safe for predators? Retrieved August 10, 2006 from http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2006/04/20/ is_myspace_safe.html

3. boyd, d. and Heer, J. (2006, January 4-7). Profiles as conversation: Networked identity performance on Friendster. Proceedings of the Hawai’i International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS-39), Persistent conversation track. Kauai, HI: IEEE Computer Society. Retrieved August 10, 2006 from http://www.danah.org/papers/HICSS2006.pdf

4. Heer, J. (n.d.). Vizster. Retrieved August 10, 2006 from http://jheer.org/vizster/ 5. Farkas, M. (2006, May 4). Re: MySpace. Message posted to LIBREF-L

electronic mailing list, archived at http://listserv.kent.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0605A&L=LIBREF-L&P=R2651&I=-3

6. Mathews, B. S. (2006, March 13). Intuitive revelations: The ubiquitous reference model. Retrieved August 8, 2006 from http://hdl.handle.net/1853/8446

7. Schneider, K. G. (2006, June 3). The user is not broken: A meme masquerading as a manifesto. Retrieved August 10, 2006 from http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/06/the_user_is_not_broken_a_meme.php