Ok - so I redecorated. I'm actually having fun blogging, so I thought I'd play around and liven up my blog a bit. Also thought it would be fun to play around with the lay out and design a bit to see how that all works. And, of course, I needed to show off my pups. Cute, right? The little one is a 12-year-old female and the bigger one is a male and is going to be a year old the week after next. They actually get on remarkably well together - which makes me glad, because I specifically chose the "baby boy" to get along with my "super alpha" female (she's a terrier, and for those of us who know terriers - they know that the definition in the dictionary under "stubborn" and also "independent" would show a pic. of a terrier...)
Anyway - after a sort of unintended hiatus, I'm back on my quest for 23... or at least 5 more things towards the 23.
I did decide to make my Facebook excursion count for the exercise - I may just have it as a "7th" thing, I'll decide later. In any case, I have given some thought to how Facebook and other similar social media might function in a library (and for the present purposes I'll confine myself to a public library). First off, as I suggested in my previous post, I think these types of social sites can be useful sources for information - Even if it's just staying on top of who might be playing at the local venue next week. Of course, the lawyer in me has concerns around privacy and protection of personal information etc. on line - both from the "risk management" perspective of having patrons accessing these sites that are fairly - well - open, content-wise - as well as from the patron's perspective (vis-a-vis concerns over their own personal information, and how safe is it on a public machine). I know that maybe a bit neurotic, but - well, there it is. Also, I'm off topic a bit. Oh well. It's getting late. Long day.
Anyway, on balance, I think if some reasonable parameters are adhered to - I can definitely see a library setting up a Facebook or similar (My Space) page, where the patrons on the site can "friend" the library, it can also be another way for patrons to contact a librarian (esp. a reference librarian) to ask questions and be able to actually interact directly. It is also a way that a library could reach multiple patrons - by putting up posts on its facebook page, and then alerting all its "friends" to check out the update. Just some random thoughts. From my brief experience on facebook, and now with blogging, I think both are really powerful methods for communicating virtually. I also don't think they are necessarily mutually exclusive - I think a library could use both very effectively to not only disseminate information (yes, even "advertise" a bit...) about its programs etc., but also as an additional means by which to interact with patrons one-on-one.
In our next episode: Image Editors.
The puppies are a cute! What type of terrier is she?
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