That was saved as a draft back in May..... One month + a few days later.....
I searched for public libraries on Facebook and noticed that they are mostly North American, maybe it's got something to do with how they are under more funding pressure than we are??
Anyway, had a look at two of those (one a US library and the other Canadian), and it looks like the content on their Facebook pages are pretty much similar to what we have on our library website/Facebook pages - locations and opening hours, promotion of events, event photos, features in the media and discussion boards. (Although one even had a "Chat with a Librarian" button.)
I have had patrons asking about Facebook, wanting to know:
- about the charges to access Facebook on our Learn.net computer.
- why they are not able to log-in (either because they have insufficient funds or had tried to log-in too many times with the incorrect details).
- how to chat on Facebook.
I guess Facebook for us as a public library, would be a promotional tool as well as one that allow us to interact with library patrons outside the restriction of library locations and hours.
For Library patrons, Facebook would enable them to interact with Library staff (again with less restriction - location and time-wise), and also a source of information (eg: library happenings, who's reading what, what's a good read etc).
As for promoting our Facebook page to customers. Umm... I guess I would, if the patron seem to be interested in this sort of thing, or actually want to be connected to people with similar reading interests. Although I do think that people who are on Facebook already and who are interested in being part of the library network would already have found us on Facebook.
Other than having to go onto Learn.net computers, Facebook was easy to use. I guess it helped that I had set up my Facebook prior to starting Web 2.0 learning.
Having said that, I don't actually go onto Facebook much, I tend to rely on email notices that it send me. I mostly use Facebook for keeping in touch with family and friends overseas, and I would continue to do that.
Facebook would be a great tool for meeting people and meeting like-minded people if you share your likes and dislikes. But I like my privacy and therefore still prefer to share and communicate in old-fashioned ways...
A recent article on Facebook in Time magazine
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1990582,00.html
1 comment:
Facebook's definitely not everyone's cup of tea - or at least, certain parts of it aren't...like their privacy policy ;) I've been interested in the idea of a chat service for Manukau Libraries for a couple of years now but unsure as to how our staff would take it because, ultimately, they would have to help staff it. Eep. Good post!
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