Week 12 - NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0

I can see that if properly planned, social networking could be a huge benefit to my library in increasing it's public profile, access from patrons and the networking opportunities for staff.

The main complaint I have heard in relation to social networking and companies entering that "world" is that they do not regularly update the information on the page and it becomes stale. This discourages people from visiting the pages and the value of social networking has been lost.

I think if a library uses the social networking applications to promote events and information about the library then they need to not try and "act cool" as this is a turn off for teenagers, but at the same time the information needs to be presented in a way that attracts visits to the site, attracts friends, which increases your social network.

As a marketing tool there is alot of potential, but I think libraries need to look at what is out there and what is working, or not working. Learn from the mistakes of others, but don't be afraid to have a go. If the social networking page for a library is done correctly then it will have a huge impact on that library. At this stage I feel the library I work at is still in the learning and research stage and it would be a mistake to rush in and make a social networking page just to say we have done it, but I hope that by the end of the year we will have ventured into the world of social networking.