In Your Facebook

In Your Facebook

Cliff Landis

http://cliflandis.net

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 Performance
• Dynamic and static
• Social Networking
• Connections between individuals create a network (Vizster)
• Groups and Identity
• 4^th Floor Odum library bathroom users (active)
• Odum Library is only good for one thing and that this is Facebook (group identity)
• I like to hang out in the library after hours (failed group identity)
• Image presentation (the Profile)
• One-on-One communication
• Communication in groups
• Writing on Walls
• Sharing pictures
• Linking to other social networks and websites

How can I use Facebook to benefit the students?

• Traditional services
• Reference
• Consultations
• Groups
• Marketing
• Photos
• Flyers
• Events
• Instruction
• Groups
• Links to traditional resources
• Innovative services
• Acquisitions
• Asking the students on their own turf
• Ubiquitous librarianship
• Using a student’s public information (blog) to meet their information needs

How will this Facebook improve my service?

• The user-center approach
• “The user is not broken” (Blog post)
• 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 lat-night study, pre meds, engineers, finals period

FACEBOOK has been closing down the institutional accounts

Make a facebook entry as an individual, and then make connections one on one…

He has created a ‘group’ off his Facebook account…

Who “owns” the library?

• We like to think of the library as “mine” since we work there
• The University likes to think of the library as “mine” since it is part of the institution
• The students think of the library as “mine” because it is designed for their use.
• Take the compliment, and work with the students to get the word out about the library!

Why not friendster (usually cause myspace for kids, facebook for older) Facebook won’t let you add widgets (i.e. the meebome).