Thing Two - Skidoo.0

I'd like to use this blog for Thing 2 to ruminate about MCPL's and my own knowledge of things Web 2.0. After viewing the video and reading the articles contesting the definitions of Web 2.0 and debating libraries' future in this rapidly changing environment, I feel as if the 2-3 years since these articles were written have gone some ways to at least acclimatizing many libraries and librarians to the concept of continual, technological- and user-driven change implicit in the idea of Web 2.0. What I don't think I personally, and MCPL as a whole, have achieved yet is the next level after having heard about/used/felt comfortable with 2.0 technologies such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. This level would include struggling with how these technologies fit into our library world - what do we do with them, to what extent do we try to control them, who uses them at work and in what way, etc. We're starting, and I'll give an example that illustrates both my struggle with this and the Library's as a whole.

Since taking my position as Teen Programmer, I've wanted Teen Services to have a presence on Facebook. It wasn't my brilliant idea - previous Teen Services folks, the current Teen and Adult Programming Coordinator, and I'm sure other Adult Services and IS staff have had this idea already. But my joining up with the department coincided with an organization-wide effort at revamping our intra- and external websites, with the idea of adding some social networking tools for our patrons. So I've kindly been asked provide some input on the idea of a Teen Facebook page and to think through some of the considerations before we go live. These considerations involve whether to allow user comments, what kind of moderation would be involved, whether the Facebook page should be primarily to point users to the MCPL webpage or a social networking tool or both, etc. My first reaction was that of course we should have comments, that there be little to no moderation, and that if we wanted a place that simply pointed users to our main library page we could just have another static webpage. But thinking things through I realized it's not as easy as all that.

There are considerations to be wrestled with. We want comments to be allowed but need a mechanism for removing abusive or libelous postings, for example. We want to have user submitted graphics, video, etc., but our target audience is made up of minors whose permission must be received and privacy protected. There needs to be a balance between enabling our users to view our content and add their own while respecting their rights and our organizational values and mission. We'll see how this all plays out in the next month or so, when we finally go live. Keep an eye out for out Teen Service Facebook page, and watch as it evolves. By all means, if you have questions or ideas, let me know!

Thing 1 - House of Skidoo is Open to YOU!

Well, I'm finally getting around to starting my 23 Things (hence the name, not in reference to the experimental post-punk band) here at MCPL. I have to say that I am very glad we are taking part in this training regimen, both generally because I feel we'll all benefit from learning about new communication methods (being the information professionals that we are) and personally. See, I grew up in that odd generation that was exposed to computers but very often did not have one at home - I didn't until I reached high school. So even though I'm comfortable using computers and many of their applications, I don't pick this stuff up like those of younger generations. I sure love to mess around with new things, though.

As far as blogs go, I had a Xanga blog back in the late 90s, but it's been a good decade since I've made regular entries. I find Blogger much easier to get up and running, and somewhat more intuitive. I was stumped for a moment when I first tried to put my LibraryThing widget in this blog, because I expected to have to enter the HTML in the blog's code myself. Obviously, I was making things harder than they needed to be, as Blogger lets one simply paste the HTML into the Third Party gadget. It took a bit of experimenting on the LibraryThing website to create a widget that was an appropriate size for my Blogger page, but in the end it was relatively painless, and left me excited to move on to Thing 2.