ACRLog has previously discussed academic librarians creating profiles for themselves and/or their libraries in student social communities such as Facebook and MySpace.
It seems like a good idea. We should try to connect with students where they are. But spaces like Facebook and MySpace are primarily social sites, and the people who join and use these sites rarely have academics in mind. So it seems that a good idea would be to create a space like these social sites where students, faculty, and administrators can meet, communicate, share, and otherwise get to know each other, without the heavy emphasis on, well, whatever it is that students do in these social spaces.
Well, this article discusses a college that decided to do this exact thing. Columbia College Chicago used its e-portfolio software to create a MySpace like environment where faculty and administrators can create profiles that allow students to get to know them online. In the article the administrators of the system say that their community space is intended to “augment face-to-face contact, not replace it.” If our objective is to connect with students where they are, in a meaningful way – and by that I mean in ways that encourage use of the library’s resources and services – perhaps we need to promote the idea of community spaces within our institutions where faculty, staff, and students can learn more about each other.
BTW, I hope that you are making more use of a news aggregator such as Bloglines to capture RSS feeds. Those just getting started, especially if they’ve quickly added quite a few feeds to their aggregator, may be finding themselves spending more time than they anticipated reviewing blogs and reading news stories. While that’s good, because it leads to discovery and innovation, it can also create some stress and pressures on time for other responsibilities. For those feeling this way, I recommend this post on “10 Tips for Effective Blog Reading” which offers good tips for being efficient and saving time when reading blogs and other news sources in an aggregator.
Works for me: http://www.myspace.com/gogebic
I agree that there is a problem in the shifting perspective that libraries feel they need to be everywhere our students are. I am very pro social networking, but it comes down to choosing your outreach wisely.
I think setting up a Library X profile on MySpace or Facebook is fine, but it’s not proactive. It’s really little difference than sitting at the Ref Desk waiting for patrons to come to you. Plus, I have found that students respond better to actual people, rather than academic entities.
I have a posting that touches on this topic and what MTV calls multi-platfornication:
http://altref.blogspot.com/2006/03/on-being-platform-agnostic.html
Also, here is a link to a handful of portfolio examples:
http://academic.udayton.edu/elearning/onlineTraining/ElectronicPortfolios/StudentPortfolio/Examples.htm
In case you missed it, The Daily Show had a feature on social networking that’s pure Daily Show. The sight of Siva Viadhyanathan keeping a straight face is worth the price of admission.