Social Networks - Week 12

I have heard Of Facebook and MySpace but it has never interested me personally to participate on them, let alone imagining the idea of Libraries being a part of them.

This topic has been interesting and it has given me knowledge of the uses Social Networking can have from a library perspective. Looking at Le Monde, I learnt of other Social Networking brands around the world.It was interesting to see the distribution around the world and that Australia is in sync with the US in using MySpace.

Coshocton Public Library's MySpace for their Animanga Club impressed me as it is a way of Marketing the Library's Youth services in the technology that the youth of today are accessing.It makes the library a cool and happening place. This is what I also thought of Rotorua Public library's Bebo site aimed at the teens and youths.
It was interactive as well as educational by promoting facts in a cool way.I loved the various comments left- eg "I never expected the library to have a Bebo site" so it reaches out to people in the community who may never venture inside a library in the traditional way.

Maybe this is what my library and others could do, especially if budgets are tight and resources limited is to have a virtual Youth Zone area by setting up a Social Networking site.

American Library Association’s MySpace page was very informative and I liked the way it markets itself and libraries and I saw amongst its 5000+ friends , many other libraries.

Second Life- I have actually ventured on to Second Life and while I think it's an interesting concept, I think I'd rather be in the real world and not the virtual.