NB! Check this out! If you observe the table 1.1 on page 8 you can see that cell "Libraries" - "performance amateur production" is left blank.
There is a chance for libraries to fill out this particular cell, too. I don´t think that libraries' patrons should become amateur cataloguers nor should they start lending books (on "Night Library", so they could better realize why the library isn´t still open 24h, LOL), but I do think this chance hides out in social media technologies.
At the moment Library Thing comes to my mind, but there are probably more similar places and cases.
Writing a short review about a book (as in Amazon) or perhaps even rating a book (as in ESTER and many more uncountable places), for example.
Leaving a comment in the library blog (if it has one).
Becoming a member of library´s online community in Orkut or in Facebook or in Rate.
But I think every sincere librarian is now about to ask: "Why on earth should we bother to ... ?"
There are many reasons to ask this question: from mere prejudices to very reasonable inquiries. I´m not sure what are the core benefits of blogging or building a community in Orkut (or ... etc) for libraries in general or for Estonian libraries particularly. Perhaps somewhere someone has already found it out. Perhaps this issue need some extra research. I am aware that research on (at least) particular libraries on particular community has already been conducted (libraries in Facebook: Charnigo, Barnett-Ellis 2007, Secker 2008, definitely there was also something on libraries in MySpace), but I guess that Estonian (or Baltic or East-European) libraries are somewhat in different situation than libraries in the UK or USA.
There is no local online community in Estonia that would be used by different people - independent of age, level of education or gender. We have Rate, but it is much criticized and considered as an environment that changes kids violent and vulnerable (there are certain stereotypes, actively represented by young people). It´s not a scientific conclusion, I know, but many adults I personally know claim to keep away from Rate.ee (and I don´t spy on them:)) as it would stain their good name.
There are international portals (like Facebook, Orkut) but how many active Estonian library users visit those portals?
There´s always an issue that library in general finds being a member of such a portal discrediting. Snail mail can be slow (it´s a snail mail after all) and it might be difficult to catch the patron by phone, but libraries "have always used snail mail and phone" and found it a fine way to contact patrons. Cell phones are for more "intimate communication".
I guess that online portals are considered here as possible places to spend one´s spare time, but communicating library is mostly associated with work or studies (I wonder, what are do the results of "Mina.Meedia.Maailm" tell us about it???). The constant lack of spare time causes more need for "easily digestible entertainment" (Estonian commercial TV channels are full of this trash, sorry again for my not-so-scientific use of words) - are libraries sources of it, too? Or aren´t they? Perhaps it depends on the type of libraries: are they of universities or are the public...
The effectiveness of blogging for library (particularly for the library where I work) is still under question as it isn´t fixed what kind of information to present there. The news are on the "static" website anyway, the news are also e-mailed to certain persons and institutions. Comments on everyday work? I sense a lot carefulness in this issue as there is much to debate about what goes "in" and what remains "out". As there would be much to debate about, it is easier not to debate, it is easier not to keep a library blog and not to think about it at all:D
OK, it´s been a long talk, so I´ll get to the next steps to take:
- libraries in online communities: find benefits of being presented in communities (previous research, something additional to the links I provided),
- find out results of "Mina.Meedia.Maailm" concerning libraries,
- find out what do foreign libraries write about in blogs? Has any deeper research been conducted about it?
P.S Yesterday I bought myself a printer. For the sake of convenience. As I printed very first pages, my eldest son was like a small prehistoric man - yattering, jumping around it and weaving hands in a kind to make Don Quijote happy. Well.. There has been first time for all of us to see the printer in work, but in case of nearly a 4y old kid the reaction was magnified. I do hope that he understood my ban "do not touch it". As a treat I explained or at least tryed to explain the purpose of this interesting box.
No comments:
Post a Comment