I can see huge possibilities for libraries who use social networking tools, particularly in the way they communicate, interact and market themselves. This form of communication is in the early trial stages at my place of work and it's only now it seems, that management appear to be considering it a valid aspect of an employee's normal work day. The fact that we are being given time during the work day to complete License to Test Drive is testiment to these changing attitudes.
From what I can see, my place of work echoes that of Australian public libraries in general, we're getting there! Academic libraries on the other hand have been using social networking tools for some time. The reason? Their users, the ones they want to attract to the service use these tools on a daily basis, it makes sense to meet them in their world. As people outside the "generation y" or student demographic begin to and continue to use these tools I think we'll see a huge increase in the number of public libraries using them as well to attract and service their clients.
Those of us in public libraries REALLY need to jump on the web 2.0 bandwagon and learn what these tools are all about. As with all trends, the tools being used will change. Twitter for example, seems to be taking over Facebook in terms of popularity. I think the most important thing that libraries need to realise is that these trends DO change and they change at an increasingly rapid rate. Public libraries really need to make sure that they don't fall into the trap of taking SO long to evaluate and test a product that by the time it is approved the users have moved on to the next big thing!
Another thing we need to be wary of is remembering to "let go"! Let's face it, libraries tend to stick to their guns, we do something and we do it well and typically we'll hold onto it for years to come (card catalogue anyone?!) I guess what I'm trying to say is that "sure, you've created a Facebook page, that's great". But if it's not being used or contributed to, get rid of it, otherwise you'll end up being a library with an image problem- at least amongst the very people you want to atract to the service!
People moving in the "web 2.0 age" are all about getting what they want now, and they usually want it yesterday, they also move from using one product to another in the blink of an eye. I'm not saying this is necessarily a healthy thing, but it's an increasingly frantic world and to keep up and maintain our relevance in this environment is vital.
Ahem.... well I didn't mean to turn this into a rant........
