Podcasts [Project Play: Semester 2: week 6]

This week we got to learn about podcasts. They're a good way to share audio or video content. I took a look at some of the library podcasts. A fair number were geared toward children.

I chose to add to my bloglines subscription Uncontrolled Vocabulary : a live discussion of news, trends, and topics in librarianship. In fact, I started to listen to one of the podcasts. I didn't finish it because it was an hour long and I needed to get back to work.

I haven't really gotten into podcasts. I prefer to listen to music when I am driving in the car or doing a physical activity outdoors. I do occationally listen to an audiobook. However, I can see the value of podcasts. It is a way to get out your message using audio or video. People can then listen to it or watch it at their convenience and not worry about missing it.

Social Networking sites [Project Play: Semester 2: Week 5]

This week we took a look at social networking sites. Although I understand the attraction, I'm not totally convinced that I personally need a MySpace or Facebook page. Yet it may be a place for the library to connect with younger users, at least to start with.

My assignment is to look at 3 library myspace pages. I took a look at Oshkosh PL OurSpace, La Crosse PL , Denver Public Library , and Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. The one I liked the best was Denver's. Oshkosh's was pretty basic. LaCrosse's site seems to be about blogging. I was wondering why there wasn't a link to the Library's home page or library's services. Whereas both Charlotte and Denver' s had links to library services. Charlotte has links to the best books of 2007 for teens, a meebo link for chat, links to find out more info about the staff. Denver has links to library services: AskColorado (virtual reference service), the catalog, reference databases, youtube summer reading video.

A lot of people are using social networking sites, so I guess the library has to go where the customer is, so to speak. But I think gearing a library's social networking site toward teens would be more useful. It would be interesting find out the impact of those sites on library use. Does the use of the library's databases increase? Does the use of instant messaging tools (Meebo, virtual reference services like AskAway) increase? Does it reach potential users and make library users out of them?
I'm not sure about getting a page on MySpace or Facebook for the library for which I work. Perhaps doing as Denver Public Library , and Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County did and concentrating on teens would be the way to start? But I think that the site has to be useful to the population that you are trying to reach. Otherwise, why would they even visit the site?