Using social networking to connect teens with young adult literature

Saeteurn, Chi.

Hilbun, J. (2011). Using social networking to connect teens with young adult literature. Public Libraries, 50(3), 42-49.

Summary: Hilbun writes about the different ways that youth services librarians can connect with teens through social media platforms. Hilbun begins by highlighting the importance of librarians in connecting teens to reading. While there is a misconception that teens no longer read, teens are reading but what they are reading has slightly changed. Teens continue to read traditionally, such as books and required reading for school, but they are also reading websites, text messages, blogs, Facebook, and other social media nowadays. Thus, youth services librarians can step up and incorporate Web 2.0 tools in order to reach teens in platforms that they popularly converge. One step would be making the library webpage more appealing and teen-friendly and other methods include incorporating blogs, contests for teens to make video book reviews and trailers, online book clubs, book-sharing sites such as Goodreads, Facebook/Myspace, Twitter and RSS, and Avatars and Second Life. It is important to attract teens through these various platforms as well as keep teens engaged by asking their input.

Evaluation: Hilbun continues the push to incorporate more Web 2.0 technologies, providing informative examples of free tools to use. The section on the library webpage as a way to attract teens offered examples and links to public libraries with great teen webpages in order to provide the reader with a visual understanding. The promotion of author blogs and book-sharing sites as a way for teens to connect to literature provides a refreshing look at what resources teens may find valuable. Librarians can use the free Web 2.0 technologies to their advantage by creating a space to not only connect teens to literature, but to also enable teens to take an active role. These tools are useful especially as a way to promote the available collections at the library and to also solicit feedback on what teens would like to see added to the collection.

I would personally like to see the teen webpage of my library system redone in order to attract more teens.

Building virtual spaces for children in the digital branch

Kimura, Camden

Dubroy, M. (2010). Building virtual spaces for children in the digital branch. Australian Library Journal, 59(4), 211-223. doi:10.1080/00049670.2010.10736027

Summary: In this article, Dubroy explores the different studies and literature that has been published in the past decade about children and digital branches. She also provides her own comparison study of five digital branches for children using David Lee King’s framework for the necessary elements of a digital branch (his framework for a good digital branch being staff, collection, community, and building [Dubroy, 2010, p. 220]). She finds both in the literature and in her own study that it is difficult to create a digital space that appeals to all children; children have varying needs at different ages and there is no “one size fits all” digital branch for children (Dubroy, 2010, p. 220-221). She also finds that the five different children’s virtual branches she examined all have King’s elements “to varying degrees”, however I noticed many of the libraries she looked at were missing the “community” element as not all of them invited user-to-user interaction (Dubroy, 2010, p. 220). However, the scale of her study was very small (only five digital branches) so it is impossible to say whether this lack of community interaction is/was a trend with all children’s digital branches or if it is just happens to be that the children’s digital branches she looked at that do not have good community interaction.

Evaluation: This article provides a good literature review. She uses many articles and studies to compare what children want out of digital branches and what is generally available. Her comparison study is interesting, but ultimately too small to carry much weight. Further studies would be necessary to pick up real trends. (I realize that this article was written in 2010 though so it is likely that there have been further studies in the ensuing five years.) Still, it is a good introduction to an interesting topic; how can libraries serve children with digital branches? Furthermore, how can libraries get kids to use digital branches? Is it “if you build it, they will come”? Children have different cognitive and emotional needs from adults and libraries that create digital branches for children must be cognizant of their young users.

The library in which I work does not have a digital branch for children; digital services/resources for them are folded into the general, all-ages resources page. If children have never visited our library website before, they will need help from a parent or librarian/staff member to navigate the resources page to get the digital services that would be appropriate and useful for their ages. Since I don’t have a lot of experience introducing child users to the digital services, I have no idea whether or not a digital branch of children would be used. Certainly it might be helpful to have all the children’s resources listed on a page of their own for ease of access, but I’m not sure an entire digital branch would be used by children. This is a question I had about the digital branches that Dubroy examined; most of them were visually appealing and looked useful, but were they actually being used? This is key information that Dubroy was missing in her comparison. To weigh whether or not it would be worth my library’s time and money to create a digital branch, it would be good to see in articles such as this whether digital branches are actually being used.

Towards Library 2.0: The Adoption of Web 2.0 Technologies in Public Libraries

Curtin, Shane.

Anttiroiko, A., & Savolainen, R. (2011). Towards Library 2.0: The Adoption of Web 2.0 Technologies in Public Libraries. Libri: International Journal of Libraries and Information Services, (61)2, 87-99. DOI: 10.1515/libr.2011.008

This article explores libraries' attempts to reinvent their services through the implementation of Web 2.0 tools such as RSS feeds, live chat, blogs, and book rating and user tagging systems. The article makes a distinction between social media and Web 2.0, claiming that the former is just a subset of the latter. To address the "terminological ambiguity" the authors divide Web 2.0 tools into categories including social networking, special interest networks, media communities and content based SNSs. blogs, short messaging/feeding, sharing news/opinions/views, reference works, and collective intelligence (with examples of sites of each type and their utilization in libraries).  The article also discusses the purpose and potential of the tools public libraries have adopted, the ensuing formation of the concept of "Library 2.0" and its role in bringing about social changes such as "Government 2.0". The authors found that public libraries use Web 2.0 tools for four main purposes: communication, content sharing, social networking, and crowdsourcing. In many libraries, the reference department offers instant messaging for patron questions. Other oft-used tools include blogs, Twitter, Facebook, user enabled tagging for library catalogs (taking advantage of the "wisdom of crowds") and collaborative tagging via programs like Delicious. Many librarians surveyed in the authors'  research complained that maintaining Web 2.0 services increases workload, but also that their patrons report greater ease of use and satisfaction with library services. The authors call on libraries to move from an "evolutionary to a revolutionary" and integrate Web 2.0 fully into their identities.

Evaluation:

This article raised interesting questions, but provided no answers. It was effectively and overview of the ways in which select American libraries used Web 2.0 tools. I suspect that in 2011, when it was published, it seemed more original. I was quite interested in the larger implications of social media in libraries, but the article spent little time on these. It did emphasize that the library can use it's position in the community to become a launchpad for Web 2.0 understanding, and thus aid in the empowerment of individuals who learn how to effectively use these tools. "Government 2.0" as mentioned in the article, is a concept I have been hearing a little about lately- a scenario in which people use Web 2.0 to become more active participants in their government. In the years since this article was written, Twitter has become the main vehicle for Government 2.0. Certainly libraries have a role in the Web 2.0 revolution (given our operational tenants of free expression and freedom of access), but I think Web 2.0 is something that is moving forward  independently of us. Our responsibility is merely to keep up with it, and make sure we provide our users with the kinds of tools to which they are accustomed.

The Future of Libraries Has Little to Do with Books

Brandes-Miesner, Marta

Spinks, R. (2015, January 4). The future of libraries has little to do with books. Good: A magazine for the global citizen. Retrieved from http://magazine.good.is/articles/public-libraries-reimagined

Summary:

 In this article, the author talks about how libraries are reinventing themselves by becoming vibrant and attractive community “hubs”. The article emphasizes the need to develop libraries into places where patrons can become not only digitally literate, but digitally fluent. The future of libraries according to this article is encompassed by its free services, by being a community gathering space, and by fulfilling patrons’ needs for connectivity. The first “Bookless Library” has been built in San Antonio, Texas. The author described it as a “digital hub”. This library is all digital, cloud-based, and has over 10,000 eBooks and eReaders for the public. The author states though that with its plethora of auditoriums and creative spaces to relax, work and meet in, library materials seem like an afterthought. Nonetheless, the sentiment of this article is that reimagining and recreating the library as a place for people to gather works well for the future of libraries.

Evaluation:

This article is interesting in its ability to present images of future libraries, and those that have already been moving in this direction. Imagining that this is one of many directions future libraries will take is obviously plausible. However, the idea that libraries will become more community spaces to meet rather than to go to for the purposes of gaining something is not as plausible. There are so many existing places to meet, study, gather, etc. People go to libraries to “acquire” something-knowledge, information, Internet access, assistance, leisure materials, peace & quiet, solitude to study, etc. not only for the space itself. So while the author presents a vision of the future that is sleek and stylish and seemingly new, the article neglects to include the very reason libraries exist in the first place. They exist to impart information or knowledge (regardless of its format) and to act as a point of entry for equitable access to that information and knowledge. Without these two factors, these “gathering spaces” are just that.

Creating Digital Heritage Collections in an Urban Academic Library Setting

Nicole J. Hoback

Reference:

Johnson, J. (2015). Creating Digital Heritage Collections in an Urban Academic

            Library Setting. Urban Library Journal, 21(1), 16-27.

Summary:

The article, written by Johnson (2015), discusses the development of digital cultural heritage collections, which has been stated as a project that has not been typically operated by libraries. Indian University Perdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is an urban academic library, which focused on the case study as it follows the relationships built with two separate organizations to establish a cultural heritage collection. The intension for these projects is not only to bring more information to the public’s eye through digitization, but also to bring collaboration between libraries, archives, and museums. The two projects focused on the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Throughout both projects, microfilming presented an issue for digitization, as the library had never worked with this material in digitization. Content and format, were the unforeseen issues that continued to rise up during this process, but overall IUPUI hopes that other libraries will reach out to their community to create a collaboration of learning and experience for students and librarians.

Evaluation:

Overall I really enjoyed this article and the insightful information, which they provided as a collaborative effort needed between libraries, archives, and museums. All three of these institutions are focused on education and preserving, but it is interesting that they are not often combined on projects. Community outreach such as these, allow for academic libraries to become involved in the community that they are set in, creating an open environment. One thing the article stated that I found most interesting was, “building a successful digital collection is less about the technology and more about developing a relationship with that organization.” Often times in our technology run world we forget the importance of real time communication and collaboration, but this project shows that you can have technology and collaboration, creating a project for communities and university students to enjoy.

Patron-Initiated Collection Development: Progress of a Paradigm Shift

Amy Kumar

Hodges, D., Preston, C., Hamilton, M.Hamilton. (2010) Patron-Initiated Collection Development: Progress of a Paradigm Shift. Collection Management. 35, 3. p.208-221.

Review: The article examines the shift from librarian-mediated collection development to patron-initiated collection development of both physical collections and e-collections. Their report focuses on two programs at Ohio State University: the interlibrary loan purchase-on-demand program and a testing program of the "ebrary's" patron-initiated collection development. These new programs are examined against the traditional "just-in-case" collection model, in which a bibliographer selects items for a library based on anticipation of demand.

Evaluation: The authors do a great job at presenting the pros and cons of both models. While I initially read the article with a resistant attitude to patron-initiated collection development, I eventually felt convinced that it can work within limits. One one hand, patron-initiated collections run the risk of creating a library collection with no substance or core, and are dictated by the random needs of students at a particular moment in time. One the other hand, when applied to e-books especially, patron-driven collections have proven to be fairly effective. For example, the article states that the Ohio State Library's interlibrary loan purchase on demand program requests "appear to circulate at a higher rate than the general collections" (Hodges, p4). This is an interesting fact, and one that academic libraries especially should take note of.

Free Information and Freedom of Expression

Lederer, Haylee

OJALA, M. (2015). Free Information and Freedom of Expression. Online Searcher, 39(2), 4.

Review: The author briefly goes over the concepts of 'free' and 'freedom,' characterizing them as two very different things when it comes to the library. Libraries are not free, they cost money. But they offer freedom - freedom to learn, research, acknowledge, and grow. She also ties this is with ideas of selection and censorship, and how all those relation to the library field.

Evaluation: Two things about this article stood out to me. One, the author made it out like people take advantage of the fact that the library seems 'free,' even when it's not. I really don't think that's true and I don't think she's giving library patrons enough credit. We all grew up hearing 'nothing is free' and all that. As library users, we know that someone is paying money for us to be able to access the library services. Here in San Jose, we've voted a number of times to increase the public library budgets, essentially giving the government an order to use our tax money on the library. So we know that's we are the ones essentially providing these services. People aren't naive.

But, I have to say that I really liked how she touched on the differences between 'free' and 'freedom'. While libraries aren't free, they don't give communities a sense of freedom. And I really believe that's why libraries are as sacred as they are. Humans like to be in contact with information and each other, and libraries help form and foster that connection. They gives us the freedom to connect to whoever and whatever we wish. And you can't really put a price on that.

Large-scale Acquisitions: The Story of Ian McLaren's Collection.

Tatarakis, Kelly

Kennedy, R., & Macauley, P. (2015). Large-scale acquisitions: The story of Ian McLaren's collection. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 46(1), 39-51. doi:10.1080/00048623.2014.1003166

 Summary:

            This 12 page article begins with a narrative of Ian F. McLaren and his private book collecting habits in the mid-1900's. His private library collection of primarily Australiana works were then acquired by the Baillieu Library as a special collection in 1976. The authors use this historical account to examine large-scale special collection and donation acquisitions, discuss the inherent problems in housing, maintaining, and cataloging the materials (particularly over extended periods of time), and suggest standard practices for libraries in general. Libraries need to be cautious during negotiations that they are not limiting their future freedom with the collection, and make sure terms for future management are clear to both parties during the initial acquisition.

            The authors state that the value of acquiring private library collections is in the whole of a collection rather than individual items. Many times the significance of a special collection lies primarily in the "celebrity" nature of the original collector, such as a prime minister, or in their specific subject focus (Kennedy & Macauley 2015). These types of large-scale acquisitions, according to the authors, have much more an element of chance than in acquiring items from publishers; there may be many less significant individual items in a collection, and the donor or seller must be negotiated with. Sellers and donors will often have reasons behind giving up their personal collections, such as taxes, storage, and management difficulties, wanting to make the collection more available to the public, and not having the collection burden inheritors after death.

            Institutions will also need to decide whether it would be of more use to break up the collection, sell or auction it off individually or as a whole, or keep the collection together as part of their own library. Staff time and maintenance costs must be factored into how these acquisitions are dealt with. Having policies in place to deal with large-scale donations by assessing the collection and planning for either keeping or selling it will help reduce these difficulties. Policies for negotiating with a seller will be similar but have some different needs to address.

Evaluation:

            I found this article very informative. Large-scale acquisitions of special collections, private libraries, and donations are not the first thing that springs to mind when considering collection development, but certainly significant and worth studying. This article provides and in-depth view of how the Ian McLaren special collection was acquired and then managed over time, which helps illustrate the issues involved in general for large-scale acquisitions. This article, in my opinion, is very good supplementary reading for a Collection Development class.