Social Networking in Libraries

My parents were the first to have their VCR’s clock programmed correctly in the neighborhood.  I don’t know why, but I could always figure that kind of stuff out.  I liked figuring it out.  Fast forward to modern day, and the kind of stuff (technologies) that we need to figure out is growing exponentially. I dabbled with a blog almost four years ago for personal fun, played a bit with Google Reader in my former career, bookmarked a number of Wikis that were related to my current position and established both my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, but none of these things were at the core of my life or work, until now.  These days, social networking and other web 2.0 tools are no longer fun technologies to “dabble” in, they soon will be at the core of how I stay current in my profession, network and share information with my colleagues, and engage the members of my library and greater community.  It’s why my blog was almost called “Shannon 2.0” until I found out that that was the equivalent of saying, "Golly Gee Daddio, I'm Shannon!"  Thanks Professor Lankes for saving me!  And here I thought I was progressive...I guess it's all relative!

Social networking in libraries is essential to carrying out the librarian’s mission to “improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities” (Lankes, 2011, p. 10).  In addition to facilitators, I also think that librarians should think of themselves as mentors in this digital age, especially to children and teens.  The ability to create and instantly share new knowledge with infinite numbers of people, comes with a responsibility to do so in an ethical and socially responsible way, and librarians are in the perfect position to model the etiquette and ethics of cyber citizenship.

Reference:

Lankes, R. D. (2011) The Atlas of New Librarianship.  Cambridge, MA:  The MIT Press.