WebJunction

 A new generation of "social software" tools is coming on the scene, and they're making it easier than ever for people to come together online to share, exchange ideas and build community.  And libraries have a natural and important place in this new world.  Whether your library's current Web site is nonexistent or pretty darn fancy, consider some of the resources below as you plot the next steps in cultivating a more potent and effective online presence for your library.

Here's a guide to our Online Community for Public Libraries focus:

• Getting oriented: what's all this about online community and libraries?
• Building a great library Web site: even if you're just getting started, you're on the brink of launching an online community.
• Are you ready for a library blog?  A blog just may be the simplest and quickest way to jump-start your virtual connection with patrons.
• Making the most of social software: how new technologies can transform your relationship with your patrons.

Our Guest Editor, Meredith Farkas, has been instrumental in creating this focus.  See here for details about her contribution.

Getting Oriented: What's an "Online Community"? 

"Online community" is as simple as connecting with others using the Internet.  If you're looking to establish your own library's Web site as a gathering place for your patrons, the first step may be getting direct experience of how online communities can help you.  There's no better place to start than a library-oriented online community.  WebJunction Community Manager Chrystie Hill explains how people who work in libraries can build relationships and develop professionally using online community tools.

WebJunction’s live online panel discussion, Making Sense of Social Software in the Library, was a great success! For a replay of the event, see details below...

The very notion of "online community" is pretty new, and it's generating a lot of interesting discussion in the information science world.  Blogger and library consultant Michael Stephens provides an overview of literature about the possibilities and potentials of online communities for libraries.

The First Step: Build and Maintain a Good Website 

There are many frontiers to explore, but it's important to remember that a well-designed, plain old-fashioned library website is the first step to building an online community.  Here are two great stories illustrating this:

• The Stevens County (WA) Regional Library District, a WebJunction Library of the Month, gives its Web site credit for keeping the system's doors open during a recent electoral challenge—and the site has a lot of other pretty handy features as well.
• The Lillooet (BC) Area Library Association has recently devised a remarkable—and remarkably simple—way to turn its website into a vehicle for preserving its community's cultural heritage.

Ready to get started?  Take a look at the web design courses in WebJunction's  Course Catalog.  There are also resource articles, tip sheets, and case studies in our Website Development section.

If you've got a site, a basic but crucial key to creating a sense of online community is keeping your web site up-to-date.  WJ staff have put together a tour of simple and doable practices for creating regular site updates.

Here are a few more articles that explore the dimensions of creating and managing a library website:

• Joan C. Durrance and Karen E. Pettigrew offer an in-depth exploration of how library websites can increase their value by including community information in "The Impact of Digital Community Information on Public Library Websites," an excerpt from their ALA Editions book Online Community Information.
  Note: Here's an example of a library providing timely community information about Hurricane Katrina: http://thrall.org/katrina/.
• One of the keys to building online community is to ensure your visitors have a positive experience of your site.  How do you do this?  Usability testing!  Here's a detailed case study from Usability Testing for Library Web Sites: A Hands-On Guide by Elaina Norlin and CM Winters.  And take a look at this substantial usability study (PDF file) by Laura Solomon, of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights (OH) Public Library:
• Online reader's advisory is an effective way to deliver traditional services in an online, community-based environment.   This chapter from Library Web Sites: Creating Online Collections and Services, by A. Paula Wilson, explains how.

Blah Blah Blogs: the Next Step? 

Maybe they do need a more appealing name than "blogs" (crunchy sugar-coated twinkies?), but they're on the rise in the library world, and may well be the next step toward community engagement once you've got a site up and running.  Consider if you will:

• Aaron Schmidt of Thomas Ford Memorial Library muses on library-run blogs and suggests ways to tap their potential.
• This excerpt looks at blogs under their proper name ("Weblogs").  It's from Steven M. Cohen's book Keeping Current: Advanced Internet Strategies to Meet Librarian and Patron Needs.
• Here's a lovely comprehensive list of articles about the impact of blogs on the library world.
• And it should be noted that a raft of contributors to this month's focus are bloggers themselves:
  • Meredith Farkas: Information Wants to be Free
  • Aaron Schmidt: walking paper
  • Andrea Mercado: Library Techtonics
  • Michael Stevens: Tame the Web
  • Sarah Houghton: Librarian in Black
  • Steven M. Cohen: Librarystuff

Beyond the Blog: Social Software 

The next wave of web-based technology is here, and its implications for libraries are astounding.  Odd-sounding critters like wikis and Flickr have opened up a whole new world of ways for you to interact with patrons.

• Sarah Houghton, e-Services Librarian for Marin County Free Library, makes the case for using instant messaging "chat" tools to help libraries build online community.
• Andrea Mercado proposes that the photo-sharing tool Flickr gives libraries a free and easy way to connect with their communities.
• WebJunction Guest Editor Meredith Farkas explores the ways wiki technology can provide dynamic information repositories for libraries—and their patrons.  She also provides tips on getting started with a wiki.
• I'm Curious, George helps clear up some rather, um, paranoid concerns about the nature of "wikis," "blogs," and other scary-sounding things.

"Online Community" Online Event Details 

At our live online event Making Sense of Social Software in the Library, we discuss how to make the most of basic Web technology and look at some of the new possibilities coming down the pike.  Our panel are three experts who are bringing online community to life in libraries large and small:

• Regan Robinson, Stevens County (WA) Rural Library District
• Andrea Mercado, Reading (MA) Public Library
• Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Library (IL)

They talk about projects they've implemented at their libraries and answer audience questions about what, why, and how to enhance your library's online presence. The event has been captured in a downloadable recording for viewing at your convenience.

Our Stellar Guest Editor

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.