Chiming in for the first time, but.....
I totally agree with Tim -- social networking should be decoupled from the
ILS and from individual libraries. Sites need to be ILS-neutral, library
neutral, etc. Libraries can offer, or even promote linking to them -- heck,
they can even teach classes on how to use it -- but like many other social
networking sites with a particular focus, library social networking needs a
large, non-regionalized base of library-loving users who viscerally get the
value. Sites should be built from the outset to follow the tenets for use
and user behavior that have developed in other sites, and not get bogged
down in "adapting" to library land as a prerequisite.
I always saw library social networking as being the primary destination,
with facilitated links back to the home library base for the secondary
considerations -- does my library own it? can I put a hold on it? etc.
Adaptation for local links should come after the site establishes itself as
its intellectual, idea sharing and cognitive merits.
Trish Culkin (emeritus)
TLC (The Library Corporation)
On Jan 25, 2008 11:00 AM, Tim Spalding <tim_at_librarything.com> wrote:
> Here's a solution I want: Completely decouple library systems from social
> networking systems.
>
> This is, of course, what LibraryThing for Libraries has to do as we move
> in
> this direction, since we don't connect directly to the ILS, but I also
> think
> it makes sense ethically.
>
> Libraries know "real" stuff about their patrons—addresses, for example. If
> the SN is decoupled and asks no personal questions, you're left with
> screen
> names or whatever, with no way to get to the other stuff.
>
> Tim
>
> On 1/25/08, Eric Lease Morgan <emorgan_at_nd.edu> wrote:
> >
> > On Jan 25, 2008, at 12:19 PM, Chris Barr wrote:
> >
> > > My question that I keep coming back to is: How do we
> > > provide feature-rich social networking functionality
> > > in our applications without undermining privacy?
> >
> >
> >
> > I can think of a few of solutions to the privacy issue:
> >
> > 1) Let people opt in; alert people that social networking
> > practices reduce a person's privacy. Allow people to choose, "Yes,
> > others can see my stuff."
> >
> > 2) Never associate things like tags with individuals other than
> > the authenticated user. "Here are my tags. Here are other people's
> > tags, but I don't know whose."
> >
> > 3) Ask ourselves, "To what degree is it the librarian's job to
> > protect people's privacy versus educating people about privacy?" In
> > some way our professional ethics are in impediment to creating
> > services our users increasingly expect.
> >
> > --
> > Eric Lease Morgan
> > University Libraries of Notre Dame
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Check out my library at http://www.librarything.com/profile/timspalding
>
Received on Mon Jan 28 2008 - 11:50:39 EST