Libraries, Facebook and the Information Age

With Special Reference to the CaribbeanBy Mark-Shane Scale

Presentation for ACURIL 2008

PresentationAs part of a Panel on “The Internet, Social

Networking and Information Literacy” atACURIL 2008 Rose Hall Resort, Montego Bay, Jamaica

Monday, June 2, 2008, at Room 1

About PresenterMark-Shane Scale (M.L.I.S)

Departmental Librarian Department of Library & Information StudiesUniversity of the West Indies, Mona Campus

Agenda1. Background on Facebook2. Philosophy of Founder3. Content on Facebook4. UWI campus community on Facebook5. General Observations6. Lessons for Librarians & Information

Professionals7. Conclusion

Picture taken by Paul Sakuma / APhttp://www.time.com/time/business/article/

0,8599,1644040,00.html

• Facebook.com's mastermind Mark Zuckerberg

• 23-year-old CEO in Silicon Valley.

BackgroundFacebook was launched in February

2004Founded by CEO, Mark Zuckerberg

• former-Harvard student

• operated as a hobby project

•received financing for the project

•dispersed it to the dorms of Harvard

An in-depth profile of Facebook, written by Mashable contributor Sid Yadav and edited by Pete Cashmore. Image credit: Bryan Veloso.http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/

• Facebook is now growing at a rate of more than 150,000 new users per day

• More than 50% of Facebook’s users come back to the site daily ( approx 12 million people)

• Most of these new users are ages 25 and up

People like to share information with their friends.

Facebook generates a social graph of each user’s friends and seeks to route updates on each persons friends immediately.

The Social Graph

makes the cost of sharing information very low

Each person who joins the network adds value for ultimately everyone else in the network.

As information is posted on the site, it is spread to everyone starting with the individual’s real connections (friends)

Mark Zuckerberg speaking about the “Social Graph”at the Launch of Facebook’s newest platform, F8.

Illustration of the Social Graph

Facebook is pushing to make the world a more open place!

This is done by building applications that help people to use their real connections to share information more effectively.

Facebook offers users toUse Facebook to…

Keep up with friends and familyShare photos and videosControl privacy onlineReconnect with old classmates

Find Friends on Facebook

Facebook primarily an On-line directory providing a Public profile

Popular Facebook Applications:GROUPS: connect persons of similar interest

and allow them to share information.

NETWORK NEWS: news about recent activities on one’s network.

NEWSFEED: helps each user receive news that is specific to his/her needs/ about his friends. A home page of personalised news available to each user per day

Some Statistics and Quantitative data

Cave Hill MonaSt. Augustine

1. Da Vinci CodeTo Kill A Mocking Bird Harry Potter

2. Boy Meets Girl Da Vinci Code The Bible

3.Stephen King books James Patterson

Angels and Demons

4. Harry Potter"And Many others…"

Pride and Prejudice

Top 4 Books across the 3 Campuses

Cave Hill MonaSt. Augustine

1. Music Music Reading

2. Women Reading Music

3. Travelling Sleeping Travelling

4. Photography Movies Sleeping

Top 4 Interests across the 3 Campuses

Images from: http://www.animationplayhouse.com

Observations and Statistics

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TRADITIONAL LIBRARYA large percentage of the world’s

population consists of youth ages ….

In order for the traditional library to remain viable, we have to formulate new/ creative ways of meeting the needs of this demographic group

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This demographic group is accustomed to a fast paced world in which the latest information is easily packaged and readily available for use.

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Facebook Networking…Threatens traditional use of Libraries by

allowing usersto discover a variety of information resources access ideas from others they may not have

knownFacilitate communication of ideas, experiences

and knowledge with those who share similar interests or causes in a variety or formats

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New missionShould you choose to accept:to educate the new generation of users about

Copyright How to earn from informationPrivacy control Strategic use of information to one’s advantage

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New role…On-line Information ConsultantTo advise clients about:

what information to put on-line the implications of putting the information on-line. how to earn from the information they post on-line How to use information that they post on-line to

lead them to favourable opportunities, while reducing their exposure to harm.

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New Direction in our work…CATALOGUING:We must use the “wisdom of the crowd”

concept as a new means of facilitating discovery of content by our clients.Change in our on-line card cataloguesAdding social tagging

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CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT:

Collate circulations statistics by groups with similar characteristics for instance, the top ten books borrowed or read by

high school studentsOr the top ten books read or borrowed by persons

from a particular discipline, profession or company.Make these lists public, so that it could better

lead users that have similar interests to discover the materials that their colleagues use.

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New Direction in our work…ACQUISITIONS:

Use of “wisdom of the crowd” concepts to analyse and predict user needs.

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New Direction in our work…ACQUISITIONS:Network analysis applied as methodology for

studying library clientele, to discover their information needs and use

patterns. Discovering the central nodes of users –

those who are the influential nodes of a network, whose reading habits and interests influences other members in the group to read or use a resource.

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New Direction in our work…SERVICES:Allow for peer review postings

invite clients to post reviews of materials that they have read or used

make reviews publicly posted. This perhaps can have the potential of

increasing circulation and traditional library usage patterns.

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New Direction in our work…SERVICES:Create forum for users to comment and make

views public about materials that they access and use in the information resource centres or libraries.

Use this information for further analysis and to plan for further acquisition policies

Use both qualitative and quantitative d data provided to inform acquisition and collection development policies

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New Multimedia servicesFacilitate postings in an on-line environment,

where postings can be either in a video or audio recording, a cartoon based posting or a text-based post.

Allow users to access or use multimedia technology & facilitiesHelp to bridge the Digital divide and create

multimedia content for the library’s collection

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New Facilities & Policies…for users to create value added services

for our libraries.  For users to engage other users that have

similar interests, experience or views.

Facilitate social interactions. Allow users to start Book clubs, Societies Create meeting in reserved spaces or roomsCreating policies regarding the formation of

such interest groups, societies . Allow these groups to also submit

books/resource requests to be included in the library’s collection.

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Facebook should inspire new innovations in our libraries and information centres!

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New training modules for users that enlighten them about the information age

New methods of getting persons to be aware of library materials

New methods for identifying user needs and getting community feedback

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New services that increase library multimedia content

New facilities & policies that will allow users to produce value added

informationcreate user communities within the library or

information unitfacilitate group/social interactionAllow for the production as well as the access

to content

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