Lara, Veronica
Abdullah, N.,
Chu, S., Rajagopal, S., Tung, A., and Kwong-Man, Y. (2015). Exploring
Libraries’ Efforts in Inclusion and Outreach Activities Using Social Media. De Gruyter, 65(1), 34-47. DOI
10.1515/libri-2014-0055
Alfonzo, P.
(2016). Snapchat in the Library: Librarians master an app to reach millennials.
American Libraries, 47(11/12), 22-23.
Bernier, A.,
Males, M., & Rickman, C. (2014). It Is Silly to Hid Your Most Active
Patrons: Exploring user participation of library space designs for young adults
in the United States. Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 84(2),
165-182.
Ford, A. (2016).
Fellowship of the Fans. American
Libraries, 47(11/12), 34-39.
Perrero, M.
(2016). Marley Dias: Bringing diversity to kids’ books. American Libraries, 47(11/12), 26.
In one of
our early presentations, we discovered the technology being utilized by the
libraries we study, respectively.
One
element of this study was to determine ways in which libraries are utilizing
Web 2.0 tools.
Web 2.0 is the trend of
user-created content on the web.
An
example of this is wikis.
Wikis are
user-created online dictionary entries for various subjects.
We certainly don’t need an introduction to
Wikipedia to understand this concept.
Libraries
have been using Web 2.0 tools to encourage participation among their
patrons. In Abdullah’s, et al. article, Exploring Libraries’ Efforts in Inclusion
and Outreach Activities Using Social Media, the authors state, “the Internet has undergone a transformation,
from being a static repository of information to being a socially interactive
Web” (2015, p. 34). Social media sites
are a place for creating and sharing content.
This is in stark contrast to libraries, which have often been described
as “information silos.” Therefore, the
goal for libraries should be to create a more participatory environment for its
patrons.
Several articles have reported on
the ways libraries are increasing their presence on social media to boost
participation. Paige Alfonzo writes
about a number of libraries that have utilized Snapchat as an outreach tool to
bolster teen involvement in public library programs. Alfonzo discovered that teens are often featured in the snaps, by
sharing their favorite book or to share what they are currently reading. Other libraries also have contests to create
Geofilters for the library. This allows
teens to create the content themselves.
But participation doesn’t
stop with Web 2.0. Libraries have been encouraging
users to participate and create content in other ways. For example, Marley Dias is one 12-year-old
girl who launched a campaign to diversify the children’s collection at her
school, after being dissatisfied by the lack of diversity in the required
reading materials. Her campaign,
#1000BlackGirlBooks, as collected and donated 7000 books to six different
cities. In this case, Ms. Dias has taken
it upon herself to guide the collection development of these libraries.
Programs
are another way for libraries to bring in new patrons, and librarians have
found a way to incorporate content creation in these too. The North Liberty Community Library in Iowa
has offered a program in which patrons come together to write fan fictions,
share, and critique each other. The
point of content creation in this case is to encourage participation in a
library program. Patrons can think of
the library as a place to commune and share ideas, rather than it being a place
that houses books.
Relatedly,
an article written by Bernier, Males, and Rickman discuses the library spaces
themselves as a way to attract participation.
In the article, the authors state that Young Adult sections are a
significant indicator of teen participation.
More specifically, they argue that higher teen participation in the
design of Young Adult sections leads to greater long-term participation in teen
services. Their study includes the
creation of an index by which to measure teen participation in design, which
positively correlates to overall future presentation. In other words, higher participation in
creation of the space leads to higher participation over all. User-created content, or even planning
involvement, is shown to have a profound impact on the idea of ownership over
the space. This sense of ownership is
what encourages participants to continue the tendency to participate.
So what
does this show us? It has been
documented in several studies that higher participation during content creation
leads to better general participation throughout the library. We should be thinking of patrons as
contributors, and assigning new roles to what libraries offer. Information no longer moves in one direction. It should be disseminated, analyzed and
recreated into new information. Thinking
of a library as a place to simply receive information is antiquated. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can
tap into the wealth of information that is our community.
These are just a few of the articles I have chosen to
highlight in this post, but there is a plethora of literature on this
subject. If you find one, please share
it here. I would love to see other
examples of user-created content.
