Do you think libraries should be building presence and providing services in MySpace and/or Facebook? Why or why not? (Tags = blogpostwk6, blogpostwk6n1)
In a short answer, yes. Most librarians and educators may not like it, but the fact of the matter is that the face to face point of interaction is dying with the physical book. People don't interact like that anymore when they're looking for something. They'd rather find the information online. People will always ask questions, and they will always look to someone or something for help, and google or any other search engine will never be good enough to answer all of those questions. That's why libraries need to build themselves online through websites, facebook, twitter, and myspace, or whatever other social media site is out there. That's how libraries will start to find ways to provide services. The medium of communication is changing and libraries need to change with it, or risk becoming obsolete. There is no point to having a library and the world's most extensive and reliable databases and archive systems if we can't get that information into the hands of those who need it.
Worse still, there are already online interactive reference services out there, but those are PAID services. The last thing the people need is to find that they have to PAY for the kind of services they used to get for free. This will serve to marginalize people who don't have the money even more than ever before. Our job as librarians is to defend and uphold the people's right to know; that has always been our mission. The internet and social media in particular is the new battlefield for our struggle, and if we lose, in the end, the people lose.
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