INF206 - Assessment Three - Evaluation

EVALUATION

I don’t only see this as evaluating my social networking journey but that of libraries also.  It’s difficult to isolate three learning experiences, however the blog posts I’ve chosen are:

SecondLife   http://secondlife.com

How Public Libraries use social networking and meshing with this the importance of Libraries website and homepage.

I had never experienced SecondLife for myself and must confess I was sceptical about its relevance in any workplace.  In February 2012 I attended VALA in Melbourne http://www.vala.org.au/vala2012/conf2012 .  One of the concurrent sessions was ‘Playing at Professional Development’, by Ellen Forsyth from State Library of NSW.  At one point I turned to my colleague and remarked “ERL are paying me to sit and listen to this”.  I felt guilty and that I was wasting mine and my employer’s time.

My SecondLife experience was not a positive one, due to the system requirements and that I wear multi-focal glasses.  I often felt unsettled, queasy after a session.  This was backed up by the following article (Mooney, 2009). My evaluation of SecondLife as learning tool I stand by.  For certain situations there are benefits of SecondLife becoming typical of the new classroom, meeting place with benefits for the providers and users, i.e. students.  I raise an area I only hinted at and one that is extremely important, the Digital Divide.  Students may not meet the system requirements or have impaired vision and therefore will not have the same learning experience as fellow students.  The introduction of NBN doesn’t solve all the Internet access issues. Cost, basic level of education to understand concepts, continued education/training, language, age are also barriers.

I am not against ‘learning – through play’ just that there needs to be measures to determine the success and relevance of any program.  For example ’23 Things – learning through play’ created by Helen Blowers http://www.heleneblowers.info/2009/02/wj-hosts-23-things-summit.html.  Organisations officially embracing this and facilitating staff time to spend on ’23 Things’ during work hours allowed staff to accept that it was acceptable. And I was one of them.

A libraries homepage is the window to who they are and what they have to offer.  Their website, homepage and how they use Social Media are inter-connected.
The library websites I visited displayed and used social media differently. I did get a sense these libraries wanted to be seen to be involved in social networking, however in some circumstances it was a token gesture rather than a well thought out plan with a clear structure and budget to facilitate the digital branch with the same commitment as they do with the traditional static branches.

Frankston Library made it difficult to discover they had a Facebook account.  Other libraries didn’t display links or icons to enable user’s easy access to their Social Media pages.

When looking at various library websites I should have included in the criteria the use of ‘jargon’ and a ‘search ‘option higher in rating.  I for one look for the search button immediately I enter a website. Jargon can lead to user frustration, if visitors to your site don’t understand or relate to the terminology being used they may leave without experiencing all the website has to offer.  They may think the website is not directed at them.

ERL's homepage has been updated since I set my criteria and viewed it.  ERL had quite a significant white space on their homepage however that has since been filled with library promotions, I was too quick to judge.

However, I did miss a couple of areas.  There is a RSS icon in the middle of the page with no explanation of its use. Users unfamiliar with this icon may not know its usefulness.  The slideshow is only for promotion of library events to the website visitor as there is no means to ‘share’ this on other Social Media sites.  However ERL's blog is set up so users are able to share amongst their peers on Social Networking sites.  This is advertising money can’t buy ‘Word of Mouth’.

Finally, Twitter is one of the two main Social Networking sites ERL use and the Twitter feed is set to the sidebar and low on the page.  Matthews (2009) suggests that simply having content on the homepage is not enough, that placement whether it’s in the headers/footers and sidebars must be considered as visitors to the site may have difficulty in navigating the page easily.  If Twitter is the main platform to encourage conversation with ERL's audience they need to make it easy to access by having the Twitter feed prominent on the homepage.  ERL, by not promoting Twitter, are doing them a disservice.

Brown (2009) suggests an effective strategy is important in ensuring your audience has a positive social networking experience with your site.  ERL don’t sign up for every new technology, but they must have a clear plan and maintain the Social Media sites they do use for interacting with their audience, continuing to upgrade and develop these sites .

Frankston Library in contrast uses many Social Media sites. I’m curious how they measure and evaluate the success and effectiveness and whether they eliminate platforms that don’t work for their library service.  They appear to dabble in numerous Social Media Sites and generally in what I have read this is not recommended.  Choosing a couple of platforms and developing them and supporting them are a better business model.
After re-viewing Frankston Libraries website they are inconsistent with the banners, naming and look.  They use variations for example:-

    Frankston City Libraries
    Frankston Library Service
    Frankston Libraries, and
    Blogalogue (Blog and Twitter)

Overall, the libraries that I visited are delving into social networking without a strategy and without support to maintain its existence. A libraries social networking audience is just as important as the visitors to the branches.  Public Libraries support and maintain their catalogues and static branch infrastructure they must also be committed to their digital branch, their website and the social media technologies they use.

References

Blowers, H. 2009. 23 Things. Retrieved from, http://www.heleneblowers.info/2009/02/wj-hosts-23-things-summit.html

Brown, A. 2009. Developing an effective social media marketing strategy.  Examiner.com. Retrieved from, http://www.examiner.com/article/developing-an-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy

Matthews, B. 2009. Web design matters. Library Journal. Retrieved from, http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6634712.html

Mooney, L. (2009). Computer Vision Syndrome. Retrieved August, 4 from, http://www.livestrong.com/article/25560-computer-vision-syndrome/.

Second Life. (2012). System requirements. Retrieved July 25 from, http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/?lang=en-US