Public Libraries and Social Networks

March 21st, 2005

After trying to get a copy of the latest Huraki Murakami book, Preetamrai writes:

“You know something – public libraries should take lead in building social networks. People love to talk about books. What better way to link people then to have them list their favourites, their reading list and then let them find others with interest similar to theirs. Add recommendation engines like Amazon – “the people who read this book also read these other books”.”

While social networks will not help in getting a copy of a popular book (or would it?), building them into the OPAC would be a fantastic way for library patrons to interact with one another (I mentioned this theory in my latest column in Public Libraries Magazine – Jan/Feb issue I think – the one on readers advisory). Libraries are about communities, yet we continuously miss the boat when it comes to the implementation of community-based tools into our ILS. Why is that?

If patrons were able to participate by writing book reviews, recommending books, or even tagging books that they have read, the OPAC wouldn’t be so boring. We need to think beyond providing access to what books happen to be on (or off) the shelf. (link via Rambling Librarian)

One Comment on “Public Libraries and Social Networks”

1. Library Views 圖書館觀點 :: 圖書館的Social Networks :: April :: 2005 Says:
   March 31st, 2007 at 8:48 am

   [...] M. Cohen在Public Libraries and Social Networks裏也提到，如果OPAC可以提供book reviews、recommending books、甚至tagging [...]