blogpostwk2

The libraries attempt to enter the virtual world has definitely been a work in progress. Given that I work in circulation my experience of what the library has done on the web has been minimal. But what I have seen has given me rise for concern in the libraries ability to effectively maintain a web presence. First of all, there is just a lot of bureaucracy involved in setting up anything. I work at a medium sized branch in a larger county system. We can and have set up blogs for some social contact with the outside world but have found it difficult to maintain. First of all there has been the problem of changing staff and maintaining the blog, second, in my short five years in the library the dominant social sites have varied greatly. There was myspace which was really hot for a while and has cooled down. We have now moved onto facebook, but even that could change with the advent of Google trying to enter the social networking fray.

Outside of the social networking sphere there has been the problem of merely the libraries presence on the web. While the individual site itself has remained fairly consistent, as we have had little turnover in the IT department, we have been linked with other county agencies in the short time I have been there. As a result, our web page has been plugged in more directly to the county site. The web address has changed, although people can still be able to access us through our old web page. Our county name has changed slightly as a result of linking up with other agencies. By doubling and quadrupling the bureaucracy, it has been hard to maintain a consistent and static presence, which is what one would need to build up a solid following on the web. It may be fairly easy now-a-days to be a "flash in the pan," as web videos have gone viral practically overnight. But to develop a following takes time and consistency, very little of what the library has had in the past five years.