Uh oh, I think it's a sermon!

In reading over some of the proposals, I’ve seen people expressing their skepticism that their libraries or users will accept any implementation of social software technology. In fact, I listed institutional culture and resistance as an obstacle to overcome in my own proposal and I have questioned the appropriateness of these tools for our community of users.

It seems that some social library tools have gotten bad press—we can all imagine a Frontline expose on how to catch a pedophile on MySpace or Flickr. How is this coloring the perception of how these tools can be used in a professional setting? How is this perception clouding people’s judgment? In the interest of full disclosure, I am one of those with a strong suspicion of social networking tools, but I have to admit I've been intrigued to see how libraries & librarians have been using these communities as stages for outreach and publicity.

However, I think the wholesale rejection of technologies can be a really frustrating obstacle to overcome—and maybe an insurmountable one—but the idea of a slllllllloow introduction might be the key. To be cliché, take those first baby steps and bring your colleagues with you. Showing people the multiple uses for social library tools seems to be a good way to broaden their minds a bit.

The beauty is in the flexibility, and I think it is imperative for us to stress that flexibility when we are talking with our colleagues. Personally, I think my enthusiasm about them will help, but I have a feeling that it’s my own experimentation that will allow me to be persuasive! I don’t know everything, and I’ll be the first one in line to admit it, but I have been wowed by how open to questions and comments the organizers, participants, and contributors have been. Maybe it’s because this is a class and we are all here to share and learn, but maybe it’s part of a larger culture of exploration. Because really, isn’t that what this social software is all about: exploration.

I love the idea people have had of proposing a workshop or online tutorial to educate other staff. It might be that one person out of 20 gets one idea, but that one might turn into many. I think I’m beginning to sermonize… and I think most of you know what I mean. We have to be our own advocates here, and if we see that some of these tools would make the workday a little easier, than let’s push a bit. If, on the other hand, we realized that none of these tools work for our current situation, at least we’ll sound a little cooler when talkin’ to the teens.