Here’s another draft of an abstract that will be submitted to the Creating Knowledge 2008 conference in Turku, Finland.  Any comments and/or suggestions  are welcomed and encouraged.

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Facebook me! –
Online social networking as part of libraries’ web presence?

In the early years of the Web visitors to a web site were quite anonymous and completely unaware of each other. New easy-to-use online tools have brought collaborative content creation to the web and suddenly everyone knows each other and are creating networks and communities around shared interests. One online place where this is possible is Facebook (www.facebook.com). Online social networks such as Facebook have gained huge popularity in the past few years. Facebook reportedly has about 60 million users around the world that spend about four hours on average per visit on the site and 250 000 more join the service every day.

Although Facebook and other online social networks have received a lot of attention in different media, only a few studies in library and information science have covered the topic. A recent study that surveyed 126 academic librarians’ awareness and use of Facebook showed that the vast majority of the respondents were very much aware of Facebook, but that institutional involvement was quite low. About one third of the respondents had a personal profile on Facebook, but only 3 percent of the represented libraries had a page or a profile of their own. The most enthusiastic of the respondents suggested the use of Facebook to promote library services and events, but the actual use was still quite low. This may indicate that the use of Facebook in libraries is more of a internal activity among the staff and that it is not part of the libraries’ official web presence.

This study will focus on those Finnish libraries that already use Facebook for various reasons and on the possible communities and networks that have emerged around the libraries’ pages on Facebook. In January 29, 2008, there are 136 hits with the query “kirjasto” (library in Finnish) on Facebook. Of these 136 hits 70 are people that have written “kirjasto” in their work history, 9 library pages, 27 groups and 30 events related to libraries. The goal of this study is to increase our knowledge about how libraries in Finland are using Facebook and whether the use is beneficial for the library or not.

In the first part of this study we will observe the open profiles and pages on Facebook to establish how libraries are using Facebook and what kinds of communities and networks might have emerged around the libraries on Facebook. In the second part of this study we will invite the creators of the studied groups and pages on Facebook to take part of a web survey which will study reasons for using Facebook in libraries, the expectations with the activity and whether these expectations have been met or not. This study will result in best practice guidelines for libraries planning to take online social networks as part of their web presence.

Let’s put the academic blogging to a test. Below is an draft of an abstract that will be submitted to the Creating Knowledge 2008 conference in Turku, Finland. This abstract is co-authored with Dr. Isto Huvila. Any comments and/or suggestions  are welcomed and encouraged.

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Preparing for the future: Libraries in Second Life

There’s a lot of discussion surrounding Web 2.0 and Library 2.0, and the adoption of some of the key concepts is increasing in libraries. The definitions of Library 2.0 are almost as many as those that write about it, but common with most of the definitions is that they use terms like “user participation”, “collaboration” and “rich user experience”. In practice this could mean that libraries open their web sites and allow their customers to add content in the form of comments, tags and ratings. Such openness could promote a shift towards increased online involvement (Miller, P., 2005; Notess, G.R., 2006; Casey, M.E. & Savastinuk, L., 2006; Maness, J.M., 2006; Stephens, M. & Collins, M., 2007). If we think about the physical library buildings as the “first place”, a meeting place where librarians meet with their customers, Library 2.0 could provide the “second place”, an online place for libraries and librarians to meet with their customers.

While libraries are just starting to use social tools such as blogs, wikis and RSS feeds to provide opportunities for user participation, some discussions are already moving from Library 2.0 to a possible next step, Library 3D. Library 3D indicates the use of 3D virtual worlds, such as Second Life, World of Warcraft and Alphaworld, by libraries. Especially Second Life has attracted a lot of users, among them several libraries and librarians, from all over the world to explore this user-created 3D environment and the possibilities it may provide. An increasing number of libraries have created a presence in Second Life and use it for various purposes. Some libraries use Second Life to arrange book readings, poetry evenings, lectures, art exhibitions and even information services and special library activities (Bell et a, 2007; Godfrey, K. & Dinberg, D., 2007). The immersive nature of virtual online worlds makes human contacts more realistic online than it would ever be possible in Library 2.0. People feel closer to each other in virtual worlds, even if they are represented by avatars. This has been proved beneficial in distance education where students have said that they felt the presence of other students in a much more realistic way than when using only text-based educational tools online (Holmberg, K. & Huvila, I., 2007). Can this immersive nature be the key to providing library services in virtual worlds? Could 3D virtual libraries be the next meeting place for libraries and their customers? Could virtual worlds be the “third place” of libraries in the future?

This research will increase our knowledge about how libraries are currently using Second Life and what kind of services they do provide in-world. The over-whelming goal of this research is to study how librarians experience the potential of online virtual worlds as the “third place” of libraries. Will online virtual worlds be the next place where librarians will meet their customers and how should librarians be prepared for such a development in the future? We will use an online survey to collect information from libraries that already have a presence and some activities in Second Life and from libraries in Finland that have so far stayed outside of Second Life. This research will give us more insight in a possible future for libraries and also give us more knowledge on how to best prepare for the possible future shift from Library 2.0 to Library 3D.

References

Casey, M.E. & Savastinuk, L. (2006). Library 2.0 – Service for the next-generation library. Library Journal, 9.1.2006. Retrieved on 28.1.2008 from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html.

Bell, L., Pope, K., Peters, T. et al. (2007). Who’s on third in Second Life? From Library 2.0 to Library 3-D. Online, vol. 31, no. 4, 2007.

Godfrey, K. & Dinberg, D. (2007). A brave new virtual world, or, 500 librarians can’t be wrong! Feliciter, vol. 53, no. 4, 2007.

Holmberg, K. & Huvila, I. (2007). The Second Life of library and information science education: learning together apart. Proceedings of the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Milwaukee, WI, USA.

Maness, J.M. (2006). Library 2.0 theory: Web 2.0 and its implications for libraries. Webology, vol. 3, no. 2, 2006. Retrieved on 28.1.2008 from http://www.webology.ir/2006/v3n2/a25.html.

Miller, P. (2005). Web 2.0: building the new library. Ariadne, no. 45, 2005. Retrieved on 28.1.2008 from http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue45/miller/intro.html.

Notess, G.R. (2006). On the net – The terrible twos: Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and more. Online, vol. 30, no. 3, 2006. Retrieved on 28.1.2008 from http://www.infotoday.com/online/may06/OnTheNet.shtml.

Stephens, M. & Collins, M. (2007). Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and the Hyperlinked Library. Serials review, vol. 33, issue 4, 2007, pp. 253-256.

Olemme suunnittelemassa suomalaisten oppilaitosten alueen perustamista virtuaalimaailma Second Lifeen ( www.secondlife.com) ja kartoitamme nyt kiinnostusta asiaan.

Olemme pitäneet syksyn 2007 aikana useita esitelmiä ja työpajoja Second Lifesta ja Second Lifessa (katso esim. http://www.webometrics.fi/content/view/97/75/). Eri tilaisuuksissa nousi monta kertaa esille kysymys mahdollisesta keskitetysti koordinoidusta ja hallinnoidusta suomalaisten oppilaitosten yhteisestä alueesta ja sellaisen tuomista hyödyistä.

Suomalaisten oppilaitosten keskittyminen yhdelle alueelle tai jopa omaan saaristoon Second Lifessa palvelisi monta tarkoitusta. Yhtenäinen alue antaisi mahdollisuuksia tehokkaaseen yhteistyöhön sekä eri oppilaitosten opettajien että oppilaiden välillä. Yhteinen alue antaisi mahdollisuuksia myös yhteisten tapahtumien järjestämiseen ja resurssien jakamiseen.

Suunnitellulta suomalaisten oppilaitosten alueelta löytyisi aina suomea puhuvia henkilöitä, joiden puoleen kääntyä kun tarvitsee apua ja vastauksia kysymyksiin. Suunnitellun alueen etuna olisi lisäksi se, että kun yksi suomalainen ylläpitäjätaho koordinoi alueiden hankintaa, maksuliikenne tapahtuu laskutuksena Suomessa eikä luottokortilla toiselle puolelle maapalloa. Maan vuokraaminen alueelta ei myöskään vaatisi Premium jäsenyyttä Second Lifeen, jonka hinta on 87,84 USD vuodessa, vaan maata voisi vuokrata myös ne, joilla on tavallinen ilmainen Second Life-käyttäjätunnus. Tämän lisäksi mahdollisissa ongelmatilanteissa ei tarvitsisi olla yhteydessä Atlantin toiselle puolelle vaan alueen ylläpito huolehtisi yhteydenpidosta Linden Labsin kanssa keskitetysti. Alueiden vuokrat tulisivat olemaan käytännössä alkaen noin 15 euroa kuukaudessa.

Tässä hankkeen ensimmäisessä vaiheessa kartoitamme kiinnostusta asiaan. Jos olisitte kiinnostuneet hankkimaan maata itsellenne tai oppilaitoksellenne suomalaisten oppilaitosten yhteiseltä alueelta Second Lifessa, pyydämme teitä ottamaan yhteyttä sähköpostitse osoitteella kholmber [at] gmail.com ja kertomaan alustavasta kiinnostuksestanne asiaan sekä mahdollisista suunnitelmistanne. Tämä ei siis ole sitova tilaus vaan ainoastaan kartoitus kiinnostuksesta. Hankkeen seuraavassa vaiheessa otamme vastaan maatilauksia. Maan luovutus tullee tapahtumaan parin viikon sisällä tilauksen vastaanotosta.

Yhteistyöterveisin,

Kim
kholmber [at] gmail.com

After I begun writing this blog I’ve been introduced to another interesting phenomenon on the web: spamming blogs. This is something I’d been aware of but didn’t know really how it worked. Some bloggers write about things and brands and get paid for it, but others, I’m not quite sure what they get out of spamming, traffic maybe, that may generate an euro or two through Google Adwords or some other pay-per-click ad service. Within minutes of my previous post I got a “pinged comment” on it, saying that someone called jack44 wrote an interesting post. So I followed the link and found a copy of my own post on another blog. Needless to say that I’m not jack44, I’m more like kim32. I’ll remove the link because I don’t want generate any traffic to sites like these (correct me if I’m wrong), but here’s a screen capture of the entry by jack 44.

If rumours are to be believed, we will soon see a Facebook button on Nokia‘s mobile phones. The rumour was first reported on paidContent and later by several other blogs (Mashable, allfacebook, Read/Write web, …). Last year Nokia bought the digital map provider Navteq and now these rumours connect Nokia with Facebook. Allegedly this cooperation would result in Nokia getting their hands on a piece of the Facebook-pie. Nokia’s latest actions show how the mobile phone manufacturer wants to get more involved in content creation for mobile phones. It’s a shame that they let Google get Jaiku (which is a Twitter-like activity-stream from Finland).

A symposium and a workshop organized by Library 2.0 – a new participatory context –research project at the Information Studies department of Åbo Akademi. The symposium gathers library 2.0 and web 2.0 experts from the Northern Europe to discuss the various aspects of library 2.0 and social media and their both practical and theoretical implications for libraries, information service and library and information science research. Invited presentations will given by a group of internationally renowned speakers, including Prof. Aira Lepik (Tallinn University), Kari A. Hintikka (University of Jyväskylä), Mats Hernvall (Copenhagen Digital Library) and Dr. Kimmo Tuominen (Library of Parliament). 

The pre-symposium workshop gives an overview of Library 2.0 phenomenon and techniques using a combination of demonstrations and hands-on exercises. The workshop is aimed at librarians, information specialists and others interested in library 2.0 and web 2.0. Workshop is organized by Isto Huvila and Kim Holmberg (Åbo Akademi). 

Place: Information Studies, Åbo Akademi, Tavastgatan 13, Åbo

Price: 50 € (symposium including 2 coffees, 2 lunches and a dinner)
           30 € (workshop including refreshments)                                           
           80 € (symposium+workshop)

Registration: www.library2pointoh.fi/registration
Deadline 14^th March 2008, thereafter on increased participation fee.

We can now add Facebook to a somewhat surprising list of services that have been or that are down. Facebook is currently down, at least in this part of the world.

Updated at 11am: Facebook is up and running again…

I had already promised myself that I wouldn’t write about Facebook anymore, because I’m fed up with it, but the new “extended profile” may be a real improvement to the functionality of Facebook and that’s why I just have to write about, just a bit. This story was reported on allfacebook and Mashable, among other blogs.

Facebook now allows you to move some of your applications to what they call an “extended profile”. Users can move their applications/boxes to to the extended profile and kind of hide them there. If someone wants to view them, they can click them open. Some people have dussins of boxes on their profile and the page takes ages to load. This should make the pages faster, IF people start to use this option. That remains to be seen.

When I started this blog I thought long and hard about which language I should write in. I decided to use English because English is the language of science and there aren’t that many people interested in my main research area (webometrics) in Finland or even in Scandinavia (I’m of course assuming that I have many readers world-wide . But some of the topics I have written about and would like to write about may be of greater interest nationally. And because I don’t have time to update two blogs in different languages, I’m going to use this blog even for entries in other languages. This means that You can expect some entries in Finnish and maybe also in Swedish in the future. Apologizes to my English-speaking reader(s).

Upcode Solutions Ltd is challenging QR-codes. This Finnish company was established in 2003 and they have been developing 2D data matrices that can be read with mobile phones, just like QR codes. According to their web site the “Binarization and recognition technology is developed in cooperation with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland“. Unfortunately they do not (yet) have a windows mobile version of their reader and the Java-version (none of them) doesn’t work on my HTC Kaiser, so I can’t make any real comparisons between Upcodes and QR-codes. But one immediate difference can be spotted: QR-codes are free (both to read and generate), while Upcode is not. They have a free reader but generating the codes is licensed.

I first noticed Upcodes on the estate agency Kiinteistömaailma’s web site. You can use your mobile phone to read the code that contains an URL. From the URL you can find more information about the apartment, house or whatever.