Woody Evans on MySpace in LJ

Some good advice for libraries establishing MySpace profiles:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6413453.html

This is GOLD:

Real innovation (and real Web 2.0, as I’ve argued elsewhere) is an attitude you take toward the service you provide. If your library has blogs, for example, you should use your blog to make readers aware of new library services and resources. Your blog should not be just a self-promotion machine. Highlight upcoming events, everything from sewing bees, lectures, LEGO Mindstorm events, writers’ workshops, and book clubs. Sites like MySpace allow you to post bulletins to your friends as well as blog. You can use these tools to do everything from creating and blasting out readers’ advisory lists to linking to materials in your collection and on the web.

and…

Finally, if you embrace MySpace, be prepared to accept reference questions via your profile. Recently, I tried to IM five different library profiles, including libraries in Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Oregon. To my surprise, each had its profile set to “this user has chosen not to accept instant messages.” Only Brooklyn College’s MySpace profile, to its eternal credit, linked to its “Ask a Librarian” service.

Listen up! Your patrons are hanging out in MySpace. If you really want to foray into their world, you’d better be able to pick up the line. And when they do come calling, be prepared to answer.