Cheers & Jeers at the Transparent Library

Jeers to the librarian mind-set that in troubled economic times, learning, curiosity, and play must take a back seat. Now is the perfect time to find ways to extend services with free open tools.

Cheers to libraries like Roselle Public Library, IL, and Lafayette Public Library, CO, for creating user-centered communities for their patrons with Ning, a free DIY social network site.

Cheers to the American Library Association (ALA) for embracing Twitter and promoting the use of hash tags like #ALAMW09 that conveyed streams of Midwinter Meeting information to folks all over the world. And cheers, too, for launching ALA Connect, a virtual online space.

Jeers to the organizations that still don’t understand that controlling the conversation—call it public relations, marketing, etc.—has passed out of your hands. Brands are created by users and conversations about your brand happen all over. Find them. Chime in. Respond.

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