During the past few weeks I have spent a lot time experimenting and engaging with a lot of Web 2.0 and monitoring their applications, particularly in my brand monitoring report. But, I also spent some time thinking about the idea of participatory service in libraries.

In their book, Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service, Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk describe the participatory web as seeking “to harness the power of its users in order to enhance content” (59).  Taking the idea of the participatory web and applying it to libraries, Casey and Savastinuk argue, “Users and their knowledge have the ability to reshape library services, but libraries must first change the way they craft their services and tools so that users have a clear avenue on which to communicate and participate.”  In my reading of Born Digital by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser use the phrase “participatory culture” or “a culture in which people are encouraged to share their innovations and creativity” which has overtones of Casey and Savastinuk’s definition of participatory service.  In addition to this definition Palfrey and Gasser provide five keys points about participatory culture made by Henry Jenkins, codirector of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program, his points are as follows:

  1. There are relatively low barriers to artistic expressions and civic engagement
  2. There is strong support for creating and sharing what you create with others
  3. There is some kind of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experiences gets passed along to newbies and novices
  4. Members feel that their contributions matter
  5. Members feel some degree of social connection with each other, at least to the degree to which they care about what other people think about what they have created.

While these ideas are not written specifically for creating participatory services for teens in libraries, Jenkins’ second point is most applicable to creating participatory cultures this unique group of digital natives.

In order for a participatory culture to flourish in libraries, there has to been as desire to create and share content, in both real time and the virtual world.   In terms of teens as content creators on the web, a November 2005 the Pew Internet & American Life Project report entitled “Teen Content Creators and Consumers,” which suggests, “some 57% of online teens create content for the internet…these content creators report having done one or more of the following activities: create a blog, create or work on a personal webpage; create of work on a webpage…share original content such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos online; or remix content found online into a new creation” (1).  We see that the desire is there and libraries are picking up on this trend and encouraging teens to be content creators and controllers of that content in the virtual world as well as in the library.  A November 2007 issue of American Libraries magazine featured “What It Means to Be Born Digital” in their “Tech News” column and highlighted Hennepin Public Library (Minnesota) MySpace page for teens. According to the article, the page has “1,000 friends that include YA authors, it features an events blog, 24/7 reference, a libray materials search engine, a library materials search engine, links to homework resources, and even an advice page…(28). In the same article, librarians from Evanston Public Library (Illinois) took advice about implementing chat reference after the teen advisory board suggested that they’d prefer to instant message a librarian, rather than call the reference desk (28).  These are just two examples of how libraries are giving teens control over their content and making them participants in their library services and culture. 

As I was thinking about these ideas a quote from an article stuck out in my mind, which states, “the virtual community can often work in concert with face-to-face interaction such as discussions or programs the library might provide. Being able to offer both, especially to people of a generation comfortable with finding their friends and development their likes and dislikes through a virtual community, is a great library service” (Czarnecki, Kelly. “The Real and the Virtual Intersecting Communities at the Library.” Multimedia & Internet@Schools 15, no. 3 (2008): 11-3).

I am not sure how these ideas will fit into my paper, but as my group project deadline approaches I wanted to share some of the ideas I had while working on my project and that might be applicable for paper. I will be thinking more about this quote and others in the coming weeks.

Articles/Books mentioned in this post:

Casey, Michael E. and Laura C. Savastinuk. Library 2.0: Guide to Participatory Library Service. Medford: Information Today, 2007.

Czarnecki, Kelly. “The Real and the Virtual Intersecting Communities at the Library.” Multimedia & Internet@Schools 15, no. 3 (2008): 11-3).

Palfrey, John and Urs Gassler. Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books, 2008.

“What It Means to Be Born Digital.” American Libraries 38, no. 10(2007): 28.