Comments on: When you build it and they don’t come http://www.familymanlibrarian.com/2006/07/25/when-you-build-it-and-they-dont-come/ A blog about family, technology, and libraries Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: <![CDATA[Librarian Blogs (a few) at Life@Stritch]]> http://www.familymanlibrarian.com/2006/07/25/when-you-build-it-and-they-dont-come/comment-page-1/#comment-1772 Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:30:18 +0000 http://familymanlibrarian.com/?p=494#comment-1772 [...] FamilyManLibrarian [...] [...] FamilyManLibrarian [...]

]]> By: <![CDATA[Steve]]> http://www.familymanlibrarian.com/2006/07/25/when-you-build-it-and-they-dont-come/comment-page-1/#comment-1771 Wed, 02 Aug 2006 16:28:15 +0000 http://familymanlibrarian.com/?p=494#comment-1771 Steven, Thanks for your comment. I know that you see this situation somewhat the same as I do. I hadn't read the LJ article (sorry) but will track that down. Re who reads official library blogs, well, you might be surprised. Especially if RSS is nicely integrated into a campus portal environment. For the short time I maintained an official library blog in a previous job, I was surprised at how often it was read, e.g., by faculty. I know because they told me. I also featured the blog in just about every instructional student/staff presentation I gave. Steven,

Thanks for your comment. I know that you see this situation somewhat the same as I do. I hadn’t read the LJ article (sorry) but will track that down. Re who reads official library blogs, well, you might be surprised. Especially if RSS is nicely integrated into a campus portal environment. For the short time I maintained an official library blog in a previous job, I was surprised at how often it was read, e.g., by faculty. I know because they told me. I also featured the blog in just about every instructional student/staff presentation I gave.

]]> By: <![CDATA[steven bell]]> http://www.familymanlibrarian.com/2006/07/25/when-you-build-it-and-they-dont-come/comment-page-1/#comment-1770 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 16:33:06 +0000 http://familymanlibrarian.com/?p=494#comment-1770 This is a theme I've covered in a few posts at ACRLog - its the pressure librarians are under to try to new technologies without really thinking through how useful they are to our overall strategies for example, see http://acrlblog.org/2006/02/20/the-ratcheting-up-of-technology/). I wrote about this more extensively in an LJ article on library blogs, which seem a good example of a technology that requires an investment with a very questionable return (who really reads the library blog?). I would agree with you that just creating a profile on a social network is hardly likely to yield real results in terms of helping students achieve academic success (or encouraging laypersons to use the library more). Testing the waters, but getting out before you get in too deep, as you suggest seems like a sensible approach to take when testing new technology solutions. It is easy to be drawn in further by "sunk costs." This is a theme I’ve covered in a few posts at ACRLog – its the pressure librarians are under to try to new technologies without really thinking through how useful they are to our overall strategies for example, see http://acrlblog.org/2006/02/20/the-ratcheting-up-of-technology/).
I wrote about this more extensively in an LJ article on library blogs, which seem a good example of a technology that requires an investment with a very questionable return (who really reads the library blog?). I would agree with you that just creating a profile on a social network is hardly likely to yield real results in terms of helping students achieve academic success (or encouraging laypersons to use the library more). Testing the waters, but getting out before you get in too deep, as you suggest seems like a sensible approach to take when testing new technology solutions. It is easy to be drawn in further by “sunk costs.”

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