Hennepin County Library

Hennepin County Library on MySpace

Hennepin County Library saw MySpace as an opportunity to have a presence on a social networking site and serve as a resource for teens and other MySpace users. In essence we want to be where our customers are and with more than 130 million profiles, MySpace is the most used social networking site on the Internet. This is the cornerstone of the Library 2.0 movement -- to have a presence where customers are going and provide them with resources where they need them. The HCL MySpace page was developed by staff in our Web Services department and the initial setup did not take more than a few hours. Staff in Web Services all have basic to advanced coding skills so we were able to do additional modifications to the page, but it isn't necessary to have coding ability to customize your profile. You can use a tool to assist in developing the code necessary to customize it. We used an online generator, Thomas MySpace Editor, to help us work with our account. We did independently develop and add a search box for the library catalog on this page, and would be happy to share this code with other libraries.

How do people discover our MySpace page? We link to our MySpace from our TeenLinks pages, we talk about it in various groups, and our Teens Online Advisory group is also involved. Mostly, people just find us. The HCL MySpace page was developed using the look and feel of our TeenLinks page to offer some continuity to our customers. Currently, there are two Web Services staff members who keep track of the account, review friend requests, e-mail, etc. It takes very little time to actually monitor the page once it is developed. I usually log in at least once a week to review the account. We use parts of the account to highlight our resources, materials of particular interest to our teen customers, offer services, and advertise opportunities that may interest teens at the library. There is a catalog search imbedded into the page to allow users to search our catalog. The blog has been used to advertise events, classes, or opportunities to get involved.

We do track how many visitors come to our Library website from our MySpace account and at last check we were getting about 550 a week. Currently we have more than 1,050 friends linked including teens, popular teen authors, librarians, and other libraries. Our disclaimer on TeenLinks applies here- we link to sites knowing that we don't have control of what others may post or change, but we do review sites and friend requests and make every effort to follow library policy. We do think our MySpace project is successful. The number of visits to our website from MySpace is respectable and we have learned quite a bit about what it's like to create a presence for ourselves away from our regular website. We also have a flickr account and have been doing some podcasts with our teen volunteers.

We use the site to educate staff and the public, and to provide a positive example of community building online. In fall 2006 we held classes titled “The ‘New’ Web: Blogs, MySpace, Flickr, Wikis and more”. These classes were to introduce the concepts of the 'New' web, the social networking and collaborative contribution part of it to our community. MySpace was one of the topics we covered. Most of the communications I have with other libraries are questions about how we did something or if they could utilize some code that we have already developed, and we are always happy to share that with other libraries.

Thanks! Feel free to contact me directly at my email below if you have any additional questions.

Jody L. Wurl
jwurl at hclib.org
Teen Services Librarian
Web Services & Training, Hennepin County Library
12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka, MN 55305



What's New at HCL Recent Staff Presentations Technology at HCL Public Learning & Training Staff Training Policies & Manuals Public Web Resources Demonstration Projects Officially Withdrawn	Hennepin County Library on MySpace Hennepin County Library saw MySpace as an opportunity to have a presence on a social networking site and serve as a resource for teens and other MySpace users. In essence we want to be where our customers are and with more than 130 million profiles, MySpace is the most used social networking site on the Internet. This is the cornerstone of the Library 2.0 movement -- to have a presence where customers are going and provide them with resources where they need them. The HCL MySpace page was developed by staff in our Web Services department and the initial setup did not take more than a few hours. Staff in Web Services all have basic to advanced coding skills so we were able to do additional modifications to the page, but it isn't necessary to have coding ability to customize your profile. You can use a tool to assist in developing the code necessary to customize it. We used an online generator, Thomas MySpace Editor, to help us work with our account. We did independently develop and add a search box for the library catalog on this page, and would be happy to share this code with other libraries. How do people discover our MySpace page? We link to our MySpace from our TeenLinks pages, we talk about it in various groups, and our Teens Online Advisory group is also involved. Mostly, people just find us. The HCL MySpace page was developed using the look and feel of our TeenLinks page to offer some continuity to our customers. Currently, there are two Web Services staff members who keep track of the account, review friend requests, e-mail, etc. It takes very little time to actually monitor the page once it is developed. I usually log in at least once a week to review the account. We use parts of the account to highlight our resources, materials of particular interest to our teen customers, offer services, and advertise opportunities that may interest teens at the library. There is a catalog search imbedded into the page to allow users to search our catalog. The blog has been used to advertise events, classes, or opportunities to get involved. We do track how many visitors come to our Library website from our MySpace account and at last check we were getting about 550 a week. Currently we have more than 1,050 friends linked including teens, popular teen authors, librarians, and other libraries. Our disclaimer on TeenLinks applies here- we link to sites knowing that we don't have control of what others may post or change, but we do review sites and friend requests and make every effort to follow library policy. We do think our MySpace project is successful. The number of visits to our website from MySpace is respectable and we have learned quite a bit about what it's like to create a presence for ourselves away from our regular website. We also have a flickr account and have been doing some podcasts with our teen volunteers. We use the site to educate staff and the public, and to provide a positive example of community building online. In fall 2006 we held classes titled “The ‘New’ Web: Blogs, MySpace, Flickr, Wikis and more”. These classes were to introduce the concepts of the 'New' web, the social networking and collaborative contribution part of it to our community. MySpace was one of the topics we covered. Most of the communications I have with other libraries are questions about how we did something or if they could utilize some code that we have already developed, and we are always happy to share that with other libraries. Thanks! Feel free to contact me directly at my email below if you have any additional questions. Jody L. Wurl jwurl at hclib.org Teen Services Librarian Web Services & Training, Hennepin County Library 12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka, MN 55305