Library Teen Talk Blog

As part of Hillsdale Free Public Library, the blog Teen Speak @ Hillsdale Library is provided to the teen population. The blog is kept up to date, as the last posting was entered on the 3rd of April of 2009.

As a first time visitor to the Teen Speak blog, I found the site to be extremely user friendly and easily accessible. First of all, the blog site is clearly identifiable on the library’s website homepage. The use of big bold colourful lettering and imagery definitely attracts the attention of the user and encourages users to visit the blog site. Secondly, once at the blog site, the design and structure of the page exemplifies an excellent level of userability as each piece of information and suggested links to other web 2.0 tools are easily retrievable and accessible.

A suggestion to improve the site would be to add the “about this site” information and at least a minor profile description of the main contributors – the library staff that are responsible for the majority of postings and maintenance of Teen Speak. This would add to the sense of a community if the patrons who are using this blog had more background knowledge about the people they are getting their information needs from. This could end up increasing the number of participant teen members to the already existent group that are posting on the blog and utilizing the site.

The use of photos of library events and subjects is a fantastic method of reaching the teen target audience on a more friendly and personal level. It is for this reason along with the overall great userability of the blog page that would entice me to be a book blogging member of Teen Speak, if I were still in my teen years.

RGPL Teen Blog is part of the River Grove Public Library District. Surprisingly, the RGPL Teen Blog is nowhere to be found on the library’s website main page. I had to use the search engine Google Search in order to find this teen blog. I am curious as to how the public is expected to find this blog by use of the library’s home page. I would most definitely recommend that the library update the website to include information and a navigational link to this blog as means of improving the ease and accessibility in retrieving this informative blog page.

Unlike the library’s website, the teen blog appears to be kept up to date, as the last posting to date was made April 16th, 2009, and is highly informative in regards to current events, book reviews and relative useful links, such as journals and news feed. The young adult librarian responsible for the teen blog also lists the social network (as described by Wikipedia) Shelfari as relative link to the recommendations and reviews of books.

Unlike the library’s website, the teen blog appears to be kept up to date, as the last posting to date was made April 16th, 2009, and is highly informative in regards to current events, book reviews and relative useful links, such as journals and news feed. The young adult librarian responsible for the teen blog also lists the social network Shelfari as relative link, and other useful web 2.0 tool, for communicating to readers recommendations and reviews of books. In addition to this, one of the suggested links in the navigation bar is to a video game blog site. Even though this is a teen blog affiliated with a library, the video game link does relate to the many of the postings found on the page. The fact that there are so many postings related to video game reviews and events as opposed to other literature reviews and events, is surprising. The literature section of the blog seems to be of secondary importance to the book discussion section of the page. If I were searching for a library teen blog to join, I would not expect one of the main concepts to be centered around video games. The fact that the literature related posts are mostly found on the Shelfari link, as a library patron, I would seek library information needs from the social network link instead of the set RGPL Teen Blog.

This may also be part of the issue as to why there is only one subscriber to this blog. In the page header, it is described that the library blog is a place where teens can claim as their own, yet there is no congregation of young adults taking hold of the opportunity and using this blog as means of sharing information. The point of using the blog as a community building tool is not being fulfilled.

The design of the page itself is quite suitable for a teenage audience (with the use of colour and imagery). As well, the librarian provides a personal profile of herself which should build a report with the users. Therefore, I must conclude that in addition to the lack of navigational tools (a blog link) from the library’s website, the information offered on the blog page must not be satisfying the information needs of the teen patron population. Perhaps the librarian should conduct a needs assessment as to the information needs of the teen patrons, in order to help find out why there is such low level participation by young adults. As well, perhaps outreach programs are required or marketing for the blog itself is needed. Using other web 2.0 tools and technologies such as popular social networks (like Facebook and Twitter) would attract the attention and membership of teen groups.

As a part of the Springfield-Greene County Library website available is the blog called Teen Thing. When first visiting the library’s website, it may take a minor moment for the user to find the appropriate link to the blog because there is no mention of the Teen Thing being a blog in the title. However, the link to the page is found directly below the main heading of the library’s site, and so it is still somewhat instinctive for the user to access the Teen Thing link when looking for a teen related page. In order to improve upon the site’s userability, perhaps the blog title Teen Thing should have the term blog (or something relative to the word) in it.

In terms of the Teen Thing page, there is quite a lot of information readily available for users. The library is appropriately using the site to stay connected with its young adult patron population. The library is using this web 2.0 tool to market itself, and its programs and events, as well as, events in the surrounding areas, as for example the happenings in nearby cinemas. As a result the posts appear to be more for the purpose of keeping the patron community up to date on events and less focused on providing book reviews as the main posting section of the blog (as seen in other teen blog sites). Other information, such as booklists, are clearly identified on the page, within the navigation tool bars, and are very straight forward in accessing. Although there is a wide variety of information and links offered on the page, the information is divided up in clear categorical fashion. Even the use of colour codes helps the user identify the diversity of information and easily navigate through the page.

There are a couple of suggestions that I believe would improve upon the effectiveness and usefulness of the teen blog. Firstly, the individuals who are posting on the page (for example, John and Sarah) have no page section dedicated to introducing themselves, such as their roles in the library. In order for users to identify and connect better to Teen Thing, there should be a set area that they could learn about who it is that is providing them with the information. Secondly, there is no “about site section” readily available on the page that would give the reader a general introduction to the focus of the blog. These factors, if addressed, would potentially add to the sense of the information’s level of credibility, as well as, increase the level of trust between the users and the bloggers. Perhaps, this would encourage further utilization of the page and its sources by the library patrons.

Shelf Life: The Livingston High School Reading Blog is belongs to the Livingston High School Library.

First and foremost, as a first time user I found the blog itself extremely user friendly and easy to navigate. All the information I was looking for, such as about the site, the categories of blog posts and relative links are all clearly identifiable on the right hand side of the page within the navigation bar. As well, there is a good amount of information about the blogger, Mr. Doyle, the school librarian, readily available for the user so that he or she can know who is maintaining and leading the blog page.
Unfortunately, as a drawback, the site is extremely difficult to find from the Livingston High School Library home page. On the home page Shelf Life is not clearly identified compared to the other user links, which are displayed using bold lettering and images. Therefore, users are required to extensively search for the blog page. This is an extremely large deterrent in patrons’ use of the blog. If they can not find it, how are they expected to use it!? As a result, even though the blog itself is very simple and straightforward to navigate through, the fact that it is so complicated to find the page off of the library’s site, the userability of the blog is negatively affected and is diminished.

After consulting the “About site section,” it is understood that the blog is meant for the use of school and library staff, as well as, the high school students. Even though this is the case, it is curious as to why the act of posting must go through the librarian prior to publishing. There is no direct link in the navigation system to chose the option of posting on the blog. If one desires to add to the site, she/he must first contact the librarian to a acquire this information. This does give the impression that the blog is mostly as a sole project for the librarian. One may wonder what would happen if the blog became more of an open forum with a panel of students who shared in the responsibilities of the blog postings and maintenance. Despite these issues, the positive aspect is that there are still numerous amounts of contributions, such as comments and suggestions, made by the student population. Therefore, there still must be a sense of belonging and dedication to the reading blog among the students because if there were not, then they would most probably not actively participate in the sharing of information and opinions.

Within this blog, the feature of podcasts are offered. This relates well with the theme of the reading blog. Considering the fact that it is extremely popular for adolescents (and amongst many other age groups) to use the technology of digital players, the students can simply and easily load their players with the available book podcasts. Unfortunately, when accessing the podcast link, the item is listed as temporarily unavailable and there is a notice suggesting that it will take quite a while until it is functional because of what seems to be due to a lack of time and perhaps resources. If this is the case, I would recommend to the high school librarian to inquire about developing a Library Information Studies graduate student internship program. Perhaps this would give the extra time and resources the school library needs in maintaining it’s web 2.0 offerings, and inadvertently, provide experience building opportunities for the graduate students.

Bellingham ‘Brary Blog is part of the Bellingham Public Library’s youth department, in Massachusetts. Bellingham Public Library is using the web 2.0 tools and technologies of blogs to stay connected with their young adult patrons. The blog is used to keep teens up to date on the new acquisitions made in teen book titles. The focus is also on making sure these patrons know about the events that will be taking place in the library that might be of interest to them.

The blog uses a very a simple and clear layout. The design of the page is bright and colourful, which is always a plus given the fact that it is trying to attract the attention of the younger adult population. The use of images also adds to the appeal of the blog. For example the book titles advertised and discussed on the page are marked with their corresponding book cover designs, and the links in the navigation side bar all have logo designs and images as part of the icons. The overall blog design gives the page a fun and inviting feel. It is also quite easy to follow and operate. First time users can easily find their way around the blog. This is seen as each section of the blog is clearly labeled with descriptive subtitles. These subtitles stipulate the specific information that the users are looking at and simplify scanning the page for specifically sought information.

Although the Bellingham ’Brary ‘Blog is trying to stimulate interest among their teen members, there seems to be minimal contribution from the teen audience. The librarian is the main participant using this tool. After every book review post she encourages patrons to add comments and share their own opinions about the works, but generally there are no takers and her opinion remains the sole posting. On the navigation side bar the librarian also tries to get the young adults to participate in mini questions and answer surveys, and still there are minimal posts made by the teens. In the section asking them how they like the new site, there are even mixed reviews (from the minimal amount of responses given). Were those who suggested the new site be fixed some more asked for their reasons as to why they do not like it? Perhaps they are not getting the information that they actually really want. Although the site is still informative about new teen titles and offers information on up coming events and the few other informative features (such as catalogues and a teen writing group) the young adults are not really given a piece of the blog to own as their own. The blog uses a Sudoku puzzle as an attempt to appeal to the youth, although it is a fun and popular game, more ideas need to be thought of that will satisfy the information needs of the teen population. In the section of useful links, there are only a handful of links that are recommended. Teens today are extremely computer savvy, and if they feel that they can find the minimal (albeit important) information on their own, then why would they invest their time and participation in the site? Even with the book reviews, the teens have the opportunity to contribute their opinions after the fact that they have already been reviewed, but perhaps a group of teen patrons should be providing the initial reviews — with having the librarian’s comments as  additions to theirs. It is generally understood that most teenagers get their information from their peers, not from adults. If these young adults are given more of a sense of ownership over the teen blog, this might increase their levels of participation and possibly more satisfaction in the blog.

The Cheshire Public Library has an up to date teen blog written by teens for teens. The blog is called Cheshire Public Library Teen Book Blog: Book Reviews by the Teen Book Board. As a first time visitor all one has to do to find this blog is to go to the Cheshire Public Library site and follow the link “Just for Teens,” which brings the patron to the Teen Book Blog icon – clearly marked in the navigation tool bar. The link to the blog is easy to find and access, thus making it extremely user friendly and encourages page visits by members.

The focus of the blog is to provide young adults with reviews on teen literature. Interestingly, this blog is basically written by teen librarians. Therefore, these young adults are providing their own peers with the desired information about literature and providing suggestions about what would be a good read. The teen librarians are the ones who are bringing the teen patrons together through this blog, making them a community of teen readers. It is the youth here who “own” the blog, they have the power and responsibility and so, they will be more dedicated to maintaining and developing this teen forum. Therefore, it is understood that the Cheshire Public Library is utilizing the innovation of web 2.0 and its blog features in a progressive manner. This follows the commonly known ideology that,  it is within web 2.0 that users become active participants in the information sharing over the internet, and more power is given to the user.

It is the teen bloggers here that are creating the community feel amongst the library’s young adult patrons. When looking at the page, users not only get to read about book reviews (which are written in a casual, informal style) but as well, they get to learn a little bit about the reviewer; who they are and what school grade they are in. This only adds to feeling of cohesiveness within the teen book blog group because the relation between the users and reviewers becomes that much more personal, from which a sense of trust can build and a feeling of community.

If I were an adolescent patron at the Cheshire Public Library, I would most definitely feel encouraged to utilize their Teen Book Blog. Aside from the page’s ease in userability, and overall friendly and colourful design, I would get a sense of belonging within the book blog group, which would lead me to be comfortable in and wanting to participate in book review discussions and posts.

As a suggestion to the Cheshire Public Library, I would recommend that they provide links in their navigation bar to other teen book blogs that their members might want to participate in. This could give the patrons a chance to discover and then share amongst the group other book titles and information that they do not have at the Cheshire Public Library. As well, it would provide them with the opportunity to expand on their own community and join in on other teen blog groups with similar interests.