Integrating Libraries & Communities Online:
Bookspace.org
Glenn Peterson, Web Administrator
Marilyn Turner, Manager, Web Services & Training
Hennepin County Library
Hennepin County Library
A county of readers!
• On average, every suburban Hennepin County resident checked out 17 books, DVDs and CDs in 2006
• This is twice the national average
• Redesigning the HCL online readers advisory website in 2006 was a strategic goal
Goals of redesign
• Bring together relevant resources for a particular genre or subject.
• Allow librarians to easily contribute content to assigned pages without needing any programming knowledge
• Allow customers to contribute their own content and share their favorite books with each other.
• Allow customers to track and update their contributions and have access to services they are receiving
Bring together relevant resources
• Book lists
• Author lists
• New title information
• Librarian tips
• Websites
• Let’s take a look at the Fiction page
Who is doing this work?
• BookSpace Coordinator– Sharon Hilts McGlinn, Senior Librarian in Web
Services, IT Division– Hands on developer
• BookSpace workgroup (5 librarians)– Chaired by BookSpace coordinator– Overall vision, planning
• BookSpace contributors (30 librarians)– Overseen by BookSpace Coordinator– Genre page teams (2 librarians on each)– Book list creators– Author list creators
Allow librarians to easily contribute content
• Add and maintain websites
• Post to Librarian blog 1-2 times/mo.
• Track comments added to blog
• Easy to use web forms
Librarian Tools
Goal: Customer Contributed Content
• Allow customers to contribute their own content / share their favorite books
• Allow customers to track and update their contributions
Social Features
• User Comments on books and other titles
Screen shot of comments
Social Features
• User Comments
• Blogs
Social Features
• User Comments
• Blogs
• Book Lists staff-created auto-generated user-created
Social Features
• User Comments
• Blogs
• Book Lists
• “It’s Alive!” current activity most active contributors
Social Features
• User Comments
• Blogs
• Book Lists
• “It’s Alive!”
• User Profiles
Looking Ahead
• New ways to connect users “Users who are reading __, are also
reading __” Facebook “wall” “Friends”
Looking Ahead
• New ways to connect users “Users who are reading __, are also
reading __” Facebook “wall” “Friends”
• Challenges control issues
Geek stuff
• Database-driven
• RSS everywhere
• ColdFusion (or ASP, PHP, etc.)
Takeaways
• Drawn on library staff
• Empower your users
• Create opportunities for serendipity
• Let users interact
Contact Information
Marilyn Turner, [email protected]
Glenn Peterson, [email protected]
Slides
http://www.hclib.org/extranet
