The San Mateo County Library has one of the best profiles on Myspace. It appears to be updated regularly, so all the information stays relevant. And there is a lot of information!
The page is less flashy than some library Myspace pages with a teen focus, and it is a bit text heavy, but it is incredibly informative. They link the Myspace page from the teen section of the SMCL website, as well as a hard-to-find features page. The Myspace profile links back to the library’s fancy homepage.
The profile also links to an incredible amount of resources that the library’s patrons might be interested in, including information on Myspace safety. I found the Myspace profile easier to navigate than the fancy homepage, and I could do just as much (if not more) on it! A lot of library profiles on Myspace kept their “Interests” section sparse, but SMCL used the Interests template to list some of the materials they offer at the library. They listed some examples of popular music, films, TV shows, and books their patrons could borrow from the library “for free!” Each Interests subheading included a link where patrons could request items to be added to the catalogue.
This Myspace profile is a great example of how libraries can use social networking templates that are familiar to younger patrons to create alternative access to the library’s official website. The SMCL Myspace profile is like a guide to the library’s website, with links organized into sections that are intuitive to patrons who are social network butterflies but who may not otherwise have the patience for fancy Flash-based websites that have to be carefully navigated.
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