One of the great things about Facebook (also the most annoying) is that you can add applications (widgets) that allow you to furnish your profile as you see fit. Applications are not developed by Facebook but by regular people who have too much time on their hands.

Some librarians are taking advantage of their spare time (what spare time?) to create applications for their patrons on Facebook. Hennepin County Library Catalog, Warwick U Library, and UIUC Library Search are only three examples of applications that allow users to search their library’s catalogues directly from their own Facebook profiles.

Other librarians are developing broader applications that many libraries can participate in. For instance, the AskAway application can be added to any Facebook profile so that anyone can use AskAway’s services from the Facebook interface.

Application developers are starting to borrow each other’s designs. There is even a group for creating applications that connect Facebook users with their libraries, with over 2500 members. Libraries like Hennepin County Library and the others listed above are ahead of the game.

A list of good library-related Facebook applications can be found here.