CC’s Library 2.0 Class Musings

The Hennepin County Library’s description of BookSpace is “an online reading community”.  You can browse book lists created by librarians and other readers, get information about new titles, find book club resources, and search through news of particular interest to readers of specific genres….and that’s even before you create a profile and login!  A big pat on the back was given to HCL when they were a winner of the 2006 Technology Solutions Awards by the Public Technology Institute.  Their entry title was “BookSpace:  Improved Service to County Library Readers”, which also described the service as “Library customers and staff are taking advantage of intriguing new capabilities in a redesigned, database-driven website”.   What I love about this description is that they’re not being heralded as ‘a library that does Web 2.0′.  They are simply a group of staff that has translated a unique service using a database-driven website. 

This online community has the meat and potatoes of some of the social software building blocks that Gene Smith describes:

1)  Identity – You can create a profile on BookSpace with a unique name and even add an avatar.  Your profile can be seen through the profile list.  I would even argue that the book lists you create based on the genres and titles of your book lists can give you an identity.

2)  Groups – You can search for book clubs at the library, in the Twin Cities, and around the world.

3)  Sharing – You can leave comments on books in the Library Catalog.  You can create recommended reading lists in your profile that can be read by anyone on BookSpace (you don’t have to be logged in to browse through the book lists).  There are currently 410 book lists!

I don’t see a Conversation building block in this space because there isn’t a way to have a conversation with other BookSpacers, but I think there is an opportunity in a linkage with FaceBook.  Right now, HCLIB has a library catalog application for your Facebook profile where you can click on the app in your FB and browse the catalog.  I think you could bring the conversation aspect into BookSpace by upgrading the current HCLIB library catalog application in FB so that you can access your book lists, to read lists, and favorites that you created in the My Books application on FB. 

I haven’t created any book lists on Book Space yet, but I browse many of the book lists already created so I can see what other people are reading.  I tend to use my My Books application on FB to keep track of what I’ve read, my favorites, what I’m currently reading, and what I want to read.