The Information Activist Librarian

I normally shy away from techie posts on here.  I feel that so many other people write so wonderfully about such issues, that I serve merely as an echo chamber.  However, I do have two library points to make about Google+

1. As a director and PhD student, I am constantly thinking about how something will effect libraries.  So, and I know that it is really early, but how will a new social network impact your library or all libraries?  This doesn’t even have to be just about Google+, but what are you and your library doing to be proactive about new technologies. I am all for “playing” with new technology but at what cost?

2. A recent PC Mag post Flocking to Google+ had a wonderful subtitle “Is this social-networking platform really that good, or are folks just that pissed with Facebook and its policies?”.  Can policies so drastically sway the public?  More importantly, and aligned with my beliefs, library policies have the power to sway people away.  We often complain about the terms of service of these sites, but what do our terms of service say?  How overly restrictive are we?  Do you policies inform the public that the library is a welcoming place, or are they bent more towards a paranoid place?

Note, I freely admit that I am half owned by Google and half owned by Apple, so you betcha I’m on board and digging Google+