In Practice

By Meredith Farkas
American Libraries Columnist

Distance learning librarian, Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont
librarysuccess@gmail.com

September 2008

Technology Goes Local

Collecting local knowledge with social software

When I first moved to Vermont, I searched the Web for information about the area and found very little. In Chicago, it’s easy to go online and find the best place to get curly fries, the best dry cleaner, and the best park to take your kids to. In Vermont, that information tends to stay locked in the minds of the people who live here. So for newcomers, there’s sure to be a lot of trial-and-error involved in finding the “bests.” And I certainly made lots of mistakes before finding the places I now frequent.

Why should people have to reinvent the wheel when there’s so much community knowledge just waiting to be shared? We usually think of social software as technologies to connect people with common interests who are geographically distant. However, it can also be used to connect people around local interests and to collect local knowledge more effectively.

A perfect match

Libraries have always been keepers of local history and culture, from genealogical resources to artifacts in special collections. Librarians also are frequently asked about local services of which they may not have firsthand knowledge. Some of our patrons may know more about these services than we do. Using social software to collect community knowledge fits in well with most library missions on many levels.

Since a wiki can receive contributions from many people, it’s a perfect tool for collecting local knowledge. Wikis have been created for cities including Davis, California; Omaha, Nebraska; and Birmingham, Alabama. One of my favorites is RocWiki (rocwiki.org). Billed as the people’s guide to Rochester, New York, the RocWiki website contains information about restaurants, public transportation, hair salons, malls, recreation, local culture, and much more that has been added by the people who live there. It’s received contributions from over 3,000 people, reflecting diverse knowledge and viewpoints.

Interested individuals residing in the area developed RocWiki, rather than a community organization or the local government. However, to me, a local wiki seemed like the perfect project for libraries. Having all of that useful local information on the
library’s website would likely make it the online hub of the community.

The wiki created by Stevens County (Wash.) Rural Library District (scrldwiki.org) collects and disseminates local knowledge about the large and sparsely populated county. The wiki is still quite young, but it’s already become a wonderful resource with a growing number of contributions from the community.

Other libraries have started local wikis, including the LoudonPedia (loudounpedia.wetpaint.com) in Virginia and Melbourne, Australia’s WikiNorthia (wikinorthia.net.au).

Another wonderful local resource is SkokieNet (skokienet.org). Created by the Skokie (Ill.) Public Library, SkokieNet is an impressive community portal built on the online content management system Drupal, which allows for the creation of static pages as well as blog content. Any community member can submit news, photos, local information, and even creative writing to the site. The Skokie Stories section includes personal stories from community members, which also makes the site a repository for local culture and history.

When thinking about projects like this, it’s important to consider the culture of your population. Some communities may not be comfortable sharing knowledge so openly, while others will take to it like a duck to water. You also want to make sure that the technologies you use are not a barrier to your patrons.

The local knowledge residing in the minds of our patrons is a treasure. Using social software, we can collect and preserve that knowledge for the benefit of the entire community.

Latest Library Links

13h

Camruinn Morgan-Rumsey and Lexi Lepof write: “On December 3, Knox County (Tenn.) schools received a list from the district of books to be removed from school libraries under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act. Knox County’s board of education voted in July, passing a policy to remove ‘explicit’ books from everyday student access in response to the new law. Some of the books on the list of nearly 50 titles might surprise parents. Among those to be removed are Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.”

WVLT-TV (Knoxville, Tenn.), Dec. 4
18h

Joe Foley writes: “Copyright rules vary from country to country and have changed over time. In the US, works created between 1929 and 1963 that gave notice and renewed copyright have 95 years from their first publication date. That means that on January 1, 2025, a host of works from 1929 will enter the public domain. This means that copyright will expire on Buck Rogers, Captain Easy, Horace Horsecollar, Tintin, Hal Foster’s first Tarzan comic strips and, yes, Popeye.” Other notable works entering public domain in the United States include the Marx Brothers’ first film, The Cocoanuts, contralto Marian Anderson’s first record, and Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.

Creative Bloq, Dec. 7; Everybody’s Libraries, Dec. 3, Dec. 7; Public Domain Review, Dec. 10
1d

Brittany Adams writes: “The digital landscape of libraries is expanding rapidly, with an increasing shift towards electronic resources and online services. As members of the library community, we’re witnessing a transformative era where physical collections are complemented—and sometimes replaced—by digital ones. This transition offers new opportunities for enhancing accessibility and engagement, but it also presents challenges, especially for young patrons and their families. It is essential to equip children and their caregivers with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate this evolving space confidently.”

ALSC Blog, Dec. 9
2d

Karen O’Grady writes: “I am the embedded librarian for the Hahn School of Nursing at the University of San Diego. I am surrounded by nursing faculty, staff, and students rather than by librarians. This has proven to be an incredible gamechanger for the way I see things. Every student in my school knows me by name. I am often stopped in the hallway to answer questions. Every correct answer I give increases my authority and builds trust. Through these casual mini-lessons, this foreign animal called ‘librarian’ slowly becomes an approachable, knowledgeable person.”

College & Research Libraries News, Dec.
2d

ALA has selected 46 participants for its 2025 class of Emerging Leaders (EL). The EL program allows library staff and information workers to participate in project planning work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. The group will take part in a day-long session during the 2025 LibLearnX conference in Phoenix this January and work for six months, culminating in a poster session at ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia in June, where they will highlight results of their project planning work.

ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment, Dec. 4
3d

On December 9, ALA announced a $25 million bequest by James W. Lewis, of Washington, D.C. The gift, the largest individual bequest in ALA’s history, will fund scholarships for aspiring librarians with demonstrated financial needs. Throughout Lewis’s career at Merrill Lynch, where he leads the Lewis Group as senior vice president and senior relationship manager, he has demonstrated his commitment to libraries and their communities by generously volunteering his time, including as a member of the Board of Visitors at the library of his alma mater, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He also served as a Library Trustee Board member at District of Columbia Public Library for 10 years.”

AL: The Scoop, Dec. 9
3d

Tess Prendergast writes: “I will never forget the surprised look on one mom’s face during storytime when I dropped a tip—technically called an aside—about how rhyming helps babies differentiate sounds and prepares them for reading. “You mean that all this singing will help her in school?” she asked. “I thought we were just doing this for fun!” Early literacy activities are certainly fun—but also valuable. Many parents and caregivers aren’t aware that simple, everyday activities can benefit their child’s early language and literacy development and have a lasting positive impact on their learning.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.

View more Latest Library Links