Putting Google and other social media sites to work for your library

CHICAGO — Many libraries and museums have already adapted to the current information climate and work with Google, Facebook, Twitter and iTunes to deliver information to their users—but not all. In “Google This! Putting Google and Other Social Media Sites to Work for Your Library,” published by Chandos Publishing and available through Neal-Schuman Publishers, librarians or museum professionals interested in developing a greater Web and social media presence for their institution will find a wealth of material to justify these actions to directors and administrative boards. Terry Ballard, an award-winning author with more than 20 years' experience as an academic systems librarian, has conducted more than two dozen interviews with professionals who have created exemplary work using social media and shows how their experiences can create success for your institution’s library. His book:

• describes the variety of free (or nearly free) options for social media and shows how libraries from the Library of Congress to small public libraries are adapting them;
• provides step-by-step instructions for creating iGoogle gadgets in XML, iGoogle themes, Google Maps with community locations and Google Earth links to archived library data;
• Describes the full process for creating a Google Custom Search engine.

Ballard is currently the assistant director of technical services for Library Systems at the Mendik Library of the New York Law School. He has been a library professional since 1969 and has worked in New York and Connecticut as an academic librarian and adjunct professor in information science. He is the author of “INNOPAC: A Reference Guide to the System,” as well as more than 50 articles in library journals. He has also presented at numerous national and international conferences.

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