Technology change and the advantage it offers to libraries.

Technology change is affecting basic social structures in a way that a great media research scholar Manuel Castells has described beautifully in his work on “networked society.” The new digital ecosystem has changed social networks, the basic structure of our social interactions.

It has changed the composition of social networks. It has changed the way people use their social networks to navigate their lives. And it has increased the importance of social networks as people use them to make sense of the world.

And this new ecosystem changes the way organizations such as libraries can be parts of social networks.  libraries have always been informal parts of people’s social worlds as they help patrons solve problems and make decisions. But this is even more clear now because libraries can be “nodes” or “friends” in networks thanks to they way libraries help people connect to important, useful information and, these days, help people learn how to become media makers themselves.

the media ecosystem  change has benefited libraries in the following ways:

(a) Social networks-  Some 57% of adults who are internet users and 73% of teenagers use these kinds of sites. They are sharing information about their lives, joining political causes, and passing along other media to each other through social networking sites.scholars and lerners from different institutions pass information to each other through social media networks such as facebook, skype and MySpace. libraries can use these sites as platforms to sell their collections and reach a wide range of readers.

(b) sharing of photographs- people share material online through photographs. Billions and billions of pictures are displayed on social network sites and photo-sharing sites. libraries can become more connected with their users as they post photo albums that detail events and collections in their libraries. this keep the whole lot of readers and the library as a small interconnected village that can easily access information. 

(c) blogs- people can collaborate and create content on blogs. libraries can collectively create an eye-catching blog as well as one that grabs the attention of readers. through this blog, they can share detailed information about their library such as the location of the library, the materials in its collection, opening and closing hours and how readers can reach them. Through this, readers can have a better understanding of the library and visit the library if interested.