Hopefully not too late for a very important date!

Well, i seem to have stumbled into the royal court of Bloggerland. Look! There is the Queen and King, and there is the white rabbit again! And there is the Mad Tagger, The Wiki'd Witch and the Cheshire Catalogue, and bookworm/caterpillar has transformed into a beautiful butterfly/paper-plane!

It seems like they are all happily communicating in their Bloggerland community. Butterfly/paper-plane is back on her computer looking up their MySpace page, and it looks like The Garden Library has it's own virtual version in Second Life!

Social networking online would be a good idea for libraries to pursue as a way of researching, marketing and creating a community, both for individual libraries and customers, as well as across all libraries like the 'Communities of Practice'. These types of tools are very popular around the world with many people so it only makes sense to utilise them through institutions such as museums, galleries and libraries.

Getting people talking about libraries would be made much easier through the online format. You could even say an online community could be an extension of the "Friends of Libraries" concept, but you would be able to have a much larger "fanbase". This sort of online marketing via social avenues would also appeal more to youth who have grown up with these technologies. The idea of "support forums", where customers in need can help other customers, could also be extremely helpful ( but of course would need moderation in certain instances, especially for libraries whose role it is to provide reliable/accurate information).

By being able to view these sorts of forums and networks in action, it would also help to better understand customers and what they are interested in, how and what they think, to enable libraries to provide better, more community-focused services and facilities, acting like a sort of suggestion box. It would also help customers to feel more connected to the library by being active members. Creating a network of libraries would also aid in the sharing of stories and the creation of better services through sharing knowledge and experience, while also creating a sense of fellowship.

Combining the old and new is definitely the way forward for libraries. And i think i see the way foward too!

A small portal peeled open in the side of a nearby hedge. I looked back at my Bloggerland friends.

"Goodbye, Alice! We know it's time for you to go now, but come and visit us again soon," cried the butterfly/paper-plane.

"Something tells me i'll never quite completely leave this place, or forget all of the new friends i've made here. My lifelong learning journey has only really just begun! Goodbye all!" I waved.

And with that, i stepped through the swirling portal, ready to take on another adventure.