ALA Connect: The Mother Ship Evolves

I wonder if the American Library Association (ALA) truly understands what it’s getting into with its launch of ALA Connect. Part of the organization’s new site design, Connect uses the open-source Drupal framework to provide an online collaborative workspace for its members. Like Facebook or LinkedIn, ALA Connect is a social network in which users can establish profiles and connect with friends and colleagues. The site provides an updated environment for virtual committee membership, but also allows members to create their own community groups. And that’s where things get really interesting.

ALA members have always been encouraged to meet and discuss topics of broader interest, but the old process for creating a Member Initiative Group (MIG) was pretty daunting. A requirement of 100 member signatures made corralling people at a conference the only real way to get started. A statement of purpose had to be drafted and submitted for approval by ALA Council after that. Now, through ALA Connect, any member can create a group simply by filling in three required fields on a simple Web form.

This represents a profound change in how the mother ship works. Thanks to a very 2.0 move, community groups can now truly be of the people and by the people. Without having to jump through hoops, members can create a space for professional discussions and shared learning. Are you facing an issue that might not quite rise to the level of a committee or task force? Is there an emerging challenge that you want to explore? Now you can collaborate with others to address these needs. Akin to crowdsourcing, a concept originated by Jeff Howe, or marketing expert Seth Godin’s tribes, this is a chance to gather the collective intelligence of a group for some productive discourse. By allowing even nonmembers to join, ALA Connect also provides an opportunity to reach outside of the library world to involve teachers, administrators, and technology educators.

Social networking empowers people to connect with others, as well as to form interest-based groups. ALA Connect could be compared to other social networks like Ning or LinkedIn. However, the real benefit to Connect is that the professional library focus will result in more topical content. Traditional discussion groups like LM_NET have helped media specialists trade information, but the sharing was broad and untargeted. Everyone valued those gems of wisdom, but it required weeding through lots of posts to find them. By using a networking model, ALA Connect makes it possible for members to subscribe to only those conversations that they wish to follow. The result: more signal and less noise. A recent comments feed and popular topics listing on the front page can also help readers access fresh content.

Another benefit of using ALA Connect? Members can join larger groups that span across multiple types of libraries. For example, I’ve created a group called “We the Librarians,” intended as a gathering place for professionals of every stripe to talk and share. Other communities address job searching (Career Connections), the environment (Green Libraries), and even specific geographic regions (METRO [New York City] Member Librarians). If you have a passion or a need, consider starting a member community yourself.

The openness of ALA Connect will, I believe, have a profound impact on ALA. But that’s all dependent on people’s participation. By providing an open social community, ALA is inviting various members (and don’t forget, nonmembers, too) to join in the conversation of the association. Along with the potential for involvement, though, comes a responsibility for taking action. For the many members who have been asking for virtual committees and ways to be connected without attending conferences, this is the time to step up and get involved.