An Australian judge ruled it acceptable to serve legal notices to citizens via Facebook. The man was contacted through many avenues to take a paternity test. Contact was attempted by mail to his residence, to his parent’s residence, and even through his current girlfriend, but no success was made in contacting him. The counsel learned that he frequently used Facebook and MySpace accounts, so those were the next logical step in contacting him. The man was an avid user of these social networking sites until he received the paternity notices. Upon receiving the paternity notices, he canceled both accounts. The judge stated, “the case was unusual but ‘demonstrative of social movements and the currency of the times’".
Times are changing and the use of these social sites is more common that receiving letters in the mail. I check my email and social networking accounts multiple times a day. I know some people are logged on to their accounts 24 hours each day! This type of communication is the quickest and sometimes easiest way to reach people these days.
So, can a library use social networking sites to contact patrons about overdue books or fines? Is this an appropriate use of social networking sites? If the government can use them to contact people about legal matters, I feel this would be a great method for contacting patrons about issues within the library.
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January,
ReplyDeleteWhat a crazy world! I have heard of judges viewing Facebook or Myspace pages, but not of using the pages to serve notice. I think it is extremely telling that the man closed his accounts soon after receiving notice.
In addition, you asked if it was ok for libraries to use Facebook or networking sites to noticy patrons of fines. I don't think that is entirely appropriate. At the same time, if a library chose to notify patrons in this way, it seems only fair that they still notify them by mail or email or in person because not everyone has access or uses Facebook. Because the library would still have to use alternative methods of communication, the idea of communicating via Facebook seems a waste.
Leah
I really don't think it would be appropriate for a library to contact users over Facebook. For me, personally, that's part of my personal world; and I generally try to keep it as a social thing. I don't want to hear from a library or a business through Facebook. To me, something like that would be almost equivilent to a librarian coming into the restaurant where I was having dinner and telling me about my overdue book. To paraphrase George (from "Seinfeld"): "We need to keep the worlds separate! If the worlds collide, there's chaos!" ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it might be to early to use Facebook or MySpace as an avenue of communication, but I know many schools, libraries and companies consider email an official form of communication. So if you miss something because you did not read your email that's your fault. I know that many libraries allow patrons to decide if they want to be contacted by email so maybe giving the option of contact by Facebook is down the road.
ReplyDeleteIf the patron indicates that he or she WANTS communication by FB or whatever only, then I don't have a problem with it. That bounces the responsibility back on the patron for checking the account's mail regularly. It's the same with libraries now. You have a choice between phone and email, but not both, and so you affirm that you do in fact check your email or phone messages regularly.
ReplyDeleteNo. Absolutely not. If the library contacts a person on FB to tell them they've kept book X for too long, I do not trust Facebook to keep from handing that information to private companies who can use it to market to that person.
ReplyDeletePeople's borrowing records are confidential.
That's, of course, assuming you're messaging them. Posting such info on that person's wall would be way beyond the pale.
I add the link to the article. I forgot to do that, sorry!!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of using FB IF the patron so chooses, just as we do with phone or email preference.
Haha Joe, great Seinfeld reference! I use that often when I feel like my work life and personal life are becoming too closely intertwined (like when I find myself tailgating in my office building's parking lot during ND football season--too strange).
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Derek that Facebook simply leaves too much to be desired in terms of user privacy rights to rely on it for official & confidential communication with patrons. If you have a Facebook account, you have an email address, so why the need for such an option?
It seems like there would be practical considerations as well. Presumably the emails I get from the public library about books I've put on hold, books coming due soon, and books overdue (tsk tsk!) are automatically generated through the library's ILS. Would there even be a way to tie Facebook into the ILS? Maybe I'm not thinking it through completely, but wouldn't notices have to be manually sent to patrons via individual, private messages from the library's FB page? Seems like a huge waste of time...
I think the technicalities of exactly how to use FB for library communication is a moot point. As Derek pointed out, FB is not a confidential means of relaying private information. Part of the ethics of librarianship is maintaining that confidentiality. Lawyers and the courts, at least here in America, are allowed to serve court documents to people however they are able to; if they cannot get confirmation that mail, email, or phone messages were actually recieved, FB would be a cheap, creative attempt before hiring a private investigator to find the person, then hiring a messenger to hand-deliver the legal communication. All official court proceedings tend to be public knowledge anyway; library communications are not.
ReplyDelete~Lynn
It seems as if this was used as a last resort to try to get a man to take a paternity test. This should not be a problem for a library, since the patron should give you accurate information to contact him or her, which is the person's phone number, address, and email address, when getting a library card in the first place. I would say that if the person has an overdue book, and the other methods of getting in touch with the person are not working, then the library should be able to contact via a social networking site as a last resort. What about the responsibility of the person to give accurate contact information?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you have to "friend" the library in order to receive messages from them? Is "befriending" the same a giving permission? I agree with Derek, absolutely no on the wall posting, but maybe okay on the messaging. Privacy is a concern, and we are ethically bound to respect a patron's privacy. Is Facebook email really private? I have to wonder.
ReplyDelete