With the average life of a Web page just one hundred days, many online resources are being lost, said Michelle Kimpton, a representative from Internet Archive, at a seminar Thursday in Packard Lab at Lehigh University.
Kimpton said with her help and the help of her associates at Internet Archive the Internet is being restored for future generation’s use.
Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization for the recovery and preservation of Web sites.
Internet Archive is the largest public Web archive in the world.
Seems to be working
I searched for the word “library” and here are some of the top hits for public libraries:
Hennepin County Library: 555 friends
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library: 1100 friends
Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County: 605 friends
I am sure some of the friends are likely other libraries they have friend-ed, but it seems like they must be reaching some of their patrons this way.
Re:Seems to be working
Just to be a player we put up a youth-targeted MySpace page a few weeks ago. So far, our friends are all adults, most of who want us to read their book or listen to their band. We do have local folks, but only because I searched and added them as friends first. I’ve seen the same thing on most other library pages. The Loft at Imaginon is one of the exceptions–they really are cool and the kids love them!
Re:Seems to be working
Sounds like it could be worth a try. But I think using ‘youth sence’ would be a good marketing idea. My Space won’t work if the message comes across as a desperate attempt with little to offer. Imagine getting out of your car to address a group of youth who are ready to party or shop while on holiday, and yelling out, “who wants to come with us and play charades? After that we’ll be visiting the ho-down dance in downtown Deadwood.”
In otherwords, My Space is going to work if you have something to offer that youths want to get involved in. Don’t just use my space but wait for a real ‘youth oriented’ offer.
Not Surprising
It’s not surprising that most are adults. Over 50% of the Myspace users now are age 35+. It’s marketed as the way to reach the youth (which it can), but it may turn out to be a way to reach adults too.