Libraries have been quite successful using wish lists to expose their needs. When a community member sees something tangible they can donate, such as a printer or a bookshelf, they often feel motivated to help out. This is not a new idea. At the Rural Library Sustainability Workshop, libraries shared stories of televisions, paint, art supplies, and other commodities community members donated.
I attended a session titled Technical Services 2.0: Using Social Software for Collaboration, and a panelist mentioned a service provided by Amazon where regular people can bid for jobs at Amazon. An example he provided was a person transcribing a podcast and receiving around a dollar for doing it.
This topic sparked an idea. What if libraries created a community wiki, where needs as skill-oriented as Web design and as tangible as bookshelves were listed? What if a person in Tallahassee, FL were able to create a web site for Buckeye Public Library in AZ, and a retired techie were alerted to a need at her hometown library in Central City, IA? A community like Freecycle.org is a good example for how harnessing and broadcasting needs—for free!—can have powerful results.
Any takers?
↧
Wish list 2.0
Technorati Tags: ↧