The Travelin' Librarian

Thanks to the folks at GroGlob.com for letting me know that they’ve used one of my photos of Reno, NV in their site. I love Creative Commons. (Click on the screenshot to find a link to the original image.)

I’ve submitted this to this week’s episode of Uncontrolled Vocabulary so I don’t want to talk about it much here other than to solicit your opinions.

I use LibraryElf. I love Library Elf. It is what makes sure that I return my books on time and I pick up my holds quickly. (Especially when I was back in Denver and regularly checked items out of five or six different area libraries.) I’ve told many a librarian about it and think I’ve gotten a few to sign up as a result. However, I’ve always warned that using this service means giving the folks at LibraryElf full access to your account. I have decided to accept the privacy implications in exchange for the convenience. Others need to make that decision for themselves.

This morning I went to the Web site of the Seward Public Memorial Library in Seward, NE and saw this smack dab in the middle of their home page:

They’re recommending LibraryElf. Clicking on the link gets you to a page which gives a basic explanation of how the service works and encourages people to sign up.

Here are my questions:

1. Should the library explain the potential privacy implications of using such a service? And if so, to what extent?
2. Should the library be specifically promoting a third-party service such as this with which they have not official relationship?
3. If a patron’s privacy is breached due to the use of this service is the library liable?

Get your comments in soon and I’ll try to include them in the UnVocab discussion.