Teens, librarians, and social networking: What librarians need to know?

This book is a collection of wide-ranging, informative and provocative chapters discussing the use of social networks to serve teens, both online and in the library. Comprehensive surveys on this topic are being discussed in this series. The application of social networks is a new era for library services to young adults. Social networking tools are the doorway into their worlds, and the library can use these tools to become a wideopen portal for greater educational opportunities. The aim of this book is to support the belief that teens should be served by libraries in the best ways possible, and social networks may be useful tools to deliver these services to teens. The editors and contributors explain the reasons why so many teens use social networking tools and offer suggestions as to how best to use them to serve teens. They also examine issues of critical concerns to librarians and parents, such as safety and privacy issues, and study the social and educational benefits of online social networking. The book is organized into 12 chapters with a series forward and introduction, a comprehensive table of contents, references, a list of useful websites at the end of each chapter, an index and finally a section on the editors and contributors.