Competency 9: Internet

http://www.ipl.org/div/teen/ is the link to the Internet Public Library's TeenSpace page.

The Internet Public Library is essentially a public library on the internet. It was started at the University of Michigan and is now hosted by the College of Information Science and Technology at Drexel University. It is run by paid staff and student volunteers. ("About the Internet Public Library") TeenSpace is the teen services section of the IPL.

I chose the TeenSpace website both because it's an excellent example of how a teen library website can be user-friendly and appealing. I also chose it because it includes links to other great ways the IPL connects with teens using technology, from the IPL teen poetry wiki to virtual reference. Any of these could be models for public libraries trying to use the internet to reach out to young patrons.

I used Google Advanced Search to search for "public library" and "internet" and "teen" or "youth" without "school," "program," or "safety." (I took out those three words because otherwise I got lots of hits about school libraries, or library policies about letting youth access the internet on the library computers.) That search gave a particular section of the IPL TeenSpace site, and I truncated the URL to get the TeenSpace home page.

IPL. "About the Internet Public Library." Drexel University. Philadelphia. Accessed March 21, 2008 at http://www.ipl.org/div/teen/.