Making your Library Site Findable on the Web

Karen Schneider posted a message to the Calix listserv (the California Library Association's e-mail listserv) about the importance of having a dynamic web presence for libraries.  I posted a response, which I deemed worthy of duplicating here:

I would also add, to take your "where is your library?" idea a bit further, that libraries need to think about their presence _and_ visibility on the web. Not just whether or not the library has a visually appealing, well-functioning, feature-full site, but is the site findable?

• If you search the major search engines for your libraries' names (and variations on those names--such as Smalltown Public Library vs. Smalltown Library"--is your site at the top of the results list? If not, why not?
• Is your library listed on the Wikipedia page for your town, county, or college? If not, do it yourself! That's the beauty of the Wikipedia.
• Is your library listed in the many "library-finding" sites that exist? For example: http://www.libraries411.com/, http://www.publiclibraries.com/, http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Public_main.html, and http://www.libdex.com/.
• Does your library have a presence on local government and community websites? Are your events listed on community calendars?
• Does your library have a presence in web-spaces where your patrons are (as Karen noted), like blogging, instant messaging, MySpace, Flickr, etc.? Should you?

I'm sure there are other examples of ways to be visible, but having a great library website is only the first step. If you're not findable, your patrons aren't going to know about all those great things you have.