1. How has your view of social software changed since starting the course?
I have a much broader view of social software tools then before the course. Also, I have a strong understanding of how to use social software for use with a library or any other organization and not just as a social tool to communicate with friends and family.
2. What technology did you find most interesting for your personal use? What technology did you think would be most useful professionally?
I have been using my RSS reader (Google reader) since we learned about it at the beginning of class, and I cannot believe I went as long as I did without one. I use it every day--sometimes a few times a day--and get many recipes from food blogs and general info from those blogs I read from my smart phone.
Professionally, I found blogs to be a mostful tool to use in a library setting. Perhaps it's not as 'new' as micro-blogging on twitter, but I think a lot can be said on blogs and can be said to interest many people, but there are general rules of etiquette that ought to be noted before one starts up a blog. I have a stronger understanding of what those are from this course and from composing a blog of my own for the first time.
3. What surprised you during the course?
I was very surprised when learning about Twitter. I had not used it before this course, and I found it to be much more simplistic than I originally thought--in my opinion, TOO simplistic. I can see its use for organizations that don't necessarily want to communicate with their customers, but for an individual who wants to do more than put little thoughts out there for the world, I am constantly frustrated by it.
4. What suggestions do you have for improving the learning activities (exercises, assignments, blog posts, readings, examples, etc.)?
I honestly cannot think of anything. I think the course was well organized with many different activities that were hands-on for those more intimate learning experiences.
5. How did your experience using Drupal differ from your experience in Angel classrooms (or classes using other traditional course management systems)?
N.A. We used Angel :)
6. Looking back, how would you sum up your experience?
I learned so much about Web 2.0 that could be very useful right now in a library. Unfortunately, by the time I actually land a professional job in the library field, many of these tools might not be in use, but that's not to say that this information will not be useful. I learned much more general things than just how to use various tools such as how to implement a new technology in a library, the things to watch out for that might make a brand new technology go under or fail, how to assess a community's technology needs, and much more. The concepts learned in the class are just as valuable, if not more so, than learning how to use twitter, blogs, and wikis.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Final Project--Twitter Proposal
Chrissy Johnson
Jennifer Kanter
LIBR 246
Social Software Tool - Twitter
I. Proposed technology
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service. Users are allotted up to 140 characters to “tweet,” and relay their message out to the world. Accounts are free, and users can “follow” other ‘twitterers’ or have “followers” to their own posts. Posts may either appear on the Twitter home page for public display, or they may be made private to groups of friends. As users update their tweets, they are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users (also known as "followers") who have signed up to receive them. You can use the small character limit to embedded media, which provides additional information to your followers beyond the headline tweet. Twitter.com (2010) describes their service as “a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.” Since Twitter mimics the functionality and mobility of instant messaging, SMS texting, and blogging, it has the ability to reach many individuals at once. Since it was first created in 2006, it has morphed from a tool to keep in touch with friends and relatives, to an instant communication network during shared events like earthquakes, conferences, and festivals. Now, many businesses reap the benefits from using Twitter. It provides businesses the opportunity to communicate with customers on their terms, in a friendly, casual manner.
II. Purpose
As stated in our mission statement, the Evergreen Public Library believes it is critical that all of our citizens are technologically literate. To help facilitate this, the library is responsible for offering up to date software designed for both education and for entertainment, as well as knowledgeable on-staff instructors. To that end, it is imperative that the library be available outside of our physical space, where our patrons are located. We cannot assume that our patrons know we exist, know of our services, or how we can assist them in their information seeking needs. It is imperative that we use Twitter primarily as a promotion and marketing tool of the library and the services we offer online and in house.
Teens and adults nowadays spend an inordinate amount of time communicating to one another through IM chat, text messaging, email, and social networking sites. Demographics show we are a young city, composed of mostly young families and single people mostly under the age of 40. The EPL lies within the city limits of Evergreen, California. Evergreen is situated just outside the north eastern border of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and according to the 2007 update to the US Census Bureau information, it has an estimated population of 105,940. This is an increase of almost 29,000 persons over a five-year period. Additionally, the 2005 population is over twice the area’s population from the 1990 census, listed as 44,685 (US Census Bureau, 2007b). This dramatic community expansion shows there may be a need to promote our services to an influx of recent residents who may not be aware of our existence.
Of the total Evergreen population in 2007, 15,271 persons were estimated to be attending grades preschool through grade 8. Of those persons age 5 to 9, one hundred percent are enrolled in school. This is compared to 69.5% of children ages 3 and 4, and 97.6% of children ages 10 to 14. (US Census Bureau, 2007c) Such data indicates the strong need for our library to reach out to these young people through social networking. With young adults and teens becoming a dominant demographic group in our city’s population, it is imperative that the library attempt to reach a generation through the communication tools they use in order to serve their needs, and maintain the library as a community presence in the future.
Figure 1:
III. Who Benefits?
A. Patrons
1. Teachers: We attempt to offer materials which relate to and support the local elementary school curricula. Our local school district has publically made a commitment to teaching technology and computer skills to all students, particularly middle and high school students. In our 2009 survey response from local children, parents, and teachers, many teachers responded that they would like the library to assist with ensuring that enough materials were available for students trying to complete major projects. Librarians could make Twitter posts directing students to online resources. For example, a children’s librarian could Tweet about online resources pertinent to 4th Grade students completing their California Mission Projects. This would help teachers ensure that all their students are able to find appropriate resources once the print sources in the library are checked out and unavailable. We could also provide a ‘sound board’ for local schools and tweet about school holiday closures, or events.
2. Parents: Evergreen has a rather large population of young families, with parents that are at least high school graduates or college educated. Most are quite tech savvy, at least compared with surrounding populations. The library could market itself as a trusted resource by providing tweets pertinent to issues surrounding children and parenthood. Tweets could provide links to websites about recent CDC updates on vaccines, peer reviewed resources on autism, how screen childcare providers, ideas for rainy day activities or science lessons in the kitchen, etc. In addition, one of the survey responses from parents was that they wanted their local school or library to teach their children how to use the internet for research. Having a Twitter account that offers this service would keep the library in line with parental and school expectations – making Twitter and the online library a learning tool for kids.
3. Adults: Evergreen’s general adult population would be serviced by Twitter in many ways. They would receive Twitter updates on library events such as classes, author talks, book club updates, general community news/events, additions to library holdings, and interesting resource sharing. For example, before April 15th, the library could tweet about any free tax return services offered in the area, or a quick tutorial on how to get the most relevant results out an internet search engine like Google.
B. Staff
1. Twitter will make the staff more accessible to the public by making more meaningful and more widespread connections in our community. It is no longer possible to assume the public knows the value of library..
2. Cost free
3. Efficient – for users and librarians
4. Cost free marketing and public relations tool to promote services and brand
5. This is a great collaboration tool among librarians, and also provides an opportunity to network with other libraries. Twitter is a commonly used professional and educational tool to advertise library programs and services.
6. Provides an opportunity to provide and improve customer service.
7. Use demonstrates relevancy to younger patrons. Our survival depends on reminding our community, by becoming nearly omnipresent and available on social networking sites.
IV. Evidence of utility –libraries and/or articles
Due to the popularity of social networking sites general, many libraries have already created Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace accounts in order to reach out to those in their communities that are already participating online. The original intent may have been to network with members of their community, but nowadays many libraries are successfully marketing their services and their ‘brand’.
A. The Ada Community Library, Boise, ID (twitter.com/adalib), does a great job of keeping patrons up-to-date, twittering on everything from Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month, book sales, and other library events to announcing new library cards.
B. Yale Science Libraries posts about upcoming Endnote workshops, its IM reference service, and access to Science Direct journal, all in an effort to inform patrons of the services available to them on campus (twitter.com/yalescilib).
C. Denver Public Library has a great teen site called eVolver DPL teens (twitter.com/denver_evolver). The site does a great job of marketing to a teen audience by posting links to Denver fashion festivals, GLTB resources for National Coming Out day, in house competitions with prizes for teens that post their book reviews or participate in book clubs, teen library programs, release dates for new holdings, and voting information. This site has a larger fan following than many more populous American cities.
D. Kroski, E. (July, 2008). All a Twitter. School Library Journal, 54(7), p.31-35
Libraries can use Twitter to network with other Libraries, Librarians, bloggers and patrons. In doing this, they not only market their services, but they provide user-centered information. Furthermore, they create a community with the constant updates. Kroski notes that Twitter is a great way for librarians to connect at conferences and/or as a way to stay engaged with the library community at large.
V. Challenges to proposal/implementation
A. Staff knowledge and training
1. Most librarians are comfortable with the technology since it is fairly simple, but are concerned about keeping up page maintenance and posting. On the flip side, some librarians may have some difficulty keeping their announcements brief, within the 140 character limit.
B. Getting ‘buy in’ from patrons and staff
2. While Twitter has gained recognition and popularity, it is also a source for disparaging humor on the comedy circuit due to the banal nature of some tweets. Some may argue that Twitter is just the latest 2.0 fad, and its use is gimmicky for a library.
3. Lack of support/interest from colleagues, due to additional work incurred
4. Remembering to update the site, along with the static website and blogs.
5. Twitter only reaches a select audience of tech-savvy patrons
C. Technology issues
1. Technological Problems: If the library uses Twitter for announcements regarding major weather closings or for emergency service, then it must be reliable. There is a slim possibility that the site may crash due to an increased overload of traffic on their servers. This does not seem to be a current issue.
D. Support of the technology
In our 2009 surveys, parents and teachers bemoaned the fact that their children were not avid library patrons. The main reason cited for this is a lack of relevancy to for their children who are accustomed to receiving instant information via the internet. Many of the older students reported that they viewed their local library as a space to meet friends, take advantage of free wifi and check out fiction books. Our patrons need us to be more accessible, and we need to market the library. Twitter is the best way to achieve this, and it does not cost the library or the tax payer a cent.
VI. Overcoming challenges
A. Staff ‘buy in’
1. While Twitter can be used to relay simple greetings between friends, there is no doubt that it can open up the lines of communication between librarian and patron. It is a simply a great educational tool.
2. It is understandable that staff may feel this is another burden placed on their already full plates. In order to lessen the load, just a few applications could be added to our Twitter account which would make the process of posting more palatable to most:
b. Rss2Twitter: Takes any RSS feed and posts the items to Twitter. www.pivari.com/rss2twitter.html Open API. Twitter publishes an open API (application programming interface) so applications are regularly being developed. These creative applications build upon Twitter, thus consistently improving its scope and type of service. A wonderful blog post on Tame the Web extols the virtues of this service, especially for those who are somewhat familiar with API and want to make the library essentially tweet on its own: “I had created a custom report for our SIRSI Unicorn system that automatically tweets once an hour if a book on our new book shelf gets checked out. (I figured check in would be pretty hit or miss as we are an academic library and most things stay out until the end of the semester anyway…) Once that was working, I brain stormed some more, and decided to link twitter to our Wordpress blog, a simple process. From there I tied it into our room scheduling program, so that now a tweet is automatically posted when a Library instruction is coming up. After that, I decided it needed something a bit more, and now every night at closing the library will automatically tweet about how much paper was used in our electronic research area. I hope that in the weeks to come I will be able to add on some more automated tweets. During the wait for all the updates to download, I added another twitter feature. There is now a “Tweet This!” feature on each record in our online catalog. Click the link, and it presents you with a login box for twitter, fill in your username and password, and click “tweet” and the current item you are viewing is automatically tweeted complete with short URL to link to the catalog record. I can personally see this working well for a reading list, or even a quick and dirty method for making a list of items for a bibliography” (Stephens).
E. Learning to use Twitter
a. A Newbie’s Guide to Twitter tinyurl.com/2gchre
b. David Lee King: Twitter Explained for Librarians, or 10 ways to use Twitter tinyurl.com/2ljtmr
c. Twitter in Plain English (video) www.commoncraft.com/Twitter
VII. Impact Assessment
1. We will determine if we’re having the desired impact on our community primarily by looking at how many ‘followers’ we have online compared to how many people reside in our community.
2. We will also conduct another round of surveys within six months of implementation to judge our effectiveness among teachers, parents, and students.
3. There are numerous applications available for Twitter to monitor traffic to the site, and monitor how engaged ‘followers’ are. Here are just a few of the more intriguing applications:
a. Summize: A real-time Twitter search engine that allows for keyword searches of tweets. summize.com
b. TweetScan: A real-time Twitter search engine that lets you track keywords and sign up for email alerts. tweetscan.com
c. Twitstat: A mobile Twitter client that lets you post updates and view replies and the 10 latest’ tweets from friends. www.twitstat.com/m
d. Twitt(url)y: Aggregates all of the URLs that Twitterers are talking about and displays how many tweets each one received. twitturly.com
Implementing Twitter would truly be a win-win venture for libraries, librarians, patrons, and educators. It costs the staff a minimal time investment to reclaim a potentially lost generation of patrons, over haul our image, and solidify our library’s future.
References
Kroski, E. (July, 2008). All a Twitter. School Library Journal, 54(7), p.31-35
Stephens, M. (2010). Librarian, library and catalog tweets revealed!. Retrieved November 22, 2010, from http://tametheweb.com/2008/11/25/librarian-library-and-catalog-tweets-revealed/
Twitter.com. (2010). About. Retrieved November 21st, 2010 from http://twitter.com/about
US Census Bureau. (2007b). Roseville city, California – Population Finder – American FactFinder. Retrieved November 20th ,2010, from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_event=&geo_id=16000US0662938&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US06%7C16000US0662938&_street=&_county=roseville&_cityTown=roseville&_state=04000US06&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=population_0&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
US Census Bureau. (2007c). Roseville city, California – School Enrollment. Retrieved November 20th, 2010 from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US0662938&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S1401&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-redoLog=false
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
What Causes Failure
Question: What do you think are some of the things that typically cause libraries to fail in implementing social software?
It seems to me that if a library truly desires for its library to successfully implement and continue use of a social software tool, such as twitter, a blog, or a wiki, the staffing and workload need to be reorganized to some extent. To expect librarians or library paraprofessionals to add the responsibility of maintaining a blog to his or her already overwhelming list of work responsibilities is naive at best. The blog might get off the ground but is not likely to continue; for a blog to be successful at engaging users and developing a following, it must be updated at least once a week and preferably more often. Shifting work responsibilities about the library work staff is not an easy task, but it is essential in keeping a social software tool going and thriving.
Restructuring will take time, and it will likely throw many people into a bit of stress as they adjust to the changes, so a library must decide where its priorities are. The best way I can see for libraries to allow for social software to be successfully carried forth is to create a person or a team devoted entirely to that purpose. This is not possible with many small libraries (nor would it necessarily be a priority for small libraries), but for those who might be able to take on the new role, the responsibilities are similar to the idea of maintaining the public image of the library or sometimes even public relations. To have a person on staff to handle public relations and to update a blog based on the events of the library would relieve the staff of individual branches of the library to keep doing what they do while also giving libraries the opportunity to connect with users via the Web.
It seems to me that if a library truly desires for its library to successfully implement and continue use of a social software tool, such as twitter, a blog, or a wiki, the staffing and workload need to be reorganized to some extent. To expect librarians or library paraprofessionals to add the responsibility of maintaining a blog to his or her already overwhelming list of work responsibilities is naive at best. The blog might get off the ground but is not likely to continue; for a blog to be successful at engaging users and developing a following, it must be updated at least once a week and preferably more often. Shifting work responsibilities about the library work staff is not an easy task, but it is essential in keeping a social software tool going and thriving.
Restructuring will take time, and it will likely throw many people into a bit of stress as they adjust to the changes, so a library must decide where its priorities are. The best way I can see for libraries to allow for social software to be successfully carried forth is to create a person or a team devoted entirely to that purpose. This is not possible with many small libraries (nor would it necessarily be a priority for small libraries), but for those who might be able to take on the new role, the responsibilities are similar to the idea of maintaining the public image of the library or sometimes even public relations. To have a person on staff to handle public relations and to update a blog based on the events of the library would relieve the staff of individual branches of the library to keep doing what they do while also giving libraries the opportunity to connect with users via the Web.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Anonymous Users and Lurkers
Allowing anonymous users and lurkers to access online communities is essential to the health of the community. Though the creators and moderators of online communities might be tempted to ban these folks from participating in the community, they ought to look beyond the convenient and the 'right now' of the community and look at how the decision will benefit the long term of the community.
Anonymous users, those who do not have an account through the community, should be allowed certain rights but be banned from others. If people cannot access certain features on the site, they are not likely to ever join. I have ventured onto sites of this sort, and I can attest to the fact that I have not once registered myself for one of these sites because I have no sense of what they are all about before I give over my personal information.
The next step in the hierarchy of creating a user base or community is allowing lurkers the freedom to stay silent but observant for as long as they need but also offering venues through which they can slowly begin to communicate and become involved. Most people can't jump into anything feet first much less an online community that has rules and expectations. Users must be given opportunities to introduce themselves, learn the guidelines, and converse with other 'newbies' in order to feel completely comfortable and at home.
Moderators might feel that they are saving themselves time and potential trouble by banning unregistered users or by ignoring the community of lurkers, but these are both essential groups to accommodate if the moderator is concerned about the overall health of the online community they have created.
Anonymous users, those who do not have an account through the community, should be allowed certain rights but be banned from others. If people cannot access certain features on the site, they are not likely to ever join. I have ventured onto sites of this sort, and I can attest to the fact that I have not once registered myself for one of these sites because I have no sense of what they are all about before I give over my personal information.
The next step in the hierarchy of creating a user base or community is allowing lurkers the freedom to stay silent but observant for as long as they need but also offering venues through which they can slowly begin to communicate and become involved. Most people can't jump into anything feet first much less an online community that has rules and expectations. Users must be given opportunities to introduce themselves, learn the guidelines, and converse with other 'newbies' in order to feel completely comfortable and at home.
Moderators might feel that they are saving themselves time and potential trouble by banning unregistered users or by ignoring the community of lurkers, but these are both essential groups to accommodate if the moderator is concerned about the overall health of the online community they have created.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Library Wikis
I believe so few libraries allow users to add to their collaborative wikis because of the extra effort that must inevitably go into screenng the additions and changes to ensure no abuse or misinformation has made its way onto the wiki (or any other user-generated content sites). Wikipedia has a system in place to trace accountability in the factual-ness of added content, and perhaps libraries wouldn't need to put so much effort into that aspect of it as much as making sure the wiki is being used for the purpose for which it was intended. Spam easily finds its way onto those kinds of group sites. Since libraries are representative of the entire community, they must make sure no inappropriate content is in place to keep themselves trustworthy in the eyes of the guardians of the community good.
If a library is already struggling to staff according to a growing workload and a shrinking budget, I believe one of the last things they should be spending time doing is monitoring a library wiki--and if a library has a wiki, they certainly ought to monitor it. It's all a matter of priorities, and I personally don't see a wiki as a priority.
If a library is already struggling to staff according to a growing workload and a shrinking budget, I believe one of the last things they should be spending time doing is monitoring a library wiki--and if a library has a wiki, they certainly ought to monitor it. It's all a matter of priorities, and I personally don't see a wiki as a priority.
Monday, October 18, 2010
de.lic.ious
My experience using various tagging and searching features on delicious was a positive one. I have had little experience with the tagging site prior to this class, so the things I did to fulfill the exercise requirements were all new to me. The interface is fairly straightforward after messing around with it for a few minutes. Most everything a person would want to do is accessible various ways from their personal main page. I enjoyed seeing so many fellow classmates' tags listed under the same tag as mine. It appeared that I tagged many of the same things as the others in my class and in other sections of the class probably due to the nature of google searching keywords to find material for the assignment.
While social tagging might seem to one person as a fun tool to help him or her stay organized, it is concealed well, as the main purpose is to connect people to each other through shared interests and discoveries. Delicious does a fantastic job of making either of these objectives possible.
While social tagging might seem to one person as a fun tool to help him or her stay organized, it is concealed well, as the main purpose is to connect people to each other through shared interests and discoveries. Delicious does a fantastic job of making either of these objectives possible.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Wikis
Question: Which of the library wiki examples did you consider most effective and why?
As I looked through the eight library wikis given to us as examples, I found the Ohio University’s Biz Wiki
to be most effective in terms of content, organization, and interface. The Ohio University Business librarian, Chad Boeninger, put a video of himself introducing the wiki and its content as the first thing one sees upon entering the site. I like the mix of media as well as the friendliness of the video aspect to draw a user into the site. The organization of his wiki is well done. The main links are at the top, quick links are at the bottom, contact information is on the left sidebar, and a meebo chat widget is made available for anyone who needs immediate assistance. The presence of the meebo widget shows that that the Mr. Boeninger is open and available to answer questions. The site even has a sidebar with tweets from all concerning the university library.
As I looked through the eight library wikis given to us as examples, I found the Ohio University’s Biz Wiki
to be most effective in terms of content, organization, and interface. The Ohio University Business librarian, Chad Boeninger, put a video of himself introducing the wiki and its content as the first thing one sees upon entering the site. I like the mix of media as well as the friendliness of the video aspect to draw a user into the site. The organization of his wiki is well done. The main links are at the top, quick links are at the bottom, contact information is on the left sidebar, and a meebo chat widget is made available for anyone who needs immediate assistance. The presence of the meebo widget shows that that the Mr. Boeninger is open and available to answer questions. The site even has a sidebar with tweets from all concerning the university library.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Marketing Critique: Multnomah County Library
The Multnomah County Library system in Portland, Oregon, which consists of 19 libraries, has a vast web presence that includes pages on Facebook and MySpace, a Twitter feed, and a readers’ blog. They market themselves quite well on the web by using each of the primary social networking tools available. Instead of focusing on one or two of the sites, they have a well developed presence on each of them through which they are surely reaching many users.
The main Facebook page has 11,487 people who ‘like’ them. They post at least once a day and sometimes as much as two or three times. Their posts include photos, information about events, links to newspaper articles that would be of interest to users, and book or author suggestions. The info tab includes the main phone number and a link to the official social software policy; also included on a separate tab is an RSS aggregator to the blog. Many of their posts get comments, and when a user directs a comment to them, the library is quick to give an answer to the specific question asked. Users feel free to post photos to the library page, and the whole feel is very warm and quite like a community linking each of the individual branches.
The MySpace page seems a bit lacking with only 258 friends. Granted, MySpace is aimed at a younger audience, so fewer people would be likely to ‘friend’ an entity such as a library on MySpace. The last login to their MySpace page was over a week ago, the last blog post was in April 2010, and the last status update was in December 2009. There is great room for the Multnomah library to improve in the MySpace arena, though there are a number of helpful things present on the page, such as a link to contact information for reference questions, a link to subscribe to the e-newsletter, and general contact information. If the library were to devote more time to the MySpace page by reaching out and marketing events, conversing with friends, and updating photos, the page could be revived. In fact, the same things that are being posted on the Facebook page could easily transfer to the MySpace page for those users who prefer the latter venue.
The Multnomah County library’s Twitter feed is being followed by 1,892 people, which is an about average figure for an organization on Twitter. The feed is updated regularly throughout the day; today, for example, there have been five updates. Three of those five tweets were event notifications, one was a link to an article posted by the local newspaper, and one was a reply to a user that advertising their “ask MCL” service. The library is using a good mixture of ways to promote their brand through short tweets on Twitter, and they’re using it often. They dialogue with fellow tweeters consistently and answer questions. Their tweets are often retweeted, and despite the number of followers being on the small side compared to Facebook, they are doing a great job keeping up with their brand on Twitter.
The library has a blog that is unique but underdeveloped. I discovered the link by searching the website for ‘blog.’ As a follower of the library on Twitter and Facebook, I had not heard of the blog before I looked for it. The blog is called “An Embarrassment of Riches,” and it consists of short writings about materials the library has as written by library staff and guest bloggers. Blogs were posted six times in the month of September. There is a link to staff bios, and it appears that any person can blog whenever he or she feels so inclined. Most blogs have no comments, but a few have up to two comments per post. I think the idea of the Multnomah County blog is a solid and beneficial one, but the layout of the blog caused me great confusion. I found myself searching extensively for some sort of explanation for how the blog was organized and only found it when I scrolled down through the first page and into the second; once there, I found a short ‘about’ link that gave me little information about how the blog was run. Underneath the ‘about’ section is a link to a short ‘guidelines and disclaimer’ section that I think is a great addition to the page as it helps readers to know what is expected of the bloggers and commenters. It also links to the full Multnomah County Library’s social software policy statement.
The social software policy statement is brief but informative. It states that the library’s use of social software is “intended to create a welcoming and inviting online space where library users will find useful and entertaining information and can interact with library staff and other library users” (Social Software Policy, 2008). They have also smartly listed the things that will be removed if found in comments, including spam, threats, and images.
Overall, the Multnomah County Library has developed a strong online presence, but there is room for improvement. If I were hired as a social media marketing consultant, there are two things I would suggest they improve. The first area is in their MySpace presence, which is seldom updated and has few connections to friends. Perhaps they feel they do not have time to keep up with both Facebook and MySpace, the former being the one of the two that is done remarkably well, but I believe there would be nothing wrong with duplicating information from one site to the other. Users might overlap, but for the most part, I have found that people either prefer one site or the other, so most would not be irritated by the information being repeated twice. The second area for improvement is in the blog, which is a good idea but has not been marketed or organized well. The interface is confusing for something such as me who expects a typical blog layout. Advertising the blog posts through tweets and Facebook and MySpace status updates would go a long way in spreading the word about the great things being written there.
"Social Software Policy for Users." Multnomah County Library. 05 Sept. 2008. http://www.multcolib.org/about/pol-socsoft.html.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Libraries in Social Networking
Question: Do you think libraries should be building presence and providing services in MySpace and/or Facebook?
My answer: Absolutely!...given the circumstances of the site.
I believe that facebook has a great venue for libraries to build web presence and provide services through answering questions or connecting with users' concerns. Myspace, on the other hand, doesn't have me as convinced as a proper place to build a library presence. This is an example of what I think of as a bad, might-as-well-not-even-be-there-because-you're-embarrassing-yourself myspace page as built by a library. They have clearly used the features available to them, but in my opinion, that's not saying a lot. Myspace has not evolved to a place that is easy to personalize; shouldn't libraries be able to create a page as an organization as they can on facebook? To have to put an age, relationship status, and whether you smoke or drink is quite silly to me. I don't really know enough about myspace to say whether these features can be modified and this library simply didn't do it, but I do not think libraries have the proper venue to connect via myspace.
One could argue that any place users are present, libraries should be there as well. I would say this is false. If there is not an easy way for a library to look organized and respectable, they probably should not try to make their presence known on that site.
Facebook, on the other hand, allows libraries to make a page that is different from the ones individuals create for themselves. In this example, the Multnomah County Library does a great job of looking professional, organized, and giving contact information, photos, and status updates about events.
If myspace were to evolve and develop some of its features to be more organization friendly, it could go a long way in allowing libraries to be where their users are, but for now, stick to facebook all you libraries of the world.
My answer: Absolutely!...given the circumstances of the site.
I believe that facebook has a great venue for libraries to build web presence and provide services through answering questions or connecting with users' concerns. Myspace, on the other hand, doesn't have me as convinced as a proper place to build a library presence. This is an example of what I think of as a bad, might-as-well-not-even-be-there-because-you're-embarrassing-yourself myspace page as built by a library. They have clearly used the features available to them, but in my opinion, that's not saying a lot. Myspace has not evolved to a place that is easy to personalize; shouldn't libraries be able to create a page as an organization as they can on facebook? To have to put an age, relationship status, and whether you smoke or drink is quite silly to me. I don't really know enough about myspace to say whether these features can be modified and this library simply didn't do it, but I do not think libraries have the proper venue to connect via myspace.
One could argue that any place users are present, libraries should be there as well. I would say this is false. If there is not an easy way for a library to look organized and respectable, they probably should not try to make their presence known on that site.
Facebook, on the other hand, allows libraries to make a page that is different from the ones individuals create for themselves. In this example, the Multnomah County Library does a great job of looking professional, organized, and giving contact information, photos, and status updates about events.
If myspace were to evolve and develop some of its features to be more organization friendly, it could go a long way in allowing libraries to be where their users are, but for now, stick to facebook all you libraries of the world.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Reflections on Twitter
I created my twitter account (@ChrissyLJohnson) a month ago, but I finally forced myself to become active on it for the first time yesterday. I tweeted a few things, found some people to follow, and searched for an app to use with my smart phone. I also did a bit of reading on the twitter site about the use of #hashtags, @mentions, and other twitterisms. After spending a few hours on all of this, I came to my own conclusion that twitter is not as banal as I originally thought it was; also, it seems to serve a different function than I thought it did. I have thought for years that I had no need for twitter since I use facebook. Upon signing into twitter for the first time, it simply looked like a much more stripped down version of facebook. You find friends, you tell them what you are doing, they tell you what they are doing, and you converse about it. In trying to find people to follow on twitter, I didn't care to follow anyone I was already friends with on facebook since I get status updates, links, and personal information from their facebook account. I did, however, find myself looking for companies and organizations to follow, such as my church group, my undergraduate college, my favorite NFL team, and my favorite breakfast place. In theory, I don't really care about having access to a complete profile and photo archives of SJSU SLIS, but I would like to be notified if they have anything they feel is important enough to tweet. The same goes for other businesses, groups, and organizations. I would also like use hashtags to contribute to a bigger conversation through my tweets if I feel the need. I have decided that for me, facebook is for friends and family, and twitter is for companies, organizations, and the occasional celebrity tweeter (c'mon--who can refuse the entire cast of the Office on twitter?).
From this vein of thought, a multi-branch library system like the Multnomah County Libraries in Portland might not be able to do a lot with facebook in terms of posting, keeping up with comments, and replying to inquires. Perhaps they could choose to create a page on facebook so that it's present but use twitter to update through twitter and link profiles with facebook to also update on that site. In this way, patrons can find them on two of the most popular social networking sites, but the effort is really only going into twitter for the most part and facebook for the occasional profile revamping.
This idea might be too simplistic if an organization or library really wants to delve into social software, but for those who find the idea of being everywhere at once overwhelming, this is a fairly simple possibility.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
RSS Feeds: What I Learned
Time for truth telling--
I feel ashamed.
I cannot believe I had not set up an RSS reader before this week. This time around, I didn't create one because I felt like I should as a future library professional (as was the case with creating a Twitter account). Since I have already admitted my social software inadequacy, I will go a step further and describe how I have been reading blogs up to this point...for a few years now. I have a folder saved under my Internet Explorer favorites titled 'blogs.' Ever week or more, I would go through the folder and click on each link to bring up a blog to check for new content that may or may not have been updated since I last checked. It was a time waster to say the least.
Furthermore, I have no excuse since I knew about the benefits of utilizing RSS feeds. In the first class I took with SLIS, Online Social Networking: Technology and Tools, I learned about the benefits of RSS feeds. I recall this video helping me to understand them, and I even bookmarked it for future use. I recall setting up an RSS reader through Internet Explorer but being dissatisfied with the format of the software or something silly like that. Of course, Google (aka the god of all things social software) has an amazing RSS reader through google.com/reader. In creating my reader, it was simply linked to my existing Google email account. I added each of my blogs (all 33 of them) and created folders to organize them. Here are the folders I created and some individual shout-outs:
- LIBR 246: where all my lovely classmates' blogs are collected for easy reading and commenting
- Photography: the best way to view lovely photos on a single high-res format. For example, Jenny Bedard's photo blog is one that I still follow. She took my husband's and my engagement and wedding photos. I swear she keeps getting better and better.
- Cooking: I love to follow cooking blogs partially for the recipes and tips but mostly for the beautiful photos that accompany them. The Pioneer Woman Cooks is my favorite.
- Fashion: Okay, I think we're following a trend here. Although I'm far from a fashionista, I love following a few fashion blogs because of the crisp and beautiful photos. For the content I love What I Wore, and for photos I love Sea of Shoes.
- General: I also follow friends' blogs for general merriment, such as my friend Russell's adventure blog (think Jack Kerouac) and, of course, Postsecret. Sunday=postsecret day for me.
Suffice it to say, I'm basically crazy about RSS now. I told my husband that I'll be setting one up for him, and he's all for it. I also love how libraries are starting to utilize RSS in their catalogues and not just in blogs. Being able to receive updated catalog info about books being added on a particular subject is awesome and frankly pretty mind blowing to me. As I learn more and more about what libraries can do to interact with patrons on the web, the more I'm itching to get inside of one and start making things like blogs, catalogue RSS, and social network connections happen.
Thank you google reader for making my life simpler :)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Execise 2: Through the World of Library Blogs
The eight blogs I subscribed to via RSS feed (Google Reader) are:
Class requirements
6. Librarian in Black
7. Genre-X
8. Library Suggestion Blog
1. What do you see as the differences between the five blogs I asked you to subscribe to in terms of the type of blog and type of post (genre, length, etc.).
In the Library with the Lead Pipe initially struck me as very un-blog-like as the first page consists of one long post complete with bibliography of sources at the end. I decided I didn't like it because it didn't offer a short, witty blurb with a few links and pictures, but I decided I better read the 'about' section. In doing so, I learned that the blog is a collaborative effort for the improvement of the library field. Their purpose is not to quickly enlighten/entertain but to create an online presence that can be academic and useful for librarianship.
The Librarian's Commute is based on an academic librarian's work and musings that I found to be incredibly insightful. She posted at length about the process she is going through to collect a copy of each text book on campus in order to have them on hold at the library--fascinating! Her posts are not trying to be academic or showy--just thoughtful and personal.
The Distant Librarian is a blog as written by a university webmaster/librarian. His posts are short, informative, and really not my cup of tea whatsoever. He writes about useful technologies to use in the library, but I know so little about that field that almost nothing he posted had any relevance to me.
Librarian by Day posts are also of the technological media influence, but this particular blogger's posts have more interesting topics mixed in than simply the newest software applications. I appreciate the style and layout of her blog and posts.
David Lee King's blog combines a number of interesting topics to interest readers and does so with links, video, and photos. He discusses twitter, collaborative tools, iPhone apps, and other interesting and applicable topics that all readers and librarians can relate to in one way or another. His writing style is clear and straight to the point.
2. What types of posts do you find most appealing to read and why?
One of the articles we read this week about story telling showed me exactly how to make a blog appealing in a way that I hadn't quite put into concrete methodology. By becoming transparent, discussing the process of 'a day in the life' or simply how a library functions, a story takes place that is so much more interesting than simply stating the facts. Even if a blog post is not based on a subject that is of interest to me, I will likely read through it if it's telling an interesting story simply because I love stories.
3. What three library blogs did you subscribe to? Please include a 1-3 sentence description of each one.
I chose the Librarian in Black primarily because of the name and then because I was so impressed with what she had to say about music in the library. She deals with everyday issues of the library world and either offers ideas, suggestions, or links she has found from other sites or blogs. She has quite a collection of blogs that consist primarily of a list of short snippets of links and descriptions of them.
Genre-X fascinated me because it is a public library blog specifically for 20 and 30-somethings. They post reviews to books that would be of interest to that age group as well as many events set up targeted those patrons. So often I hear of libraries focusing on children, teens, and adults, but the ever-present 20 and 30-somethings (for lack of a better term) fit into a different group--a group who still want to have Guitar Hero World Tour Competitions and white elephant gift book swaps (how freakin' cool is that?!).
The final blog I chose is of an entirely different and quite controversial nature--a library suggestion blog made by Virginia Commonwealth University. For a library to openly advertise a blog entirely for suggestions is a bold move. They not only put themselves out there for criticism, but they also have to commit to answering the concerns of students and staff in some way whether it be by explaining why a thing can't be done a certain way or by implementing the changes to do it.
4. Based on the blogs you chose, what are some of the characteristics that you think make a library blog successful?
As stated above, I absolutely value when a blog is told in story form. I also appreciate when a blogger is confident enough to state when something is wrong and needs fixing but can also be humble and transparent enough to present a question requesting feedback. Basically, I will read a blog if I feel like the person behind the words is exactly that--a person. If I wanted to read a scholarly article, I would do so through the SJSU database and not through a blog.
Class requirements
- In the Library with the Lead Pipe
- The Librarian's Commute
- The Distant Librarian
- Librarian by Day
- David Lee King
6. Librarian in Black
7. Genre-X
8. Library Suggestion Blog
1. What do you see as the differences between the five blogs I asked you to subscribe to in terms of the type of blog and type of post (genre, length, etc.).
In the Library with the Lead Pipe initially struck me as very un-blog-like as the first page consists of one long post complete with bibliography of sources at the end. I decided I didn't like it because it didn't offer a short, witty blurb with a few links and pictures, but I decided I better read the 'about' section. In doing so, I learned that the blog is a collaborative effort for the improvement of the library field. Their purpose is not to quickly enlighten/entertain but to create an online presence that can be academic and useful for librarianship.
The Librarian's Commute is based on an academic librarian's work and musings that I found to be incredibly insightful. She posted at length about the process she is going through to collect a copy of each text book on campus in order to have them on hold at the library--fascinating! Her posts are not trying to be academic or showy--just thoughtful and personal.
The Distant Librarian is a blog as written by a university webmaster/librarian. His posts are short, informative, and really not my cup of tea whatsoever. He writes about useful technologies to use in the library, but I know so little about that field that almost nothing he posted had any relevance to me.
Librarian by Day posts are also of the technological media influence, but this particular blogger's posts have more interesting topics mixed in than simply the newest software applications. I appreciate the style and layout of her blog and posts.
David Lee King's blog combines a number of interesting topics to interest readers and does so with links, video, and photos. He discusses twitter, collaborative tools, iPhone apps, and other interesting and applicable topics that all readers and librarians can relate to in one way or another. His writing style is clear and straight to the point.
2. What types of posts do you find most appealing to read and why?
One of the articles we read this week about story telling showed me exactly how to make a blog appealing in a way that I hadn't quite put into concrete methodology. By becoming transparent, discussing the process of 'a day in the life' or simply how a library functions, a story takes place that is so much more interesting than simply stating the facts. Even if a blog post is not based on a subject that is of interest to me, I will likely read through it if it's telling an interesting story simply because I love stories.
3. What three library blogs did you subscribe to? Please include a 1-3 sentence description of each one.
I chose the Librarian in Black primarily because of the name and then because I was so impressed with what she had to say about music in the library. She deals with everyday issues of the library world and either offers ideas, suggestions, or links she has found from other sites or blogs. She has quite a collection of blogs that consist primarily of a list of short snippets of links and descriptions of them.
Genre-X fascinated me because it is a public library blog specifically for 20 and 30-somethings. They post reviews to books that would be of interest to that age group as well as many events set up targeted those patrons. So often I hear of libraries focusing on children, teens, and adults, but the ever-present 20 and 30-somethings (for lack of a better term) fit into a different group--a group who still want to have Guitar Hero World Tour Competitions and white elephant gift book swaps (how freakin' cool is that?!).
The final blog I chose is of an entirely different and quite controversial nature--a library suggestion blog made by Virginia Commonwealth University. For a library to openly advertise a blog entirely for suggestions is a bold move. They not only put themselves out there for criticism, but they also have to commit to answering the concerns of students and staff in some way whether it be by explaining why a thing can't be done a certain way or by implementing the changes to do it.
4. Based on the blogs you chose, what are some of the characteristics that you think make a library blog successful?
As stated above, I absolutely value when a blog is told in story form. I also appreciate when a blogger is confident enough to state when something is wrong and needs fixing but can also be humble and transparent enough to present a question requesting feedback. Basically, I will read a blog if I feel like the person behind the words is exactly that--a person. If I wanted to read a scholarly article, I would do so through the SJSU database and not through a blog.
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