Social Networking, Wrap-up & Big Wrap

Social Networking
My reaction to libraries on MySpace and Facebook is why would you bother? Although it's a great idea to take the Library message to the (mostly) young people on these networks, I wonder if the libraries get a return for their efforts. When you look at their pages, most of their 'friends' are other libraries, librarians or people who were already associated with the organisation.

I did see authors joining libraries as 'friends' (saying thank you when their books are featured!), so there would be some social networking between the authors' fans, the authors and libraries. Another benefit would be to the library's image. Rotorua Public Library on Bebo is impressive; it sells the Library as up-to-date and in touch with youth culture. It also works for something specific like an Animanga Club, because fans will search for anime.

I haven't been on Second Life but I've looked at demo sites and seen similar 3D games. Personally I'd rather concentrate on creating a brilliant and welcoming physical library in real-time (that includes remote access). Who knows, Second Life might work for people who live where the weather is so dreadful they can't go outside (Arctic Circle perhaps?) or in remote isolation!

I once scared the daylights out of my kids by joining MySpace and sending them messages as a joke. I'm not sure what freaked them out most - the thought that I was 'out there' in MySpace, or the fact that I could see their photos and their friends' candid messages! And, no, they didn't block me; they just moved over to Facebook.

Which brings up an important point about social networking, online apps, and technology in general...

Wrap-up
Technology evolves, and so does popular culture. Facebook takes over from MySpace, and one trend supplants another. Or they may co-exist. The passing of time sorts out the survivors/winners; Google and Wikipedia are good examples.

The reason that rapidly changing technologies are a problem for libraries, or certainly for local public libraries, is because we don't have enough staff, time, or funding to do it all. We have to keep an eye on our core business and put our energies into things that are relevant, and will give us good returns. The internet is littered with good intentions that weren't sustainable.

But still we can't ignore what's going on or we'll be irrelevant! We need to find the balance between what we already do and what is developing on the Internet.

Big Wrap for SLNSW
So this is where Web2.0 Learning comes in. Programs like this help us monitor developments and see what will work for us, even with limited staff and time. I've learned a lot. I hope we can use some of it. One easy idea we should consider would be librarians promoting their skills by Slamming the Boards on Yahoo7ANSWERS even just for one day a year (such as in LIW).

Apps

Each week I discover how little I know. Scary. Like the feeling you get when you look at the night sky and realise that it goes on forever. The Net's like that; we will never get to the end.

My huge learning leap into the unknown for this week was into free applications online: word processing, spreadsheet, slideshow, email, chat, wiki, the list goes on. Sometimes I already knew the name ( like Google Docs ) but I hadn't used it.

So now I've had a go at converting files with Zamzar, and will try it again the next time a customer at our public pcs brings in a file in a version or software different from ours.

I Google doc'd (new verb) a file to share with the Learning 2.0 team and found Google Docs easy to use. I saw that Zoho writer had more word-processing options, and the documents looked better to me. Then I looked at several comments and blogs comparing Zoho suite and Google Docs. The word seemed to be that Zoho had more features in each application and had more applications altogether ( such as a applications for databases, project management, and a personal organiser), and was aimed more at business while Google Docs was aimed at Google consumers. But Google Docs has the advantage of its relationship with Gmail and other Google products, and has the resources to keep adding products so its competitors don't get too far ahead.

I can see the benefits of online file storage -the portability and ease of sharing. Is it only a matter of time before we use online files with the same ease we use Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo for email? When I opened my first Hotmail account it was so I could use it when travelling overseas, and my Outlook account was my 'real' email. Today most young people use their Hotmail/Yahoo/Gmail by choice, and wouldn't think of buying software if there is a free version on the Net. In fact they don't think of buying software at all.

Mashups : Way too much fun

I had a lots of fun playing with the toys on Big Huge Labs.

Here's a poster showing our children's librarians doing great work, and a 'mashup' mosaic using pictures from flickr (taken by a friend Neil Fifer).

Although I loved every minute spent making these images, the only immediate library use I thought of was for quick and easy inhouse graphic design. And even then, anything we publish must come from the Library Service or Council's marketing team in order to meet our corporate guidelines. Oh well, still it was fun. Since writing that, I have used BigHugeLabs after all. I needed to thank a library volunteer and made a great thank you poster in just a few minutes, using digital camera, mashup, copier-printer and laminator.

I can see the ease and accessibility of mashups and their potential - especially the fact that you don't need to be an IT professional to create web content or to compose a mashup. Google Maps' map-making tool enables libraries to develop and share mashups to promote their services by adding a map showing branch locations. Morraine Valley Community College Library uses a Google map mashup on their website for quick and easy referrals. The map gives directions to key locations that their information service was regularly asked for.

I can see that a good use for a map mashup in our library service would be to show the Local Studies photographs, descriptions and locations of heritage sites with links back to the Local Studies pages on the website. This has already been done by some libraries in the U.S. I'm sure our overworked Local Studies Librarians will be thrilled to hear this!

Podcasts

This week I thought the Pierce County Library System's Postcast Blog was impressive (in an accessible, not too high-tech kind of way):
"Welcome to the Pierce County Library Podcast Blog. Here you’ll find a wide and ever-expanding range of both information and entertainment, including helpful parenting tips, regular book reviews, “Storytime for Grown-Ups” sessions, interviews with interesting people, and hints on accessing new library services and materials." Immediately I thought why doesn't our library do this? (I've done a lot of that since I started nswplLearning 2.0). But then I hit my usual stumbling block of 'why'? In this case, 'why' would anyone have so little else to do, that they'd check out podcasts on their library's website? It must be the long, cold winters in the USA that generates so much computer use, or is American TV still that bad?

Seriously, though, I can see the value of downloading a podcast of a favourite radio program that I've missed, with the added advantage of listening via MP3 while commuting! I notice that currently it's mostly public broadcasters that offer free programs via podcasts, no doubt podcasts with adverts will catch up soon.

In the meantime, I'll 'suggest' to our marketing team to get on with podcasting our author talks...

Answer Boards and Social Searching

The idea of Librarians jumping into the 'online ether' via answer boards is appealing. Until now I've been less than enthusiastic about libraries linking into web 2.0 tools, because I can't see why the Gen-y people who are into online communication would go to a library's website for their social networking. They're going to sites that their friends are using, and sadly so far, that's not library sites.

So librarians slamming the boards appeals, because it's taking the library message to where the questions are being asked. It shows that librarians are expert at answering questions; librarians give good answer based on facts; librarians even tell you where the answers came from; and it suggests even more - that librarians are techno-savvy and know what's going on. By 'slamming the boards' librarians invite people who would never think of their local library, to consider that libraries answer questions too.

With Yahoo! 7 Answers being an Australian site, there is the possibility of Aussie librarians doing their own 'slamming'. Perhaps it could be part of an existing campaign or LIW?

Not so sure about customers rating or reviewing items, ala Amazon or the Taste Website. Would we get the same enthusiasm at the local library catalogue level as these universal websites get? We've not had much success in getting book reviews or ratings when we ask for them for our newsletters (and yes, we did accept emailed reviews). I liked the idea of incorporating LibraryThing reviews using LibraryThing for Libraries.

Del.icio.us, Technorati and LibraryThing

I can see the benefit of using del.icio.us for Libraries. It gives us the capacity to link to websites selected by library staff from the library website, but also accessible from, and organised by Delicious (see Sutherland Shire Libraries, Thunder Bay Public Library, Cleveland Public Library Recommended Bookmarks); the speed and ease with which sites can be tagged; the ability to see related sites tagged by others; and the universal web access. I like the fact that you can add a site and organise it soooo quickly.


Not so fussed about Technorati. I found the results pages busy and confusing to a beginner, with vastly different results on my 'bookmobile' search on different days. Doubtful there was a huge increase/decrease in blogs tagging bookmobiles to cause the difference. Results were almost identical for 'bookmobile' search and advanced search. I found some tagged nswpln2008 blogs.

LibraryThing really appeals to me. Is that because it's useful or just because I like looking at books? Not sure. It was quick and easy to use, and adding the bookcovers was a breeze. Would I bother to put my personal book collection on it? Probably not, but it's fun to see what's on LibraryThing. The reviews of Matthew Reilly's Ice Station are hilarious.

I can see that it make an easy-to-use tool for clubs and other small organisations to 'catalogue' their collections. As for libraries, it depends on the extent of local uptake. I read about LibraryThing for Libraries that allows for LibraryThing data, such as aggregate tag data and recommendations, to be imported into library catalogs. I'd like to see some of those funny reviews in our library catalogue!

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Video

Until now I've only used YouTube to look at funny videos, and then only because it was a 'must see' video that everyone was talking about. In the last week I have explored Learning 2.0's suggestions, spent way too much time going off on tangents, and used up my monthly download limit in one day. I confess I took malicious delight in the video ninja librarian, who took terrible revenge on the student using his mobile in the library!

Mostly what I saw were short films posted by people who clearly got a buzz out of making them and showing them off to a wider audience - video as entertainment. I saw that Mosman Library's author talks are on Google video but not on YouTube, because of Google's longer playing time. As for Library uses for this video sharing, Libraries could post their author talks, and as more people embrace video-sharing Local Studies Librarians could invite people to make video local histories/oral histories, and encourage a world-wide audience to contribute to the area's local history.

My Gen-Y colleague assures me that she would use the Internet to watch an author talk that she had missed out on seeing, whereas I probably wouldn't bother. Although maybe I would bother if it was Markus Zusak. Here's a glimpse of him speaking Portuguese.