Just another LIS 9763 site

I very much enjoyed this course – it is easily the most informative course I have enrolled in and by far the most interesting!

My view of social software has definitely changed. At first, I thought it was merely a banal way to pass time – the Shaquille O’Neal approach to spreading the word, basically. Little did I realize that there was more to social media than reading what sandwich the latest celebrities have eaten or what trouble they got into. It wasn’t until this course that I realized there is more to social software than meets the eye. It can actually be informative! So much can be transmitted to a wide audience for the purpose of enlightenment! LIS 9763 made me realize that such a thing is indeed possible with social media. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr… what I once considered to be entertaining time-wasters can be something else when used in another manner. Now I’m much more open to using other forms of social software!

Far and away, my favourite social media to use is Delicious. For years, I have struggled to find a more efficient way to organize all my web sources into once coherent document. My only solution before Delicious was to crowd my Favourites folder with link after link after link. Now, with Delicious, I can access all my archived links online on a webpage! If only I knew about this when I was in my undergrad years! I’ll be using this service from now on in my grad studies and onward. Libraries, especially academic ones, should advertise how useful this service is to their patrons and how they can use it themselves for their own purposes. It even extends beyond academia – I’ve been researching elements for a story I’m writing and all my sources are now in one easy-to-see location!

On the other hand, the least useful service (when not used properly) is probably Twitter. I don’t mind using it, but it can be difficult to implement when not done correctly. If left to one person, forgetting to update something that thrives on constant updates can result in the Twitter feed being ignored, reducing its overall effectiveness. In my final project, I learned this the hard way – I felt so bad when I was so busy and not able to update my feed. I can only imagine how much of a failure the feed would be if only one person operated it on a daily basis. For Twitter and libraries, more than one staff member needs to keep an eye on it for it to prosper. As such, this was the least comfortable social media application I’ve used. This is why I’ve tried to use it for the final project, just to experiment with it fully.

As for the distance ed experience… well, I’m a full-time employee for a restaurant, so having the distance ed course was a very relaxing thing rather than having to balance another schedule. I personally enjoy the distance part-time student, because it allows me to work at the same time.

This course has been very informative and I personally would not change a thing! Just keep up to date on new trends and emerging software to add into the syllabus from time to time! Apart from that, great course I would recommend to anyone! Great work, Amanda!

For my final project, I decided to step up a prototype of a Twitter account for a particular library service. My Twitter account is for the fictitious Alpinloch Public Library’s Young Adult Resource Centre (hence the acronym APLYARC). The focus of the Young Adult Resource Centre is to address a common issue in “college towns” that is mainly ignored, downplayed, or treated as youthful emotion. This problem is the “quarter-life crisis” and it especially affects young people aged 18-35.

Hence the reason for this Twitter account – to see how a library addresses this issue using social media.

I have a significant interest in this issue, being a university student myself. Many issues such as identity formation, obsessions with grades, social status and the obstacles encountered by this current generation in attaining the same level of success as their parents. I have often worried about this myself and have decided to make a Twitter account for a library keen on addressing the problem and providing resources for affected people.

The reason for using Twitter is that its a great way to communicate and reach out. I still find it odd how some libraries are not so keen on the technology – there are so many benefits. Despite the trepidations, it is very cost-effective and is able to reach a wide number of people efficiently. Especially since many of the young people my Twitter account are very much wired via cell phones and laptops, Twitter is a great way to quickly update and provide new information rapidly. For the library’s service to be relevant to them, they need to be able to access updates and feel connected as a result.

Young people definitely are the most widespread users of Twitter, so I knew the Twitter feed would find some audience. However, the majority of accounts on Twitter are often banal and do not provide a lot of useful information – people like Justin Bieber and Shaquille O’Neal provide entertainment but little else. Social media can aspire to something great and far-reaching and helpful, so I’m always afraid such a Twitter account will get lost in the shuffle. However, I can’t let such a concern hold me back. Libraries cannot afford to be afraid of taking risks – they keep ideas fresh and all staff on their toes and promotes change.

With this in mind, promotion may be difficult. It cannot sit isolated. The main library branch with which Alpinloch Public Library is affiliated also needs to promote the unique service provided by this library to bring traffic to the Twitter account. Possibly the other branches in the library can advertise the Twitter feed with letters, brochures and other print/web forms – it will definitely help to get the word out since the Twitter feed can get lost in the shuffle with all the accounts out there. A Facebook page is also a possibility for non-Twitter users. Either way, by considering Twitter, one must not abandon other print/web sources for cross-promotion. Over-promotion is also a trap – no-one likes spammers!

The one main problem I have discovered with this experiment is that is very tough for one staff member to maintain the Twitter feed. If that one staff members forgets to update… well, we all know how impatient and fickle social media users are. Also, if there is only one user, some will perceive that the rest of the library cares little for the account and just leave that one staff member to his/her devices. Twitter also has the possibility of becoming too personal if left in the wrong hands. It also needs to reflect the institution as a whole and not just an individual.

And not to mention the 140 character limit! Dear God, it can be tough to get your thoughts in!

Twitter is a useful service, but as seen with this blog post, so many things to consider. Still it was a significant learning experience!

Social media literacy… some people (myself included) cannot believe how far we have come since the early days of networked PCS (with a friggin’ WIRE the size of a room! lol). But no matter the innovation and when they occur, the same main problem — the fear of taking a risk with a technology we know will be influential. We admire it, but fear it at the same time.

Kind of reminds me of the live-action Flinstones movie in the scene where the villan is discussing replacing manpower with steam power. My favourite line in that whole movie just exemplifies this problem – one exec in the room shouts “Steam?! He’s a madman!” To this day, I call suck problems the Steam dilemma.

Basically, the Steam Dilemma in a nutshell… we love how the new thing works, but are deathly afraid how it will affect what we do presently in the near future. Change scares many in power, especially technologies.

I especially loved Sierra’s analogy to the sacred cow. It is SO true! We are sometimes just so afraid to slaughter them, even if it is for our own good. By not taking risks, an organization loses its edge, its mojo, its killer instinct. Losing the drive for innovation is very demoralizing!

With social media, being literate with all its intricacies is paramount to success in the wired/wireless world. Being literate does not mean using it for the sake of looking trendy – using it well for company value is where the cream of the company’s crop rises to the top. Many institutions know that social media is the answer, but are afraid to take the plunge.

What is the answer?

I happen to agree with Sierra that looking at your “leaf nodes” is the answer. By examining your customer base and employees who are keen on social media, those with significant authority can better understand its value to the company without 1) pandering to everyone willy-nilly; and 2) freaking out everyone in the board room. By sticking to the status quo, one can continue on with safe, tried-and-true business practices that have worked…

But what about when they slow down or fail to work entirely? What about when employees and users know this and demand something to be done about it?

Holding the line means a company falls on its face faster than a one-legged ballerina. Something has to give! In this case, this means confronting taking the safe route and taking a risk. Remember, there was a time when everyone thought the automobile was a crazy idea! And look how well that risk turned out for a certain Mr. Ford from Detroit ($$$!). Simply put, a company needs to take not just a leap, but a huge bungee jump into the abyss to confront their fears head-on. Concerning social media, those in power are faced with making significant decisions for their future reputations and desire to remain innovative with fresh blood. The users know it and now it’s time for those in the board room to act!

For libraries, there is no time like the present to act now. Over the past 5 years (!), we have seen how influential websites like Facebook and Twitter have become for the gathering of similar people and information sharing and transmission. As much as some people adore the stereotype of the old lovable librarian sitting behind his/her desk stamping books in a quiet environment with Byron and Tennyson on the walls, many libraries have evolved to current user demands of the current generation. That image is a dinosaur and libraries that continue to follow this path will become fossils! To be social media literate is to be socially relevant… the online scene is where reputations are assessed and credibility is evaluated. To cast this aside as insignificant is foolish — it smacks of arrogance to ignore the practices of your libray clientele. Set up a Facebook group! Start a Twitter page! The investment is minimal, the cost nothing and the dividends too good to pass up! All that needs to be done is to get past the initial fear of taking that one chance! Just think of Henry Ford or you’ll end up like that caveman executive in the Flintstones movie:

“Steam?! He’s a madman!”

Libraries, don’t fall into the abyss!

Grr… a virus attacked my computer and wiped out some files, including my blog post for today! Thankfully my computer is operational for the moment and most of my other files were spared (still doesn’t change the fact I am quite pissed off at the moment lol). RIP original blog post…

Anyway, on to policies.

Policies are often not the prettiest things to look at, but when it comes to any area of technology that allows members of a corporation to interact with its clients, there needs to be some kind of governing document to assist in what social media can be used for in context of the services provided. It just isn’t there to “hop on the bandwagon” with or to “look hip and happening.” The companies who use social media for this purpose are destined to look amateurish in their implementation and fail miserably. There are MANY examples littered throughout the course, especially the week we all looked at how libraries have used MySpace.

Social media policies – knock on wood – hope to rectify some of those issues and set the groundwork for dealing with the beast that is social media.

Lauby’s 10-Must-Haves list is a “Must-Have” for every institution out there either wanting to use social media or is currently using it and want to refine their practices. There are many important points that resonate with me. Social media must have a purpose for the company — it’s not something banal on which you post minute-by-minutes details of your day or simply upload press releases. Some retail companies (Best Buy and Maytag, come to mind) have used things like Twitter to address customer service queries about their products and open up a new avenue of doing business (sales or dispatching repairmen, for example. At the end of the day, the most important element in social policies for businesses is whether or not it brings value. Maytag immediately dispatched a repair crew for a woman posting about her dryer on Twitter after failing to get through to them on the phone; Best Buy sold electronics to customers through their Twitter; libraries recommend titles and provide outreach through Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, the list goes on…

Basically: If there is a definite value in the time investment, go for it! If you’re going to post about how much of your sandwich you ate in an hour, then maybe social media isn’t right for the company.

Another important point mentioned in almost all the readings is the issue of responsibility and accountability. Just because it’s on the company website or Twitter does not mean its private – it’s the opposite! Because everyone can see everything on the internet, it must be made clear that all updates via social media obey certain rules so as not to damage reputation. An effective policy safeguards against controversial content because it acts as a checklist concerning what can go on the updates or not. The same applies for user feedback or comments – good policies govern what is objectionable and can be removed. There is nothing more discouraging when an organization lacks direction with social media – they come off as disinterested if no one polices the feedback/comments, or they come off as immature if about something unrelated. Policies work as a compass in terrain some people are still wary of navigating: they help!

As for the case studies, it was difficult to weigh all the policies against one another, but there are some general guidelines to follow. The City of Seattle is very comprehensive and covers just about all there is on social media and blog postings (accountability, legality and the like). Its legalese can be very daunting, but it suggests authority that must be obeyed. Despite this, it is listed in bullet points under several categories for easy retrieval. The UT Southwestern Policy tries to make their cut-and-dry policy more appealing by forgoing the legal language, but this makes the document longer (no one likes walls of text), no bullet points or lists for efficient retrieval, and most of all makes the policy sound unofficial. I did not get any sense of authority from their document compared to the city of Seattle, and though I give them props for making it more accessible to read, it needs to sound more like an official contractual agreement. It reads like something you’d read in a kindergarten class! However, it does cover the same material as Seattle, but is far easier to read.

Which is the middle ground? Does one exist? Is one method better than the other? Who knows? Perhaps it all depends on the nature on the institution implementing it. It definitely leaves food for though as to its execution, but what cannot be denied is the importance of a policy. Without one, expect confusion, complaining and controversy. Might as well just put the cart before the horse as they say…

To put it simply, RSS has been my saviour for the past year once I discovered what exactly it was!

Prior to RSS… So many websites to navigate, so many websites saved to my favourites, way too many to start cleaning the list up… Old computer crashes, need to find them all again and this time do it in a more efficient manner…

Enter RSS! And all I can say is that RSS is Really Space-Saving – no more cluttered favourites with dead links and having to navigate from main pages. Just a subscription and I’m set for updates!

I now treat RSS like I would read a big newspaper like the New York Times or Globe & Mail (especially the Saturday editions you can club a man over the head with!). There are only several sections I read in them, and it’s sometimes daunting (and time-consuming) to get to what I need. RSS strips it all down and finds the information I want based on my subscriptions. On the wild world of the web, sometimes it can be just too damn big to search for things… RSS has simplified my habits and made assignments (and online newspaper reading) far more efficient and tailored to my needs.

The EDUCASE article makes an interesting point – that RSS excels concerning information that is updated constantly. Once I discovered RSS and realized what it can do for oganizing my blogs for new content (instead of manually accessing each and every one of them!), I jumped on the bandwagon very quickly. A published article (which never changes) is something to save in my Favourites, but for something like some of my favourite NHL blogs… RSS has made my internet sessions so much more efficient and streamlined. Directing all the information relevant to me when updates are made? Sign me up please!

Most importantly though – especially for news sites and blogs – RSS ensures the website thrives on the currency of its updates. Especially in the world of Web 2.0, a website that does not remain current is one that is destined to die. In Web 1.0 this was the way to go – there was no other alternative. But with sites like Facebook, Twitter, and the advent of the online blog, successful and influential websites need to constantly evolve and provide its users with relevant, changing information. In a university, for example, RSS is the best thing since sliced bread for research!

Personally, I adore the University of Oklahoma Library’s feed! Subscribing to a feed based on LCC call number and topic for new additions to the collection = epic win! Grad students and especially professors will love this service to remain up to date on their subjects (very organized and a clean layout too!). Not to mention it allows a subscriber to see that the library is committed to collection development. Instead of guessing if a library is broadening its horizons in certain areas, any party interested can see for themselves. Want to see if the library is getting more books on George Washington? The Merchant of Venice? Witchcraft? Hollywood from the 1930s? Subscribe and find out! If I were an Oklahoma student, I would be living on that feed!

The Hot Titles Carousel for Cambridge Public Library – though useful – was a bit of miss for me. Though it is very spartan, simple and easy to navigate (it just displays several titles until you click the forward button on the screen), but there is no organization. Yes, it does list the hottest titles at the library, but there is no organization to sense any trends in what exactly is hot (and it stops after about 20 titles!). If a cetain author dies – that circulation goes up. Same if a university is putting on a Shakespeare play or if a local writer publishes something. I cannot sense such trends on the carousel. But if I’m just looking for a random read, the carousel is useful. Since I don’t thrive on random chance, the carousel just doesn’t work for me. But my girlfriend and sister both loved the concept! So it does appeal to people – just not those who are looking for certain things.

Finally, I do agree that there is an inherent danger with the RSS system. By filtering the feeds to our needs, we can potentially miss out on other pieces of information that can be interesting. However, I can also argue that 9 times out of 10, the Society pages in the Globe and Mail will be tossed in the garbage compared to the Sports section. By knowing how useful the information is according to my habits over an extended period of time, I can accurately predict just how useful certain pieces of information will be to me. The problem is being slavish to RSS and just being lazy. I, for one, always seek other avenues for information to diversify what is available in my feeds and internet favourites. One can become quite narrow in knowledge and opinion if they just rely on their RSS and nothing else. RSS does not excuse one from looking outside the box – it just organizes the contents of the box. It is up to us to find new content for future addition.

As for its application in libraries… as seen with the University of Oklahoma, RSS absolutely has its place! As with any Web 2.0 application, one needs to be familiar with how it works. When executed properly, the benefits are substantial!

I’ve not been feeling that well for the past few days so I will take the opportunity to rest this week… Blog Holiday #2.

I am a fairly late entrant in the microblogging sphere; Twitter, for example, is something I joined only recently. Though I do not use it as often as my Facebook, it does have its uses. To quote Polonius from Hamlet, “brevity is the soul of wit” and Twitter excels in getting its compact messages across to a wide audience. From the atrocities in Darfur to getting the inside scoop from a closed door meeting, Twitter enables local issues to become public and worldwide.

For issues that user groups need to know about, Twitter is without a doubt the destination of choice. Brief and accessible from mobile devices = quick information being provided. And that’s not including the comments and conversation generated from something that is either private or long concluded.

However, for these benefits, the banality of Twitter turns me off from using it extensively. But that attitude is slowly changing as I explore its uses in the library setting. Twitter, like all social media, will represent a paradigm shift in how we deal with virtual information.

Brown’s article was particularly enjoyable – Twitter indeed has its uses in libraries! The world has become more wired and connected with the many channels of communication provided by the internet – I embraced it at the turn of the millenium with great gusto and still use it primarily for communication. As a young child, I was keen enough to realize my future habits would be shaped by this new technology.

And sure enough, I am the same target audience that Brown describes – a user that opts to search for his own information rather than go to the library first (!) and find it. As a future librarian, I would use Twitter to advertise “insider” information that will entice patrons to use the library services. If users can find their information online, librarians need to go a step further and provide something extra! This cannot be ignored and Twitter can be a very efficient means of transmission.

The DC Public Library is an institution that “gets” Twitter. Instead of trying to act hip and hop on the Twitter bandwagon, much effort has gone into its creation and maintenance. Services and events are advertised, patron questions (reference, book retrieval, etc), even weather warnings for the DC area are posted on a daily basis for those who follow the feed. There is even a photography contest in November and the DCPL encourages patrons to enter! The staff maintaining it clearly see its uses and treat it as an essential tool for its patron base. It has nearly 2,500 followers to show for it! VERY encouraging!

MyCityLibrary for West Palm Beach also understands Twitter – my only complaint is that the feed is advertised as being only maintained by one staff member. One can see this as dedication on the part of one ambitious librarian, but I also see it from another point of view – no one else supports the idea of how important a Twitter feed can be. Despite this, it is very personal in nature and advertises all sorts of things in a very informal and friendly way.

Microblogging represents a very real change in how libraries will communicate – it must embraced or a library will be deemed as not being able to meet its user demands. Unlike the year 2000, it is not wise to ignore the importance of one’s online presence, especially as the search engine is now available worldwide to everyone. What was once confined to local databases (such as libraries) can now be used from any location or by anyone. A librarian’s authority is certainly not the same as it was, but that is a good thing. Librarians are better inclined to work with patrons using their means of communication rather than trying to use a system they only understand and know about. Libraries will evolve or die on the sword of microblogging if they are not careful.

Working with my group this week on the social networking assignment, the readings this week have definitely increased my understanding about not only what is out there for social media, but why they truly exist. At my age, social media really took off not too long ago, but the teens and younger people of the present are now becoming involved in the social media trends without a second thought.

This makes me wonder: does this immediate integration, rather than gradually being introduced to it like me as an ’86er, make today’s current younger generation appreciate the importance of social media or is taken for granted? Definite food for thought!

Boyd’s article was definitely the most effective in helping me understand the core of what makes something like MySpace so appealling – it permits the production of one’s identity in an unfettered environment independent of constraining adult influences. As most public spaces are controlled by adults, the creation of one’s identity – especially if truly different – will encounter many roadblocks. Even in a digital environment, the internet and its social media provides great opportunity to create one’s image.

And something I never thought of – it can enhance the maturity process of teens since many responsible teens are able to interact as adults but at the same time negotiate the fine line between adolescence and adulthood without the consternation of adults. Public space for teens is slowly disappearing and teens need to exercise producing identities. Adults need to let off and allow teens to go at their pace – like any maturing person, the parent and teachers need to let go and relax their authority. Most of all, it creates trust. Social media is great for this.

For someone my age, Stutzman’s piece is very relevant – Facebook and universities. Since I use the service daily, it is encouraging to not that it is not going anywhere and the university administrators need to understand this. It is not fair to prosecute those who committ minor indiscretions and certainly not right to downplay the important of the Facebook culture – wide social communication and sharing of personal information meant to be heard. Rather, as many schools are doing now, Facebook needs to be harnessed for the good things it offers – instant messaging, mass communication to networks and so on. However, it is important to note that privacy and indiscretions is a two-way street – students need to understand that just because FB is their “walled garden” that people can still peek over the walls or find cracks to get at your “private” information.

As for the case studies…

Ann Arbor District Libary’s MySpace page is simply appalling! I haven’t seen a professional page look so amateurish! It seems as if the library just hopped on the “social media” without a second thought and just ran with it. Though I’m sure their intentions were noble, it gives the impression of ultra-conservative parents trying poorly to look “cool and hip” in front of their children! And it shows. It is very cluttered, disorganized and lately not very active (which suggests the declining influence of MySpace). Still, for a public library’s online presence to be very similar to an 8-year-old’s is not very encouraging! Heck, even my girlfriend’s MySpace looks LIGHTYEARS better than this tripe!

Hennepin’s Facebook page looks much better than Ann Arbor’s MySpace! It’s informative, but the constant status updates make it look cluttered at times. VERY text heavy and the scrolling can put some people off if they need to find something. Not to mention the advertising may run counter to the library’s mission. What libraries would condone Lose 10% of your Body Fat in 7 Days, for example? Still, a step in the right direction – especially since nearly everyone, young and old, use Facebook or are at least familiar with the purpose of the service. And it’s still much better than Ann Arbor’s MySpace.

UWO’s LiveJournal, even if a bit unprofessional with the colour scheme and layout, offers a user-first approach as their content drives the direction of the page and content offered. Rather than the webmaster or administrator controlling the content (see Web 1.0), the users are now the ones in positions of authority dictating the true direction of the page (see Web 2.0). I’ve never come across LJ and it seems like an interesting type of service. Still, I wouldn’t recommend it for a library, but I can see its uses for other applications (like, in this case, listing events posted by the community).

Unfortunately, the My Own Cafe was being uncooperative Maybe I’ll see it soon and provide an update. If I can, I will. Can anyone enlighten me in the meantime?

I could have sworn I posted a notice on Monday (technical issues and glitches, of course), so consider this to be my first week of blog holiday. So no blogging this week for me!

Hope everyone had a great turkey day!

At first, hearing of the phrase “tagging” brought back repressed memories of cataloging class. The prospect of precise classification did not exactly enthrall me, but was I ever surprised at how useful, enjoyable and efficient the process is using Delicious. Definitely what cataloging class should have been!

Like many, my first use of tagging was on Facebook photos – identifying myself in pictures. Of course, this is a very recreational use and not entirely useful beyond that. However, those were my initial thoughts. This course opened my eyes to the wider scale of tagging and how useful it can be not only organizing bookmarks but also for its professional ramifications.

The library’s online organization of information can definitely learn something from Delicious.

The Chelmsford Public Library tags all sorts references in the form of an online pathfinder for curious patrons. Not only does it help to index internal sources online, but it also links patrons to external information that is just as important. When tags are assigned to an item, it helps to refine search results to generate greater precision for information retrieval. Take for example YouTube – the most popular and accessible videos often have the best (and the most relevant) tags for easy searching. Tagging serves the same purpose for the sake of library information as well. And as information providers, it is in our best interest to learn more about tagging.

I don’t want to repeat too much information from my Delicious Assignment blog – most of my impressions of tagging are also in that post.