Social Intelligence

Most of the reading I did this week made me think, but did not convert me to the Twittersphere. When I signed in and got reading I realized that it has some potential uses that I had not even thought of including job hunting alaTwitter. Go figure! I now need to figure out how to connect some of my various bits of software together so that I do not have a constantly revolving door of sites that I must enter and leave to keep up with my virtual life.

I like the idea of answering questions that are sent out into the Twittersphere. I would check tweets in the radius of the library I am working at to make sure that people are connecting to programs and resources that the library has to offer. Answering questions and redirecting people to existing programs works the same way in real life as it does in the virtual realm, except that you may not recognize each other when the people you have been communicating with come into your library.

I have enjoyed a link to a series of podcasts about a bookmobile librarian in Highlands of Scotland that I found on the Connecticut State Library FriendFeed as well as a series of quotes on the Twitter feed from Waubonsee Community College Library. I guess this means that I enjoy some people’s random tweets, but I am not certain how much time I will put into tweeting about my own life, personal or professional. I have found a new way to connect with the world outside my geographic area.

I am now connected to CBC on Twitter as well as listening to my favourite shows over the airwaves while I am cooking in the kitchen. I will connect to other media sources as well and share links from an online newsletter that I am already receiving. I may use Twitter in my professional life as a starting spot for answering some reference questions as well as promoting library events or resources. I think the idea of sharing music and other outside interests may allow for a more personal connection so that you can connect to other groups.

As a closing note for Twitter I will leave you with this little Twitter song:

 Hi, My name is Megan Neilans.  I am in my third, and hopefully not last semester of my Masters in Library and Information Studies at the University of Western Ontario. I am a library technician, who has worked in a variety of library settings from a public library headquarters to multiple art galleries and the B.C. Ministry of Health. I have a BA in history and all, but two courses of a BA in Canadian Studies as well.

I am a relative newbie to creating content for social software applications as I only started blogging last semester. I have been enjoying reading and watching the other people’s contributions on YouTube as well as content found on a variety of websites. I have been watching television online for the last year as I did not have a television with cable and I could watch what I wanted when I wanted. I caught up on older shows and those that have been cancelled that were of interest. I also utilize Facebook to keep track of friends and family around the world as I have moved every three years for the last 30. One of my favourite features with my social software applications is the birthday notifications for friends so that I can seem totally organized even when I am busy.

I had never used google for anything, but searching until today and the RSS aggregator and google documents look like they will be very useful additions to my tool kit of tricks for both my personal and professional life. My next task will be signing up for and sorting out Delicious as I think I will try and get that assignment done first to leave space for my group and final projects.

I look forward to enlarging my skill set for both recreational and professional purposes as I have heard about many of these applications, but have never used them. I am curious and willing learn. I look forward to reading about and playing with the variety of social software applications that are out there.