Social Intelligence

When I started this course I was a social media neophyte I used Facebook and have an account with WAYN which I check, but do not use to its’ full capability. Now I know that there is a tool for almost anything I want to do in the virtual realm and outside it. If a task would work better with collaboration, particularly, if the collaborators are computer savvy or at least comfortable with computers then social media may be the way to go. This software breaks down the barriers of time and space as well as helping those who are less confident with face to face collaboration to feel comfortable participating in planning processes.

I have participated in conference calls that could have benefited from the ability to send files, create real time diagrams and to do lists. A conference call with instant messaging and file transfer allows work that has been carried out between meetings to be shared and commented on in the course of the conversation. Decisions can be made more quickly as a result of file transfer and virtual clip board/wiki collaboration.

My list of social media tools is growing, but two of my favourite tools at the moment are my blog and wiki. I hope to get other people to participate in my wiki project soon. I love hearing back from people about something I have posted and knowing that what I shared has resonated with them. I love reading about other people’s perspectives on the world or finding the solution to a problem I have been struggling with in someone else’s post. Being in library is about being part of a larger conversation and sharing ideas, worries, concerns and innovations with others. Social media seems to be about the same thing.

As for the tool that I found least useful, I have not mastered Yahoo Pipes yet, however, I must admit to being somewhat distracted with other new online adventures lately. It is on my list of future challenges because I can see its’ usefulness for libraries in the coming years as well as being a useful tool for my own personal virtual exploration and explanation process. I have not tried other mash-up tools, but it looks like my next course may give me that opportunity while dealing with Google Earth and the world of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Academic Libraries.

Mobile technology while interesting seems to require  people to have the right technology such as an iPhone so I have feeling that until more of the world converts to this type of technology the applications for libraries will be limited. I have yet to attain a mobile phone with all the right apps so I found some of the uses for mobile technology a little hard to relate to and some were down right spooky. Maybe part of my problem with this technology is that at this point I get charged heavily for much extra text messaging and the same for web surfing so the idea of using my phone for the majority of the suggested functions did not seem practical. I did use my phone for taking photographs of plants and tags so that we could look them up and figure out whether they would work in my Mother’s landscaping project. I hadn’t used the camera on my phone before today. Now I just have to locate the photos I took! I guess the more functions I learn to use on my present cell model the more likely I will be to upgrade both phone and phone plan; and I think this could be the case for many people when it comes to technology is that they have to see the usefulness of a particular technology and in some cases have the money to try out either preexisting functions or to upgrade their technology before they will support new services,  media policies or projects.

LIS9763 and social media has opened up the world of distance education for me as being something that I can enjoy and participate in with pleasure each week. I love meeting with my classmates and you, Amanda, in the chat room though sometimes our chat felt like it ended before the discussion was over. I was only taking one class this semester so our weekly chats were my only contact with my fellow library students other than comments I left for them on their blogs or they left me, except for our awesome group work team for Cooking the Books on Facebook. I would like to see a few more planned options for alternative routes to this discussion so that if Meebo is acting up we do not lose this opportunity for our weekly visit!

The experience of exploring social media provided by LIS9763 has been wonderful and has opened a variety of new doors for exploration and expansion in both my personal and professional lives. I have spent too many years putting limits on what I felt I could accomplish and what was possible and now I realize that they are just that my constructed limits that I do not need to hold on to anymore. Working with social media has taught me a whole new level of patience as well as when to ask for help and when to just try something until I get it to work because I can and it would be cool to have said feature available on my wiki such as Meebo chat widget that did not work the first few times I tried to set it up. Realizing that if I looked for a solution I could get the mash-up I needed to watch for wk. 11 by downloading a new application and transforming it into a pc friendly format. This course has been a whole series of learning experiences which have given me the confidence and experience to keep learning and pushing the limits of what is possible. I look forward to checking out my classmates final projects and keeping in touch! May we collaborate on all sorts of interesting projects in the future.

What some business people and librarians are recognizing is that people like to be heard and to have an opportunity to participate in decisions, both big and small. This may mean an on-going blog about new ideas and challenges as well as everyday life. It may mean sharing books, websites, wikis, and blogs as well as experiences with the world and your colleagues. It may mean using collaborative virtual note pads, instant messaging, text messaging, email, and VOIP software to connect with people across the city, province, country and world. Being able to attend conferences either in person or remotely and or continue other forms of professional development is also important!

My Social Media Best Practices:

1. Keep up with new technology through reading and listening to as many sources as possible!

2. Use common sense and think about how you could apply this and whether it is right for your library or your personal use!

2. Discover the answers to these questions before starting a project:
What do you want to achieve?
Who do you want to include?
Who you want to connect with?
Which softwares are they familiar with and already using?
Which softwares you are familiar with and have a comfort in using?
Do you need technical support for the project you are planning?
Do you need expertise or ideas from other people?
Who do you have to get approval from or at least inform about you plan? What is their knowledge base? What do they need to know?
Do you have deadline?
How do you want to assess this project?
What stats do you need to prove its’ usefulness?
What sort of feedback system do you need to help with growth and problem solving?

4. Believe in yourself! Be willing to take risks, make mistakes and admit when you are wrong or need help!!!

Here is a blog post that will be of use for those thinking about marketing through social media. It gives a set of step by step suggestions and best practices for starting out. Thank you Sean Gallagher for this useful tutorial.:

http://community2.business.gov/t5/Small-Business-Matters/Getting-Started-with-Social-Media-Marketing/ba-p/13949#A555

My social media tool box will include some or all of the following:

A Twitter account for promotion and communication.

A Facebook page and or group for similar purposes as well as for personal communication.

An account on Skype for communicating over long distances and short ones, possibly to work on projects and attend workshops virtually.

An instant messaging software or site such as the connection through Meebo that lets me communicate with people using different IM providers.

I may also use online clipboards such as the one we used for our group project and the various Google applications from the feed reader to the search engines. And last but certainly not least I will have my bookmarks available on Delicious so that I can access them from anywhere whether I am updating my wiki or my blogs  and or sending an e-communication to someone with research assistance or professional development information.

I look forward to hearing any other suggestions and input on this post!