Week 9: Social Networks

What I did this week:

• Used LinkedIn as a test case for a feature I don't often use -- the one that checks my email address book for people I know. I wasn't surprised that it turned up only one person: I was surprised by who it was.
• Read the tips for using Facebook professionally -- I am test driving the To Do List app.
• Noted for the umpteenth time that "personal" and "professional" use of Facebook (FB) intertwine. College classmate / YA author Leigh hipped me to a virtual YA event. In any 2 week time span, nearly every librarian friend posts a link or an article of professional interest.
  
• The Top Ten FB Apps for Librarians mostly look like tools I would use if HCPL had a FB presence.
• Signed up for Shelfari app for FB without reading all the comments first: oops. If the only thing folks have said for 3 days straight is, "hey it won't show up on my profile!" then there's no point to getting it.

A conversation the other day with Helen emphasizes how FB could be a PR machine for HCPL. We had been talking about Etsy, then looked at Style together (because FB told me someone I know is in this issue). On our way to the right page, Helen noticed Etsy's logo in an ad and I recognized the graphics for the ad -- because my FB friend is contributing to the craft event it advertises and I had seen the event's graphic attached to my friend's name on FB.

By promoting her involvement with the event, my FB friend helps create buzz about it: not only have I seen an ad, someone I know is involved and suddenly I am thinking about going. How great would it be if library events had that buzz and cache? If people friend (it's different for places / businesses than people, but I'll use that word) the library, then we would promote events to them. If someone indicates they are attending an event, then everyone they know would see our logo and a message like "attending book club tonight" or "going to environmental film program at Tuckahoe" and a whole new image of who we are and what we do emerges.

PR always means getting your name out via different media: an article in the paper and TV coverage; a listing in Connections and a flyer posted in YA. Social websites are just one more format. (More on branding with FB, here.)

Happy National Library Week!

For an interlude from your routine, enjoy more dust jackets from New York Public Library.

Good News Everybody

Thanks for the good news, Bizzaro! By the way, when did the url change from .gov to www.usps.COM?

Week 8: Gaming

An unexpected benefit of this week's exploration: experiencing the confusion and apprehension of a first-time user.

Treating a frustrated computer-user with patience becomes rote. I remember only vaguely a time when I didn't know how to double-click or where to type the website address. When I say sweetly, "it just takes practice" or "you'll get the hang of it," it's because I know I should, not because of an outpouring of empathy (ain't I a stinker?).

I signed up for RuneScape, created a character with pink hair, went to the orientation place, and immediately thought, Well durn, now what? I completely failed to follow Louise's always-appropriate "RATS" advice and so clicked randomly around and felt frustrated. Then I remembered "Read All The Screen"! and scrolled down a little to see the text directions. "Yuck, I have to talk to people?" Well, it seemed that I only had to "listen," and I exited before I found myself having to talk to someone.

I play word games on Facebook and on Merriam-Webster's website. I can (usually) hook up CHPL's Playstation 2 and play a slightly-awful session of Dance Dance Revolution. I get that gaming involves text, critical thinking, following a story, esteem-building, etc. I uphold the right of 11-year-olds to "waste time" on our PCs and prevent Conspiracy Theory Guy from doing his "important research." I don't see myself closing NP's lab to do an event that's just online gaming, though.

And don't look for me in any MMORPGs -- I'm a little too timid for those, I think. Or, who knows, maybe I will "get the hang of it."

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Social Networks and Productivity

It's true - there was a report! Link to it, here.

Week 6: Wide World of Wikis

What is it about the word "wiki" that makes you want to play with it? WikiWikiWIKI. See also comments on this post.

Anyway. I've been reading wikis since the dawn of Wikipedia. I didn't contribute to one until CHPL launched its YA programing one. Mostly, we put common documents there such as volunteer forms and the list of which branch has which "permanent set" of graphic novels. The YA librarians did use it as a collaborative work space to brainstorm and vote for which paperback series we wanted cataloging to approve as ones to catalog with the series title.

YALSA uses wikis -- I'm guessing when a group produces the page/product, so everyone can contribute easily. Sample: Teen Read Week. As the consumer of this info, I don't care about the format. Similarly, what's cool about St. Joseph County's subject guide wiki is the content more than the form. We already post subject guides on our homepage; if we like the way that works now, there's no need to change. If, however, many reference staff folks said they would update guides on the fly, then we might want to change to a wiki and keep our guides up-to-the-minute.

For this lesson, I enjoyed contributing to the CHPLearning wiki -- I like pbwiki's interface and tools much better than the one we use for YA Programming! I easily created new pages and edited my work. I had been working away for several minutes before I realized I was still in Firefox, my preferred browser, something our current wiki can't tolerate.

I like to work collaboratively, and whether we use a wiki or some other cool tool, I'll be on board.