So having been using facebook for a few months now as a birthday present to myself, I've been trying to wrap my head around using social networking sites to the advantage of the library. This really came to the fore of my mind when we had a combined issue with our computers and phone system. I thought to myself 'hey, this would be a great time to tell our visitors about what's going on via twitter!', which has of course made me rethink about its uses as a communication medium. it could be used to remind patrons of events, provide quick reference pointers, even renew items. Whilst browsing through some blogs I follow there was a good one on some tools to enhance the twitter experience. The tools it mentions would go a long way in making twitter an effective and manageable tool in the library world;
bit.ly
Tweetdeck
Friendfeed
Twitter Search
Twitter Sheep
So if you are already using twitter, check them out and see what you think.
Showing posts with label Social Networking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Networking. Show all posts
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Twittering
Twitter, the social networking website that allows people to communicate with friends, family etc in short text messages answering the question 'What are you doing?'. You can send tweets via your mobile phone, instant messaging tools and using the simple but effective website.
Evan Williams the founder of Blogger has found this simple yet effective website for family and friends to keep in touch.
Not only are family and friends using this service but politicians are now using Social Networking tools to attract the younger generation. It was used widely in the American US Presidental campaign along with other Social Networking tools. Our own Prime Minister and Leader of the Oppposition have their own twitter accounts.
Out of interest Lance Armstrong is a regular user of the service and fans of him knew when approximately he would arrive in Australia as he had not sent a Tweet in severeal hours.
How you could adapt this to a Library I am not entirely sure, but it looks to be the way of the future in the current atmosphere.
Evan Williams the founder of Blogger has found this simple yet effective website for family and friends to keep in touch.
Not only are family and friends using this service but politicians are now using Social Networking tools to attract the younger generation. It was used widely in the American US Presidental campaign along with other Social Networking tools. Our own Prime Minister and Leader of the Oppposition have their own twitter accounts.
Out of interest Lance Armstrong is a regular user of the service and fans of him knew when approximately he would arrive in Australia as he had not sent a Tweet in severeal hours.
How you could adapt this to a Library I am not entirely sure, but it looks to be the way of the future in the current atmosphere.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Computer Training or Taming?
Forgive the title, I was at a low point with my wit. But anyway the reason for it to be read aright is that I have been busy the past month or two perusing Australian library websites in an attempt to find how much they are using emerging technology, and how they are passing these benefits on to users in the community. This locating information is where the taming aspect of the title comes in, where as some are more compliant with your requests, others require a little more coaxing to divulge the information required.
So after my analysing of whats on offer, it would seem that the majority of Libraries are content to offer basic courses running from introductory computer lessons, through to browsing the internet, word processing, and email. These I feel are always going to be a necessary component of any computer assistance that you offer, whether it be a one on one consultation, or a group class booking.
Some Libraries are taking it a step further, Such as Yarra Plenty in Victoria, Brisbane City Library in Queensland and Sutherland Library in New South Wales to mention a few exemplary forerunners. They have continued the learning experience with value added courses that provide skills using technology in everyday lives, such as digital photography & scrap booking, Social Networking, Vodcasting and pod casting to mention a few.
But then I thought 'how does one run all of this?' I found a great article from Tame the Web: Ten Tips for Technology Training. Sure its a little old, but I do like the ideas that it suggests, not to make it a rigid structure but to have fun with the learning process, and to always keep a keen eye out for new ways to improve content. It's definitely something to think about when implementing new courses. This is reinforced by some succinct comments on David Lee King's blog.
So after my analysing of whats on offer, it would seem that the majority of Libraries are content to offer basic courses running from introductory computer lessons, through to browsing the internet, word processing, and email. These I feel are always going to be a necessary component of any computer assistance that you offer, whether it be a one on one consultation, or a group class booking.
Some Libraries are taking it a step further, Such as Yarra Plenty in Victoria, Brisbane City Library in Queensland and Sutherland Library in New South Wales to mention a few exemplary forerunners. They have continued the learning experience with value added courses that provide skills using technology in everyday lives, such as digital photography & scrap booking, Social Networking, Vodcasting and pod casting to mention a few.
But then I thought 'how does one run all of this?' I found a great article from Tame the Web: Ten Tips for Technology Training. Sure its a little old, but I do like the ideas that it suggests, not to make it a rigid structure but to have fun with the learning process, and to always keep a keen eye out for new ways to improve content. It's definitely something to think about when implementing new courses. This is reinforced by some succinct comments on David Lee King's blog.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Localising your Socialising
So we had our Technovisionaries meeting today and I feel that I have been goaded from my place in the real world to give my virtual persona some airing. Anyway today I was discussing the latest technological developments the Victorian state of Australia has been implementing to improve the lives of our southern brethren.
A big point of interest was the amount of blogs that were popping and a cropping up. Some even sported blogs for each individual library. Whilst this may give direct users a more pertinent source of information to access, the overlap of information across the branches surely would outweigh this. And to add to Bambino's post on the 1% rule, David Lee King Had an interesting point to make with how libraries are creating their own networks online, titled Don't Friend Me!.
A big point of interest was the amount of blogs that were popping and a cropping up. Some even sported blogs for each individual library. Whilst this may give direct users a more pertinent source of information to access, the overlap of information across the branches surely would outweigh this. And to add to Bambino's post on the 1% rule, David Lee King Had an interesting point to make with how libraries are creating their own networks online, titled Don't Friend Me!.
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