Home Stretch!
Hope this message finds you all well! Just wanted to send a quick note to say hello and to wish you all the best of luch with your finals and end of the semester. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me with any questions you may have. Cheers!
How Do You Envision the Library of the Future?
Now that classes are underway, many of you are likely starting to encounter questions in your courses regarding concepts such as “Web 2.0,” “Library 2.0,” and the “library of the future.” As you will soon discover, these concepts can mean different things to different people. Personally, I find that heartening. Because libraries–whether brick and mortar or virtual–are places of community, libraries should vary depending on the specific needs of the communities they serve. An excellent article on the subject, titled “Library of the Future–Today” was authored by Barbie E. Keiser and published in Searcher (Permalink to EBSCO, login required) magazine in October 2010. I highly recommend reading the article, as it is rich in discussion of issues that you will address throughout your time at SLIS. One of my favorite excerpts, because it is so true and important to understand (especially as you embark on your professional journey), reads as follows:
“Change is omnipresent, affecting everything we do, and the pace at which change is occurring is picking up. So how do we deal with the aspects of our work situations most affected by change? As changes continue to occur, we need to embrace the concept of lifelong learning for ourselves, our staffs, and our colleagues. Our action plan must incorporate elements of training and education at all levels and for all aspects of our work, technical and otherwise” (Keiser, 2010, p. 21).
What types of change do you see on the horizon for libraries and librarians? How will you prepare for change?
Keiser, B. E. (2010). Library of the future — today!, Searcher, 18(8), 18-54.
Who Doesn’t Love School Supplies?
I don’t know about you, but throughout my lifetime of being a student (yes, it’s almost been a lifetime) one of my favorite things about starting a new semester is school supplies! Thanks to the writers at the blog Mashable, we can all get our geek on and marvel at some of the coolest new school supplies. I love those floppy disk post-its!
Reading Socially
Some of us in LIBR 203 have been discussing books a lot lately. Ebooks versus print? Reading course materials on an eReader or in hard paper copies? What effect, if any, does the increasing use of eBooks have on libraries? These are all wonderful questions, and ones I hope you will be able to discuss in detail throughout your studies at SLIS.
Sharing What You're Reading in Google+
For today’s post, I thought I would share news about two new tools that will enable readers to read, well, socially. The first is a feature in Google+, which allows Google+ users to essentially create “literary circles.” Step-by-step instructions on how to use this feature is provided by the Inside Google Books blog. To create your literary circles, you simply click on the share button > enter the URL from Google Books for the book you are reading > select the circle(s) with whom you’d like to share the post > write a comment about the book to your friends > and then click Share. Voila!
Share What You're Reading with Kindle Reading App
The second tool I’d like to share is a social networking site released by Amazon.com for users of its Kindle device (or users on other devices who have installed Amazon’s Kindle Reading Apps). The site is called https://kindle.amazon.com. The Amazon social network allows users to set up profile pages, which enables them to create Public Notes on the eBooks they are reading. The Public Notes may be shared with other users, and members of the social network site are able to “follow” other readers. Another handy feature, much like the algorithm that drives Amazon’s suggestion tool within its consumer site, is the calculation of the percentage of how similar other members’ reading tastes are to your own, based on the books they have said they read in Public Notes.
Friday Fun: Singing the Blues
When words can’t express how you’re feeling, you gotta sing the blues. If you have the blues, you won’t after watching this. Enjoy 203ers!
Thoughts on Library Use of Social Media
The biggest contributor for failure in library implementation of social software is the “if we build it, they will come” mentality. Putting up a social media site in haste, without the benefit of any forethought, any reasoned basis for the site’s existence, or any plan in place for the maintenance of the site, does such a disservice to the library, its patrons, and the individuals who invested time in creating the site. Without a purpose, a site may appear random and fail to garner interest. Without individuals to contribute content on a regular basis, a site will become stagnant and again fail to garner interest (and likely lose any existing “friends,” “fans,” or members). And without demonstrated interest on the part of the library’s patron community, a site becomes difficult to justify, particularly now, when so many libraries are facing such drastic budgetary constraints. It’s hard to unring the bell, so to speak, when a social media site is implemented–and inevitably received–poorly.
A related problem to this, I think, is the problem of falling into a rut with a social media site. If a site is as fortunate as to garner significant initial interest, the operators of the site must work proactively in order to sustain that interest. That means contributing content often, involving a diverse group of contributors and members in the community, reaching out to newcomers, and–for the librarians involved in site maintenance–engaging in ongoing continuing education activities in order to keep current on media and usage trends.
The foregoing applies equally, of course, to individual librarians who dive into the social media stream. Now, in the context of LIBR 203, students need only create a blog and submit several posts for grading as part of the course requirements. At the end of the course, students may continue to maintain their blog (many SLIS students find this helpful as a journal that eventually proves valuable in connection with their ePortfolio), deactivate their blog, or delete it all together (if electing the latter, remember to save your content somehow, as it is difficult (and sometimes impossible) to retrieve content once a blog is deleted from the blogging site’s server).
What say you, 203ers? What are some of the things you think librarians can do to ensure that their own or their libraries’ social media sites are successful? Do you anticipate keeping your blog active after class?
Friday Fun for the End of Week One!
Congratulations on making it through the first week of class, 203ers! You’ve all done brilliantly. For some Friday fun, I am sharing a video of Maru — one of the more famous cats on the interwebs. Maru loves boxes, and his determination shows us all that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Enjoy!
