Thing 23: School’s Out Forever

Ha! Just kidding.

23 Things on a Stick was, in a word, well-organized.  I’m impressed with the selection of tools and how useful they will be across the many different library-types that are represented in this challenge. I enjoy blogging (have kept a personal blog since Nov 2007) and plan to keep a more-work-related blog here, as a way to keep current, and to give a little thought to what I’m seeing.

Favorite Things were Ning and Del.ici.ous. I had been avoiding them for so long, and I can really see their usefulness.

How did I connect with others?  I left a few comments, but mostly I contacted people I already knew and said “hey, are you blogging?”  The thing I keep coming back to about online social networking is that the key word is still social.  I’m shy IRL, and I’m shy online.  But it’s getting easier.

Thing 22: Staying Current

Playtime is good.

It is important to play with the tools and incorporate them thoughtfully into library services, and it is important to understand how they are changing behavior and expectations. For example, while YouTube is entertaining, it’s also changed the expectation that we see the video instantly. So, make downloadable videos available through the library. And the more one uses (facebook, flickr, blogs) the more one expects to be able to comment on what they see, so add a ‘comment’ function to your catalog. Let your patrons participate actively in your online presence. It’s radical trust, people.

I have found that blogging really forces me to give thought to something new I’ve encountered, and I intend to keep blogging about library stuff here.

Most importantly, I’m going to take a deep breath anytime I come across a new tool.

Thing 21: Social networking with teens

I would love to propose something like Gather or Ning to my Classics Book Club for teens this summer as a way to keep going over the school year. Last year they wanted to meet year round, but with my schedule and other responsibilities, I could not commit to the book club that they wanted each month. I tried. I looked at my schedule upside down and backwards, and my time just didn’t allow for that level of programming throughout the year. PLUS, I know how busy they get during the year. It would be nearly impossible to find a time that most could meet. HOWEVER, these tools could be used to keep the momentum going through the school year.

The problem? I have a hard time asking them to create an account with a specific social tool. Liability issues aside (for now), most of them are on facebook…so I could possibly create a Classics book club group there…but not all are on facebook. In the meantime, I’ll explore to see if they can participate anonymously in something, and keep exploring. And, think about how to propose this to my manager.

Any thoughts? Are you using these tools with teens?

Thing 21: More social networking

Ugh. Ning. It feels less anonymous to me, for some reason. Plus, it looks too busy. So I have always avoided it.  I can appreciate it, but this was the first time in the Web 2.0 explorations that I felt like “oh, maaaan! one more thing I have to log into and check”.  The feeling will pass.

One good thing though. I forced myself to create a group. I pushed myself outside my comfort zone, just a little bit more. And, after actually creating an account and exploring a little bit, I can appreciate it’s capacity for letting people create a social network for a particular interest. And it helps me navigate the Nerdfighters group a little bit more.

Thing 20: LinkedIn and MySpace and Facebook, Oh My!

My venture into the Web 2.0 world started with a MySpace account in November of 2006 to prepare for an Internet Safety training I was doing for the local community education. It was really quite fun, but also a bit anxiety-producing when I stumbled across old friends and ex-friends from high school. Should I read their profiles? Are they reading mine? I went right back to my own adolescence for about a month, and it was not fun. Got over it quick, though.

Professionally, I am more interested in LinkedIn (because the focus is professional connections), and Facebook (because businesses can create pages that are separated from your friends, unlike MySpace).

Facebook

I have been on Facebook since (probably) August of 2007, and I like it quite a bit. The “one-stop shop” aspect of it (email, playful apps, photos, IM) is really key, plus most people who are on social networks are going to be there. Some of the groups I have joined include Reading is Sexy (because it is), I Love YA Books (because I do), The Minnesota Library Association (because I like the events updates), and of course, the group a teen volunteer created for our library (only, it didn’t turn out to be as active as we thought it would be). She and I created the page together, and she invited her friends who were on Facebook to join the group.

I like displaying things about myself (my visual bookshelf, being a fan of Al Franken, etc) and being playful online with connections that I wouldn’t maintain otherwise. Libraries can do the same with their pages.

Thing 19: Podcasts

I’m an iTunes gal, and have subscribed to a number of podcasts over the years. At my height I listened to about 30 podcasts regularly — I’m now down to 2 (The Word Nerds and Grammar Girl).

I think that podcasting is a great way to involve your patrons or audience and keep them engaged in your programming. Recently I attended an author event at the University of Minnesota bookstore. (Lynne Cox. Awesome.) The bookstore extends their services by offering their author lectures in a series of podcasts too. I think it is a great way to involve a larger audience, and to keep those people who came *once* involved. Same goes for the MPR podcasts — smart way to keep your audience involved.

Am I inspired to create a podcast? Personally, no. Professionally, I think it’s important. My library system has made audio versions of booktalks available on our website, and there is a regular podcast created by teens for TeenLinks.

Like blogging, I think it would be important to create a unique voice or angle for yourself if you want to get and keep a regular listening audience.

Thing 18: YouTube

This medieval help desk video reminds me of the frustration with learning new technologies, but that we can and should embrace them….

I have used YouTube in library programs. Last year we read Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park for the girls book club and, seeing as though I couldn’t get my hands on any mulberry leaves or silkworms, I showed videos of how silk is made so we had a visual of the project the characters were working on.

My teen volunteers are currently working on making a video for me to show to groups that visit the library this summer.  Other libraries in my system have held video contests, and posted the entries on YouTube.  The only downside is that the library currently does not provide video editing equipment or software, so we have to rely on the equipment that our patrons have.  Which is fine, just a bit frustrating.

Thing 17: Database productivity tools

And the winner, by a landslide, is ProQuest.

This rocks. I mean, this ROCKS! I love Love LOVE that we can create search alerts with databases. Smart SMART move on the companies’ parts, and I think my tech-savvy patrons will be thrilled to learn about this.

But they aren’t there yet..there are some technical difficulties (compatibility issues?) to work out.

1. Creating an RSS feed through the ELM Gale resources was challenging (would NOT go into my Google Reader, only my browser), and creating an RSS feed from the databases my library subscribes to didn’t work either because the reader doesn’t link via the library’s site, so you can’t access the articles.
2. Creating a webpage within the EBSCOHost databases is a cool idea, especially for collaborating. HOWEVER, once again, if you do this through your library’s subscriptions, the web page you just saved to your hard drive does not link to the text via your library’s subscription information, so you still have to log in and find the articles using their reference information.
3. ProQuest is the best. Their webpage feature lets me copy and paste in html format, and lets me access the content provided I’m logged via my library’s subscription portal already.

In conclusion, the best thing I gleaned from this Thing is to revisit the databases to check out their new features more regularly. I’m sure there is a tool that would email me to remind me to do this…

Thing 16: Student 2.0

I am quite impressed with the Research Project Calculator developed by Minitex and MNLink (based on the University of Minnesota’s Assignment Calculator). The next logical step (in my mind, anyway) is to make it a Facebook application.

I’m most delighted by the fact that the outlines incorporate information literacy, which is definitely something public libraries can play a role in.

Ways that I could use this particular tool in the public library setting?

• Provide a link to this resource on our resources for homework help
• Mention it in presentations or with communications with teachers (we’re in this together, aren’t we?)
• Make my teen volunteers write essays about how wonderful the library is every week, and use this tool to email them their schedule for completing their essays. (No. Just have to make sure you’re reading this! Hee hee).
• A possible tool for creating a timeline for a presentation — this would save me from taking the time to work backwards in my planner.

That’s all I have so far. Any additional ideas out there?  Leave them in the comments!
Note: I tried using the RPC for an event I’m planning. As of today, I have 153 days before the event. I don’t think this knowledge alone helps me. Makes me think I’ve got all the time in the world! When really, no. I don’t.

Thing 15: Second Life

I joined Second Life in January 2007. I was fascinated and intrigued for about a month, I adored my alter ego, and had some “playmates” that I enjoyed. I didn’t meet any librarians because a) they were never there at Info Island when I was, b) I didn’t have the $$ to start a project so couldn’t insert myself in any kind of collaboration, and c) I was still my shy self. I played with my “friends” for about 8 months before deleting the account. I had no intention of knowing them IRL, so what’s the point?

Question: Is there a roll for Second Life in libraries?
Answer: No.
Long Answer: Still no. I appreciate that Alliance has a grant to pay for server space in Second Life, and for staff time to create and maintain those islands and supporting information. I do believe that there should be a library presence in Second Life, but I don’t believe it should be incorporated into regular workflow, or incorporated into public libraries – yet. Our patrons aren’t there, the software is clunky, there is scheduled downtime all the time and unscheduled downtime even more often, and the lag during peak usage hours was AWFUL. It might make more sense for a university library IF that university has a presence and IF they are using SL to conduct distance learning classes.

Question: Are there insights to be gleaned from Second Life?
Answer: Sure.
Long Answer: Just as you can apply any out-of-library experience to the library world, you can apply what you witness from Second Life to your library. An example? You can try the self-checkout at Ikea and apply your perspective from that experience to the self-checkout at your library. You can visit Info Island in Second Life and either a) find nobody there, or b) find librarians who are too busy talking about their own thing, and then go back to your library with a new perspective of what it might be like for a patron coming to your building for the first time. Really, the few librarians that I met weren’t especially welcoming. The guys who ran the Irish Pub on the other hand – AWESOME at welcoming newcomers.

My (not necessarily insightful) insights?

• Avatars are powerful. In the online world, an avatar can give that face-to-face feeling of intimacy and makes it more personal. Add avatars or pictures to your IM reference service or to your homepages.
• Keep perspective. The library projects that I saw or sessions I attended were cool, but they didn’t have a huge impact on SL itself. And they’re worth it. The event I had at my library last week was cool, but it might not have had a huge impact on my community itself. And it was worth it. So, this is not to undermine the work we do, but just to say that it is humbling to keep the self-congratulations at a minimum.
• Librarians don’t own information the way they used to. If I wanted to learn how to do something in SL, the library wasn’t a one-stop shop for me. In fact, it wasn’t a destination at all. If I wanted to find something or learn how to do something in SL, I would just ask whoever was around me at the time, and probably get my answer there.
• The library still goes un-noticed by non-library-minded folk. During my time in SL, the only people who knew about the Information Island Archipelago were librarians or people from related fields. Their events were not posted on the public search very well, and the traffic was low compared to other sites. And trust me, when I “got together” with my “playmates,” going to “the library” was not on our list of things to do in SL. Even when I suggested it. So, how do we reach the non-library users in our real life communities?
• It might not be the point of the Alliance network to have an impact on SL. Even if they are, I get that it doesn’t happen overnight. They are using SL as a tool to explore virtual worlds. It is an innovative project, and I’m glad they and others are doing it, and that they’re sharing their experience with the library world. Just as we can’t learn the 23 things by reading about them, we can’t learn about SL without trying it.