HOWdy

So sorry for the late arrival! Some thoughts...

Lots of great launch points floating around here...Perhaps it's time to create a focus or a rough "outline"? Like Jessica, I'm having a hard time envisioning how this presentation is going to come together.

I think it's important to discuss both blogs and twitters(?) as examples of social networking resources. Some of the blogs listed in chapter 18 of our MLIS text might be worth discussion. I keep reading more and more that blogs are on the decline now that twitter has taken over. (Much like the myspace to facebook trend.) It might be a good idea to discuss long-term viability of these platforms as well as the "history" of blogging/microblogging.

Should we break up the topic into youth services vs academic vs adult services, etc?

I don't think we necessarily need to provide a link to our own blog if we have other "interactive" portions. Surveys, etc...

I like the idea of doing one long powerpoint, but don't know how to accomplish it logistically. I unfortunately use an older version of MS PowerPoint, so I can't use a lot of the great templates that are available.

Is there any interest in doing a web tour as part of our presentation? Actually "walking through" some of the sites with our classmates?

Remember the Individual Essays ... ?

Though it may seem strange to you, I've completed my 700 - 1000 word article review/critique. I decided to get it done early because it's the only individual part of this project.

The article I reviewed is The Joy of Blogging from the March 2009 issue of Educational Leadership. I've already uploaded my essay onto Google Docs. It can be accessed via our bart.twitterandblogs.slis account, obviously. Let me know your opinions and constructive criticisms!

- Caroline Han

Some Quick Twitter Links

Hi guys, here are some quick starting points for exploring Twitter:

We Follow: Librarians
We Follow is an index of Twitter users. Users can add themselves, along with up to five keywords that sum up their interests. Other users can then search for those keywords and see a listing of Twitter accounts, ranked by either "most influential" or "most followers."

Some folks I follow:

At Your Library: The ALA's public awareness account centers around promoting "the value of libraries and librarians." Good for news & links to recent articles & other resources.

ALA Library: The ALA's Library account, which works as sort of a reference desk for questions on libraries and librarianship. Another great source of interesting essays and articles, as well as librarian blogs.

Geek the Library: A good source for articles and essays looking at specific libraries & the issues they face, as well as challenges facing libraries in general.

One thing you might notice looking through these links is how much blogs and twitter have become intertwined, and how all sorts of social media enable ideas and information to be shared quickly throughout the profession.

- Nora

School Library Journal Asks: Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy?

I ran across an interesting article today (in fact, I ran across it in on Justin The Librarian's Twitter feed): Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy? More and more, it seems like the answer is an unequivocal "Absolutely." As Ellyssa Kroski notes,

The benefits of establishing a social media presence are becoming increasingly apparent as companies such as Dell share their success stories, but we’ve also heard tales of embarrassing Facebook mishaps, hothead Twitterers, and outspoken bloggers. In a time when the distinction between personal and professional realms is fading and seemingly everyone has a Facebook or Twitter profile, a social media policy is a useful way to set some ground rules for employees with regard to their online activities. It’s also a reminder that the content that they post isn’t private and may ultimately reflect on the organization.

A social media policy can help establish clear guidelines for staff members who are posting on behalf of the organization as well as employees with personal social media accounts. There are also standards being created for users, letting them know what’s acceptable to post to an organization’s blog and community pages.

So what sorts of things should a social media policy take into account? Kroski's list of suggested policies (which cover employees personal online activities as well as work-related blogs and tweeting) includes posting disclaimers with personal opinions, showing respect for copyright laws and other bloggers, maintaining transparency and preserving confidentiality. These all may seem like no-brainers, but in a world where personal and professional lives are both increasingly spent online, having these sorts of rules in place has become necessary.

Personally, I try to never mention my work life on my personal blog. This was especially true when I was teaching -- talking about how my life intersected with my students' seemed too personal and potentially inflammatory for the internet. But this article has me wondering: now that so many of us live in public, how can we keep our personal lives seperate from our professional ones? As I move towards librarian-hood, should I be more circumspect about posting my little real-life worries and adventures online? On the internet, where does the person end, and the job begin?

- Nora Sawyer

Informative Links

Here are some links I collected weeks ago regarding blogs:

• http://www.blog-connection.com/blog-articles.htm
• http://www.clickz.com/3438891
• http://www.libworm.com

- Caroline Han

Recap: Presentation Ideas

For the sake of reference, I am re-posting what I communicated via e-mail in regards to presentation ideas:

1.) Create four short PowerPoint presentations (1 per member):

• Examples of successful (and not so successful) real-life library blogs
• Dos and Don'ts of creating a blog for your library
• Compare and contrast various blog platforms (Blogger vs. LiveJournal vs. WordPress): which one is best for which library type?
• Compare blogging vs. micro-blogging: which is better for a library?

2.) Create one long PowerPoint presentation (all 4 members participate):

• One person can supply references and images
• One person can create the outline
• One person can turn the outline into a PowerPoint file
• One person can edit the PowerPoint file

In addition here are ideas from Stephanie:

• History of blogs/micro-blogs
• Examples of our own blog
  
• Speculations for the future of blogging in the e-library

I'm partial to #1 (and would like to take #3 of #1, were we to use that idea). What do you think?

- Caroline

Hrmm

Hi all! So, I'm still unsure of how we're supposed to incorporate our usage of this blog into our paper/presentation?

I do like Nora's idea of also creating a Twitter account so we can maybe compare the two? Possibly in ease of use? I don't know. It may cause too much of an overload with two sources to read from, etc. I'm still kind of at a loss as to how we're going to structure this paper/presentation. I think we still haven't decided on a focus for our project. Let's try to whittle it down to what we want to focus this on.

As Nora said, the due date is only 3 weeks away. Eek!

-Jessica

P.S. Sorry I haven't been able to provide many ideas about this whole thing. Work has gotten me quite stressed out!

First Ever Post

Hi Stephanie, Jessica, and Nora!

I've finally created our group blog. Remember, the social network resource group assignment is due in three weeks! Yikes! Below are suggestions on how to use this group blog:

• We can use the blog upload to rough drafts of our critique/reflective essay for review.
  
• We can upload rough drafts of our PowerPoint presentations for critique.
• We can point links to useful articles on blogs and blogging.
• We can communicate via a medium other than ANGEL email.
  

Do we also want to create a Twitter account for similar reasons? Let me know via this blog!

Sincerely,

Caroline Han