Thing #7 – Web 2.0 Communication Tools September 27, 2009

There are so many types of communication tools available to librarians today.  Many of these are used so that users may contact librarians about reference questions.  I personally have used e-mail and IM for reference-related inquiries.  However, text messaging would be a great way to connect to today’s users, as well.  It might just be me, but I would rather talk to a librarian in person or by phone if it is going to be a complicated questions.  However, most people would rather do nothing in person (including breaking up with significant others!).

Most libraries these days offer some form of Web 2.0 communication.  It is a great way to communicate with young users especially.  It is quite evident that even as libraries are using these new forms of communications, they are always looking for something that will be newer and better that will attract more users to the library’s fount of information.  I look forward to using more of these great communication tools.

Thing #6 – Online Image Generators September 27, 2009

I think the idea of a trading card for librarians is very neat.  It allows the students to get to know the librarians through a very “hip” way.   It’s a way to reach out to the community through a new avenue.   I enjoyed looking at Carleton College’s trading cards!  They obviously knew what they were doing.   I played around with the trading cards a little bit.  Here’s what I came up with.

Thing #5 – More Flickr September 23, 2009

I enjoyed exploring Flickr a little more.  I think I am beginning to like it more than I did when I first started playing with it.  The mashups were pretty cool to play with.  I think I could have played around with them for a long time!  I think that many of the tools would be really cool to make posters for events coming up at the local library.  If the posters have a more hip design, it is possible that it would draw more people into the library for the event.  It will show that the library is not an outdated organization that it is aware of popular culture and its new applications.

(Btw the picture above was taken this summer, and it is of me, on the right, and my sister Esther on the left.)

Thing #4 – Flickr September 21, 2009

For this particular assignment, we had to play around with Flickr.  This is my first experience with this service, and I have mixed feelings.  I did open an account and added a few photos.  However, I don’t see what’s so great about it. (I feel like I should apologize to someone…)  Anyway, I have heard for the past several years how great Flickr is, and I don’t see how it’s different from putting them up on Facebook or something like that.

Maybe I’m not giving it enough credit.  I will say that the one feature that I love is the map!  The map is so cool!  You can actually place photos on the map by where they were taken.  I am a big geography lover, so this is a really cool thing to be able to view photos by where they were taken.

I’m not giving up on it yet…maybe I need to play with it some more.

Thing #3 – RSS Feeds September 13, 2009

I am going to start by saying that I am completely new to RSS feeds.  I have known what they were before this assignment, but I wasn’t sure exactly how they worked.  I chose Google Reader to set up my feeds.  I very much like the idea of the RSS feed.  Upon first glance, I’m not sure that I like that you still have to click on the link to read it with the actual website background, etc.  It seems to me that it would be better if it looked like the website or blog that you were following.  But I guess, that is just me being picky!

I didn’t have any problems setting up my account in Google Reader or figuring out how to add feeds.  It was very easy, as the name implies.   I added the blogs of my fellow 23 Things bloggers, a blog for one of my classes, and some LIS blogs that I will be reading in preparation for Comps.  I just have to remember to check the reader now!

Thing #2 September 11, 2009

After watching the clip by Stephen Abrams and reading the blog posting, I am coming more to understand the significance of Library 2.0 in the local library.  I really liked the quote that John Blyberg used in his post by Sarah Houghton.

“Library 2.0 simply means making your library’s space (virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative, and driven by community needs. Examples of where to start include blogs, gaming nights for teens, and collaborative photo sites. The basic drive is to get people back into the library by making the library relevant to what they want and need in their daily lives…to make the library a destination and not an afterthought.”

In the past when I have thought about Library 2.0, I have thought it was just about technology.  However, after reading the blog post, I realize that it involved more than just technology.  It is the attitude of the library, not just what the library does or offers (although it has a lot to do with those aspects).  The library has to learn to be relevant to today’s young users.  For instance, Facebook is a huge deal.  I know that many libraries, organizations, and businesses are making fan pages for FB users to add.  However, is Facebook able to be accessed in the public library?  (I honestly do not know the answer to this question.  I haven’t tried to get on FB in my local library.)  The library must take the steps to be visible, but they must not prohibit these things within the library environment.

The library isn’t the only one that is taking advantage of Library 2.0.  Recently, the Sam Noble Natural History Museum had a slumber party that was modeled after the recent blockbuster “A Night at the Museum:  Battle of the Smithsonian.”   It was a very clever way to engage the public and be relevant in today’s society, and it didn’t involve technology.

This Thing gave me a lot to think about as to how a library can become more relevant to its constituents.  Thank you for the very thought-provoking ideas!

Thing #1 September 10, 2009

I am reviving my blog.  It hasn’t been getting very much love in the past few months.  I used it for my Digital Collections class last Fall, so I thought I would reuse it for Design and Implementation of Web-based Information Services.

I am going to complete  23 Things on a Stick, which is a tutorial on Library 2.0 technology.  I hope to learn lots of new and interesting things that I might employ in my personal and professional lives.  I am sadly behind on many technological tools, so I really hope that this course brings me up to speed on some technologies that are present everywhere.

For Thing #1, we were supposed to set up a blog.  Completed.   Stay tuned for Thing #2.