Thing 21 -- Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

Visit 23 Things on a Stick


I am not personally much of a social network user, and truthfully don't anticipate becoming much of one (too many things to do, not enough time to do everything--this one would fall a bit farther down my list). Although some of the sites I looked at could be of interest to and shared with patrons, I had a tougher time thinking of ways I could use some of these sites for the library in general. I will be curious to see what ideas others had on this matter! One of the sites I really do intend to use more myself professionally is WebJunctionMinnesota. I have spent a bit of time on this site in the past and know it to be useful--I just need to take the time to use it. I haven't read ahead yet, but know that using WebJunction is one thing I could do to continue learning new technologies and ways to use them.

One idea I will carry away from this Thing is Ning, the site for building social networks from scratch. (After reading the "Nine Ways to Build Your Own Social Network" article from TechCrunch, I think that is the one I would choose or recommend too.) I think that this site could be usefully referred to any patrons or local groups who were interested in building a social network.

The other element I found most useful from this Thing was the article on ways that nonprofits can use social networking to promote their causes and to network with organizations with similar interests and those who might support their causes. My library has contact with the local Early Childhood Coalition; the information in this article seemed like it might be of some interest to the Coalition and I will share it with them.

I will also make a note that social networks are ways that people who are looking for others with similar interests can make connections. I noted in passing that Ning had a network of Home Based Business owners; I personally spent a bit of time for this Thing exploring Gather.com.

NOTE ON THE ABOVE BADGE: When I copied the code from Ning and then tried to publish this post, the post would not publish but gave me an error code. I don't (regrettably) know HTML--but I learned enough from my dad in the early days of the Apple that I was able to compare the code I copied to other code and find the error. In case anyone else had the same problem, I added the phrase < / embed > (but with no spaces--I need to put spaces in so Blogger won't think I'm making another html error!) before the bit that starts out with
< small > (near the end) and then it published.

Thing 20 -- Libraries and Social Networks

This was an interesting introduction to MySpace and FaceBook; I enjoyed learning a bit more about these two sites and seeing how some libraries are using them.

I was unsurprised by the statistics in the Pew report about the number of teens using Social Networking sites, and pleased to see that a substantial number of online teens are using the internet to obtain information about news and current events.

One thing that really struck me from Meredith Farkas's "Information Wants to be Free" blogpost was the statement that the point of libraries using some of these technologies is not just to be where are patrons are, but to provide useful information and services where out patrons are--so when I looked at some of the ways libraries were using MySpace, I was looking to see what sorts of services they were providing. The sites I looked at were those for Denver Public Library, Hennepin County Library, Alexandria Public Library (Indiana), the Library Loft (Charlotte, NC), St. Paul Public Library, and Birmingham Public Library. The first four seemed like they were really targeting teens with their page; the latter two had some information or links which suggested that they might be trying to provide services to a post-teen patronage as well. Common features were links to the library catalog and reference databases and homework help. A couple of the sites had Meebo chat windows right on their front MySpace page; a couple of them had information or promotional video clips on their front pages. Denver Public Library had links to book and movie and music reviews or lists by teens, although I noted that all of the links were broken and had a page saying that there were problems with viruses or spam or phishing on those pages. There were lots of links to book lists, and the display of front covers added, I thought, visual interest.

The site that most impressed me was Hennepin County Library's site. I followed some of the links back into their catalog, and saw quite a few things there that are on my mental "wish list" (and hopefully to be included in the next 5-year-plan). I particularly liked their "Great Reading Ideas" lists. The lists seemed similar to what might be obtained through a NovelList search, but the work was already done for the teen (or anyone) looking, and the names of the lists, with their accompanying descriptions, seemed well done (for example, the "It's Due Tomorrow" list (description: "Skinny books for book reports"). I noticed that several of the books on the list had comments by people who had read them.

I don't think that MySpace and FaceBook are sites that I would use very much personally, so I did not at this time create a site. I would like to see a Teen Advisory Group get started at my library--and I think the pros and cons, and potential usefulness of starting a MySpace site for the library, and what sorts of things teens would include or find useful, would be an excellent discussion to have with such a group.

Thing 19 -- Podcasts

Although I've listened to a couple of podcasts in the past, I'd linked directly to them based on recommendations and had not previously done much searching. Accordingly, I did run a few searches in each of the 5 directories given in the resource section of this Thing.

I found the podcast that I actually listened to in Yahoo Podcasts; it was the 2007 Minnesota Book Awards Finalists program at the Minneapolis Public Library, available here. The podcast to which I subscribed was the NPR Books podcast. I found the latter on Podcast.com.

In terms of which directory I preferred for searching....I like PodcastAlley's location feature, and that you could easily access a list of podcasts by location. Podcast.com seemed very neatly organized with topical folders and subfolders, and the RSS feed option was very accessible and easy to use. I think I would choose Podcast.net as my favorite, though. The layout reminded me of the Librarian's Index to the Internet with topical headings that could be opened up to reveal subheadings. I also thought they had done the most with smart search features, allowing searches to be designated by keyword or title/description or host or episode or location.

As to whether or not this Thing has inspired me to do any podcasting or subscribe to and listen to podcasts....well, I will probably listen to at least a couple of the podcasts that come up in my RSS feeder since I subscribed to them! In the long run, though, listening to podcasts is not how I see myself spending a whole lot of my time--though I will perhaps occasionally search topics of interest to me. While it would be interesting to post podcasts of author visits, I suspect that actually doing so will probably fall a bit farther down the list of all of the things that I could start doing based on everything I'm learning in the 23 Things on a Stick program!

Thing 18 -- YouTube and Other Online Video

After viewing the video clips posted in this Thing, and doing some searching of my own in both YouTube and Yahoo Videos, I decided to post the above clip in this blog entry. It's a video clip from one of the concerts given at Aurora's Northern Lights Music Festival in the summer of 2006. I enjoy classical music, and having the annual festival in Aurora is a great delight to me--so I figured I'd share the clip with anyone else reading who might be interested.

I did other searches of local interest in both sites I searched, as well (of course!) a number of searches related to library topics. One thing I looked for was how other libraries were using YouTube to promote early literacy and their story times. I found several video clip commercials for various library story times as well as some video clips about early literacy and its importance. I also found various video clip commercials for teen reading programs. If we do get a Teen Advisory Group at our library, I might well introduce this idea and see if teens think that posting a video promoting the Teen Reading Program would be an effective way to encourage local teens to get involved.

I could think of any number of ways that video clips on library web sites could be useful--video tutorials of the basics of searching the library catalog and reference databases, promotions for library events, booktalking, etc. As many of our users still have dial-up internet access, however, I am careful about what I put on the library's web site so that it does not take so long to load that it discourages patrons from using it at all.

Other thoughts on my brief online video experience....as expected, I found rather more in YouTube than in Yahoo Videos....I noted that phrase searching using quotation marks worked in YouTube and did not seem to work as well in Yahoo Videos....the relevancy seemed more on target in YouTube than in Yahoo Videos....in both cases, I would have very much appreciated the ability to use the "NOT" Boolean operator to weed out things that, while they included my search terms, did not match what I was looking for.

The other thing I wondered about, and did a bit more searching on, was online video and copyright issues. In the case of the video I posted, the composer and performer is the one who posted the video, so there are clearly no copyright issues. I did wonder about how fair use came into play with people posting video clips of performances they had attended, or background music used for various video clips. One of the story time videos I found videotaped reading an entire picture book, with close-ups of the pictures on each page; that one raised fair use flags for me. I would want to do more research on copyright issues before posting anything about which I had any doubts.

Thing 17 -- ELM Productivity Tools

I find the ELM databases useful, and while I am usually able to help patrons locate information they are seeking, I was not as familiar with some of the tools in this thing. So, more good things to learn! I thought it was handy that RSS feeds can be set up for specific searches--though I, too, had to access ELM through the ELM4You portal; I did not see the RSS feed option available when I accessed ELM through our system catalog. I, too, had to try a couple of times to figure out how to subscribe; I succeeded by clicking on the XML button, clicking on the "Subscribe to this feed" option, and then accessing the "Common Feed List" by clicking on the yellow star on my Internet Explorer toolbar. I could see the definite use of such a subscription for anyone, either me or a patron, who is looking to track a particular topic over time.

I wasn't aware of all of the formats in which information from ELM could be saved and emailed or downloaded; I don't know how much use I will make of them, but I will try to remember them!

I also realized that I need to remember NetLibrary more than I do; while I have referred a couple of patrons looking for more technical materials to it, we definitely do not check the availability of titles in NetLibrary and giving that option to our patrons before placing an out-of-system Interlibrary Loan request. This thing gave me some good reminders as well as a few new-to-me things.

Thing 16 -- Student 2.0 Tools

I think that the Assignment Calculator and the Research Project Calculator have been fairly well publicized and I have glanced through them in the past, although never in quite as much detail as I did for this Thing.

I will definitely keep the Assignment Calculator in mind should we have college students looking for help in organizing research. It looks like excellent, in-depth information for serious students. I was curious about the suggestion that by choosing a specific topic, the assignment calculator would provide specific targeted information, so in experimenting with it, I made my theoretical research topic in the area of health services. I agreed with the suggestion; the "Research Quickstart" sections did provide suggestions of specific web sites and reference titles that probably would have been useful had I been seriously looking for information on health services.

The Research Project Calculator, targeted more toward high school students and teachers, seemed like it would be of more use at my library based on the people we have asking for information. I will definitely refer students who are looking for help with different aspects of writing a research paper to the Research Project Calculator--and could definitely open it up with them and help them navigate the steps. I occasionally offer workshops to homeschooling families on various aspects of doing research and using the library. I believe that I could use the Research Project Calculator as a tool for putting together a workshop on the stages of the research process--and I could envision such a workshop being in two parts, one targeted for the students, and one for the parents who are teaching them. I will also share the web site with a teacher who is on my Library Board and the staff at the school library; the site, along with the posters and handouts, seemed like they could be very useful tools for teachers.

I did come up with one question skimming the information, though; one tip on keyword searching stated that if you enter two words and get 0 or very few results, you should type AND between the two words to get more results; I wonder if they didn't mean OR?

Thing 15 -- Online Games and Libraries

My library system fairly recently held a workshop focusing on gaming and libraries, and Thing 15 provided a bit more information about the role of online gaming in people's lives and its place in the library. On a philosophical note, I think that the great interest and myriad applications of Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way that people seek information, interaction, and involvement in projects. I also believe that increasingly, companies, higher education institutes, and service organizations are going to expect applicants to have the ability to collaborate not only in traditional ways but also in online environments--and many of the MMORPG's (I learned a new acronym!) offer creative and fun way to develop online collaborative problem-solving and communication skills. Many teens and younger adults are already excited about gaming and are coming to use library computers for gaming; I believe that offering and supporting gaming opportunities in the library will continue to draw in new library patrons and will also expose them to other library services as well.

For this Thing, I opted to learn a bit more about Second Life. I was particularly interested in learning more about Info Island, as well as the Eye4You Alliance Island in Teen Second Life, as I think that providing library services in a virtual world is an innovative way to extend services and provide learning opportunities. From the statistics, it seems that a good number of people are visiting the information services islands; however, I would have been intererested in more specific information about how people were using the islands, what sorts of information they were looking for, etc. Although it was a hefty document, I did find a bit more of what I was looking for in "A Report on the of the First Year of Operation of the Alliance Second Life Library 2.0 Project Also Known as the Alliance Information Archipelago" here. (I especially noted p. 25, which estimated that 30% of the reference questions asked pertained to Second Life, another 30% to Info Island, and 30% were traditional reference questions.). I also was impressed with the ways in which teen volunteers were getting involved in the Eye4You Alliance Island project. My library is in the early planning stages of our next long-range plan; one thing I would like to see included is starting a Teen Advisory Group at our library.