A to Z of Social Networking Tools : Module 3

ACTIVITY

READ the post A to Z of Social Networking for Libraries (22 January, 2010) on the Social Networking for Libraries blog.

Consider this advice in terms of a library and information agency that you know (as an employee or user). Select advice from five (5) letters of this A-Z list and consider how these may be applied to this library to help it embrace a Library 2.0 ethos. Write up your findings as a post (of no more than 350 words in your OLJ).

A-active, in order for your library patrons to view you as being serious about your social networking and for it to work for you and your library, you need to use it on a regular basis.

It is important that Tweed Library remains active on its social networking tools so that members of the public notice that it wants to be a permanent and active part of the online communities that it chooses to participate in. If members of the public are seeing regular Facebook and twitter updates from Tweed Libraries than it will feel more a part of the library community and thus more likely to use the library in their everyday lives.

G-Good Reads, Do your patrons need some ideas of what to read? Help them out with Good Reads.

In the modern world library patrons can become time poor very easily and do not want to spend a lot of valuable time searching the shelves for something to read. Setting up a Good Reads item both online and in house would save library patrons a lot of time by suggesting something for patrons to read. The item could be set up so that it would have daily reviews of a couple of interesting books through its online website, blogger post, Facebook post and twitter accounts. This would also help the library achieve the above goal of remaining active in the community.

Y- Youth- using social networking allows you to connect on a deeper level with young people.

Youth use social networking tools every day as their main form of communication with each other. Tweed library needs to set up its online social networking tools with youth so that they are aware of the existence, remain interesting and also can  be used as a good way to seek feedback  from youth as to programs and stock that they would like to see their local library hold and run.

R-Reference- you may think that offering reference services via social networking is impossible but the reality is that so many of your patrons use Facebook, twitter and YouTube that you can offer the answers to frequently asked questions as a form of reference services on these sites.

Facebook, Twitter and you tube offer valuable opportunities for the library to inform its community of the resources that it has available to them. For example with school holidays coming up  the library could inform its parents and children in the community of any  school holiday kids’ activities that it may be holding and also take the chance to market any craft books and kids dvd’s that may be useful to parents during this time.

B- Blog, does your library have a blog. This is a great way for you to offer value and content for your library and it has become the standard for libraries to have one.

A blog would be useful for the Library to inform users of anything that may be happening in the library and also a way of seeking user feedback in the comments column under any posts that the library may make.

Module 1

I have learnt a lot of new wonderfully interesting things in Module 1!

Exploring the second life website..
Discoving what icloud was

Probably the most eye opening discovery during module 1 was the video on youtube titled "social media revolution". Some of the statistics in relation to facebook . were amazing as I will share below.
* TV took 13 years to reach 13 million users, the internet took 4 years, the ipod 3 and FACEBOOK ADDED 100 MILLION USERS IN LESS THAN 9 MONTHS!!!!
* If facebook were a country it would be the worlds 4th largest

I also found it amazing and  sad that 24 out of the 25 largest newspapers in the world are experiencing record declines in circulation. I am going to be one of the older generation who has experienced both print and online social media which I find to be a privilage as I am loving doscovering this new online technology but also being able to  read a hardcopy book with enjoyment!!!.


This week I looked up how to make a bonless leg of lamb on the internet and one of the pages that I came across was someones cooking blog

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/meat-recipes/roast-boneless-leg-of-lamb/

I was also able to sign up and be notified of new updates on my twitter account!.

The topic has made me think so much more about the web 2.0 technologies that I use but take for granted everyday. For example talking to another mum recently  who was interested in where I bought my modern cloth nappies I was able to share the website link with her through my Facebook page. Hows that for cheap and easy marketing!!!
Downloading songs for ipod this morning I also noticed that I was able to share links to my facebook account of artists that I would like to share with others!.

Now I look forward to reading and reporting on module 2

What is Social networking ?.

Social networking can be defined as the sharing of information  using web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook to share information about what a person or organisation  is doing.and  to seek feedback on this information.  The type of information shared  can include, Videos, Photo’s and  Written information

I currently use the social network website  of Facebook  to share information and photos about what I am doing in my everyday life. I find this technology easy to use and the appeal of it to me is that I can write one entry for all my friends and family rather than having to send individual emails. The fact that it is quick to check and see what everyone is doing really appeals to me as I am a busy mum, student and employee who is rather time poor and would not normally  have time to keep in touch with others the way that Facebook allows me too.

Recently I have subscribed to the Facebook group for the National year of reading 2012 for work.

I also use the social networking tool of Youtube for both personal and study purposes. I find youtube is great for distance education study as online podcasts allow me to put a face to my lecturers name and vice versa.

In this subject of “Social networking” I expect to learn  about different types of social networking  tools and the way they work so  that I can benenfit my organisation to use these technologies to reach out to current library users and also potentional  library users.