Old Ironsides | AASL Learning4Life Lesson Plan Database

Old Ironsides | AASL Learning4Life Lesson Plan Database

The End to the Beginning

It's amazing that the semester is over and I made it!  I knew this course would be both intimidating and exciting ~ intimidating because I had virtually no experience in technology outside of email and Sakai and exciting because I was about to learn a lot.  But, little did I know just how much I would learn and how much fun was involved!

Looking back, I have to say that my views towards Facebook haven't changed much.  I do view this as a more personal and "friend"ly tool and not one for the work force.  I've enjoyed my experience and may log in from time to time, but that's about it.  Twitter proved to be more for me for the simple reason of instant access and short talk times - I think Laura mentioned that she prefered Twitter for the limit in the amount of discussion.  I agree wholeheartedly.  I used Twitter for the simple questions or statements and, at one point, getting immediately in touch with a classmate because I knew she had twitter on her phone. 

I would have to say that my favorite has been blogging.  I like that it's the "hallmark" of social media where you are sending out the very best to all who want to be reached.  I have even convinced my brother-in-law to create a blog while he is spending 4 months living in Argentina.  I can't wait for the first blog and living life in Argentina through his eyes (he's an educator so it should prove very interesting). 

While I liked conducting a book review with social media tools, I don't think podcast is for me and that was the least enjoyable experience.  Having been exposed to Voki this morning during a lesson presentation, I would have preferred to use this instead; although I think there is a time limit with that as well.  In any event, I know we could use a variety of forms, and I, speaking as someone with limited knowledge, would have liked to have more options suggested. 

In offering input for possible changes to the course, I can honestly state that I tried my best to keep up to date with postings and the vast amounts of reading - 20+ classmates' posts, blogs, tweets, as well as required readings.  I've thought that it may have been more manageable had this have been a "regular" semester and not over the summer, but I'm not sure if that would have made a difference.   It just goes to show you that there is so much out in the virtual world and it's your preference as to how much you want to interact in it.

As for the future, I can say that I too feel more confident in the use of social media tools.  I feel I can be much more persuasive in helping our district incorporate at least some of these tools in the school libraries.  Working on an implementation plan was great and brought a "real life" component to the semester in showing what we can do for libraries.  I have certainly taken a lot of knowledge away from this experience and I am so grateful to have been part of this class. 

As for the class, Suellen, you are awesome and I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute! 
Classmates, it was great embarking on this social journey with you and all the learning that we shared.  Best of luck as you continue your journey and I'm sure we'll meet again somewhere in cyberspace!

Response to Question Raised from Book Review

In receiving my grade for the book review, Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Suellen posed a question that I did not reference in the actual review.  I would like to clarify now. 

I would think that this would relate to libraries’ use in understanding that it’s a patron’s personal preference whether they want to socialize and follow along with a library’s offerings via person or web.  While a library cannot focus on one or the other, they need to understand that it’s a personal preference of the patron.  I for one like to go in to the library to see what’s going on.  My local library does not have a great website, twitter or Facebook account.  However, I would be more than willing to follow a local library who is keeping current and up to date with the latest technologies, and taking the time to stay on top of postings. 

A library is a social entity – must know that everyone is different and it cannot go either way, but understand that all patrons are individuals and have individual preferences.  What one may like, another may not.  A library must know and understand this and offer all opportunities. 

The WHY Factor in Facebook and Social Networking sites

In reviewing various articles this week concerning Facebook, it struck me how little libraries have come with the use of Facebook.  Terra Jacobson in Facebook as a Library Tool: Perceived vs. Actual Use talks of the “how-to” component of using Facebook in their setting.  What’s interesting is that her study was conducted in 2007 and yet very little has changed.  Results of surveys given to librarians reflect their feeling that using Facebook did not serve an academic purpose, and those who incorporated Facebook onto their websites did not keep it up to date.  Is this due to too much of a burden on librarians or just no desire to see it work?

In Use of Facebook in academic health sciences libraries, from 2009, it seems like social media is being used by libraries to stay open or “afloat.”  This article concludes the same as Jacobson’s article in that libraries are using Facebook to market their services and have a presence in the social network.  However, this article adds that only a small number of actual libraries are using Facebook therefore making the result inconclusive in determining whether or not Facebook is useful in health science libraries.  I think this can be said about a majority of libraries.

I read these two articles a few times, over a period of days.  But it was not until I read Brian Mathews’ blog this morning that it actually occurred to me that libraries have been asking the wrong question.  They’ve been concerned with the “how to use” and not with the Why - Why is it needed? Why is it important? Why is it necessary and essential? 

Mathews’ blog states that we are past the dabbling stages.  I strongly agree with this.  What is also interesting is that he is the first to ask the question of “Why.”  In order to get everyone on board with the how to use social networking favorably, the “why we should” needs to be analyzed and answered.    As I tweeted this morning, I will be anxious to see the results of Mathews’ efforts he is undertaking this summer.  My fingers will stay crossed that he will be successful.

Along with answering the “Why” factor, Jacobson’s conclusion hits another powerful concept: using any type of social networking (the article focuses on Facebook) requires a lot of attention, and if a library cannot commit, it will not be a very useful or successful tool. 

Book Review

Hello~

Here is the link for my book review of Personal Connections in the Digital Age by Nancy K. Baym.  Enjoy!

http://julieobrien.podbean.com/

21st Century Library Catalog: NCSU

I tend to agree with this article in that the major problem was the difficulty of searching by subject.  So often narrowing down a search term seems next to impossible.  And, with the differences in language, not all terms mean the same to all people.  A few features that are discussed which seem great are the "auto-correction of mispelled words" and browsing the catalog without entering a search term.  Having the "browse titles by subject" screen is also a benefit.  This article was published in 2006.  I wonder why more online catalogs aren't more like this?

7 Twitter Rules You Must Ignore

Thanks for sharing this article Alessandro!  I've been playing catch up and toying around on Twitter with the hash tag feature.  I think I finally got it!  But I liked this article because it does bring up many myths.  One in particular is the one stating that twitter is not for businesses.  I could see twitter being a great tool for the supermarket industry (my husband's business): tweet when prices are going up (he constantly tells me when to stock up on items as he hears when prices are going up with or without packaging getting smaller!); tweet a link to the new weekly sales flyer; tweet to announce a new location or special sale.  Can you imagine the boost on twitter if a customer who refered to a specific tweet got a special sale price?  It beats having to have a special card!