Notecentric, LinkedIn, and Jobster

NoteCentric - Oh, my, where was this when I was schooling? As a once avid note-taker in all my classes, this site could have accelerated my learning curve substantially. I like the fact that it includes specific courses for students to join and compare notes. If a student missed a class, the ability to read others' notes would be so much easier than trying to borrow them after the fact. I think questions would be more forthcoming if students did not agree with each others' notes, teachers could check up on students to make sure they understood the imparted information, and it would be interesting to see how others in the class heard what was said.

LinkedIn reminds me of Classmates.com, a nasty site that just won't go away. I do not wish to set up an account because I don't know just how invasive it is in terms of pop-ups, etc.

I like Jobster because you do not have to set up an account to view job listings. I also like the search format - job title and zip or state. I think this is a keeper.

Twitter

This site seems to me to be an extension of Instant Messaging. To be honest, I don't see its use in the personal realm, but it could be used by the library to send broadcasts to staff. That, of course, assumes we would all have access to text messaging or a computer most of the day.

I "found" Susan Lee, Shirlee, and Kara. Two of the three were private, so I guess Twitter sent a request to them so I could follow. I did set up an account, but do not have the time or interest to gather my friends into a group. As it is I have five email accounts, three of which are for work. I do not text message, and see no plans to pick up on that in the future.

This site is great for kids who have all the time in the world to send answers to "What are you doing now?" As an adult with a few jobs and many other responsibilities, this site seems superfulous.

YourSpace, in MyFace

Libraries in Social Networking Software... The first thought that always come to mind when I hear about MySpace or Facebook is concern about privacy and what nutballs can do with the kinds of information young people put out there. To quote Meredith,

"More techno-savvy doesn’t necessarily mean they have more common sense when it comes to putting personal information up online. We can play a valuable role in educating young people about online privacy and the possible negative effects of putting too much of yourself online. In public libraries and school libraries, we can educate parents about the role they should play in monitoring what their kids are doing online. Parents should know exactly what is on their child’s MySpace or Facebook profile and who their child is communicating with online. If you want to prevent all the problems of MySpace and Facebook, the key is educating the parents and making them get involved in their childrens’ online lives. "

OK - good idea, but I don't understand how or when a librarian could educate young people or their parents regarding privacy issues. I believe we have a problem in this society as a whole regarding whose responsibility it is to bring our kids up: who are we as members of the library staff to think it is our job? Do we give seminars about on line privacy issues? Our perception of "good parenting"? And good luck trying to convince parents who drop the kids off at the library as a baby sitting service to take a bit of parental responsibilityfor where they go on line.

I agree that kids should be allowed to view these sites just as they would any other. One of the joys of youth is naivete - the feelings of immortality and invincibility that allow young people to be so wonderfully bold and unafraid. These two sites could be said to feed upon this naivete. Kids are appalled when all their "secrets" get out because they put them out there - in their minds, "it could happen to him or her, but not to me". In my era it was pregnancy, then it was and is AIDS, and now it is the painfully personal on line stuff that youth insists will never hurt them.

"By asking questions of patrons in a space they feel safe enough to express themselves in, libraries could get valuable feedback from their patrons. " The word Could jumps out at me. I wonder what a person would ask on MySpace that they would feel uncomfortable asking in an on line "reference forum", a blog, chat, IM, or a written comment. We need to know what they are doing, but isn't it just as important for young people to know what adults are doing, and perhaps use tools we have to offer? Sometimes social networking seems so myopic.

I think libraries can go too far too fast, meaning I would like to see some substantive value prior to embarking upon another technological "advance". We cannot be all things to all people. While we must keep up, we do not have to embrace the first generation of any technology. You know, the one with all the problems?