Half a Dance

Notecentric, LinkedIn, and Jobster

2008-01-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

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?

Wili Tiki Tavi 2

2007-12-20T16:51:00.000-08:00

Not too much to say about Wiki 2... it was fun creating links. I am not sure at this point if we are repeating , meaning it seems that a person can link from a web page, blog, wiki, or any other social networking site. They all seem to be a compilation of opinions from the author and whomever feels inclined to add to them.

Do you think any of this will still exist in 5 years?

Wiki Ticki Tavi

2007-12-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

Wikis - hmmm... I liked the Stevens County wiki, but feel very uncertain about information presented in this format. Compilations of questionable information begin to appear valid simply because they are presented on the Web. We have many teenage patrons who, while researching for a school paper, think Wikipedia is the go to authority for information.

On the other side, compliations of opinions are valuable if one is seeking opinions - i.e. I like to read buyer's opinions of services and goods while looking for items on line.

In terms of KRL, a wiki might be good as a book review site, or a place for feedback about services offered by different branches. We have a variety of events that could be "rated" on a wiki.

?

You Tube!

2007-12-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

I have been receiving many links to UTube videos from friends who seem to have way more time than I. I am happy to report that U Tube's feed is much better than it used to be - I no longer need to sit and wait while it buffers along from piece to piece of the video.

To me, U Tube is the quintessential Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame. I have been highly amused by some of the videos. I will try to embed one, but...

Library Thang

2007-11-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I just signed up for that Library Thang... At All Staff Day, we were advised to keep a list of the books we read for a year, and this venue is just perfect for it. Library Thang is a great on line collaborative effort. I might pay more attention to its reviews because I think librarians and/or people who would go to a place called Librarything have a better handle on books than the public at large.

The more I go through this training, the more I realize how relevant it is for the future (and, I guess, for the present). This training takes me, kicking and screaming, into the virtual world of the young. I remember starting my Master's program way back when, and hearing that no papers would be accepted unless they came off a computer. PCs were brand new, and the college decided to"move" its students into that technological reality as it became the standard. I bought my first computer - a XP clone with a 40 Mb hard drive, two 5 1/4" floppy drives, and a whopping 4 Mb of RAM - cutting edge technology for that time.

Interestingly enough, the PC era advocated personal privacy, not social networking. I see a tension between social networking and privacy - just as I see that tension between the Patriot Act and personal privacy. I like on line collaboration as a personal opinion type of forum, but hold a certain amount of concern that the public quality of social networking will open many up to abuse of personal information.

Ahhhhh, Flickr

2007-11-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for Flickr - something that makes sense after the mystery RSS feeds... I love the map of the world!! Must say, though, I wonder why there aren't more people using that feature - hey, maybe I'll give it a try!

I also am impressed by the tagging and clusters of tags. There are sets, groups - all sorts of ways to tag photos. Given the number out there, tagging would seem essential for this site to stay up and running, or a person would never find anything on it.

Given photos are considered copyrighted once printed or published, I wonder what happens when others download and print those out in Flickrland... Or maybe you can't just download - wait - let me try... Oh yes, you can download and print photos from this site - if they are available for all to see.

A very interesting site...

This is getting worse...

2007-11-05T15:04:00.001-08:00

Well, I just managed to post on the Sirsi Blog - and I can't tell you how I got there or what happened.

Managed to post a few pictures on my own blog.

Thanks to b.c I saw that I did subscribe to a few feeds - but I don't "get" any of it.

I read other blogs and feel so far behind and so ignorant that it makes me want to quit.

Amen.

RSS and my confusion

2007-11-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have been successful at any of the assignment this week. I set up an account with Bloglines, found blog URLs that I think I subscribed to, but do not know how to verify it, and then tried to set up the "atom posts" thing at the bottom of my blog.

Frankly, I have no idea what is happening here - where the information is going, whether or not I am indeed signed up, whether or not there is supposed to be some kind of listing on my blog - maybe you set that up by editing links?

Can anyone tell me where the results of this stuff shows up? How do you find out if you did 'right"? Where is the verification, and oh my, this is not at all intuitive for me.

A great use for tagging

2007-11-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well, folks, before I begin the struggle with RSS, I wanted to state a fabulous use for tagging - tagging an entire library collection for use on the catalog by patrons.

I wish I could take credit for this, but Kathleen Wilson and I were chatting about blogging and tagging when she told me about this use. Now there's something to help people navigate the catalog.

Simply mahvelous, dahlin!

Warhol and social networking

2007-10-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

I'm the type who'd be happy not going anywhere as long as I was sure I knew exactly what was happening at the places I wasn't going to. I'm the type who'd like to sit home and watch every party that I'm invited to on a monitor in my bedroom. Andy Warhol

Social netwonking?

Delicious and Tagging

2007-10-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I have done due diligence to Delicious and tagging, and find it useful in that you can get to your "Favorites" from any computer. That is a wonderful thing. I tagged my favorites! As an organization, the library could benefit from the ability to share resources such as these.

All that 2.0

2007-10-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Questions about Library 2.0:

Radical Trust - an interesting concept. As I understand it, it means the library collaborates with on-line communities through blogs, wikis, and other social relationship forums to obtain feedback and direction for the organization. The library would move (ahead?) with no end result in mind - just change based on evidence or rationale provided by people through on line communities.

My questions:

How much library policy would actually be based on this model? Would it integrate into what is already in place, or would it become the paradigm for change?

How relevant is the on line community? Is it a good representation of the library patron universe? Does it not leave out a substantial percentage of the population, such as people who have no interest in technology and prefer to read a book?

Who decides what feedback/content is applicable to an organization?

How does an organization move forward when there is no goal in mind?

Social computing is notorious for misinformation, rumors, and the like. How does an organization get around this issue?

How would an organization know what its patrons really want, given with technology one can "stuff the ballot box"? One opinion could easily be made to look like a social movement on line.

Change is inevitable, but can it also be overdone?

While the library must keep up with the technological times, what percentage of its funding and energy should be directed toward this type of technology?