Brand New Year – 2015

Happy New Year guys! I hope you have all had an amazing festive season filled with love, laughter and family time. I’m a little late on the celebratory statements I know, but at least I made it in before February came around hahaha.

I have been so super busy with starting my new job. There is so much to learn and to do, I was recommending changes within my first 4 days of the job. I have found myself in a busy, busy role with daily challenges and I am happy as a pig in mud 😀 The ladies I have working for me are great and so experienced, they are just so great at their roles and know the place inside and out.

So it looks like this year is going to be full on. Like I said last year I have generally moved away from the idea of “New Years resolutions”, but I like the idea of goals, because no one is perfect and there is always room for improvement and adventure (however small they may be). I also think that goals should be fun as well as challenging. Therefore I have spent some time thinking about the kinds of things I wish to accomplish this year, here is my list:

• 52 Books in 52 Weeks – I definitely want to keep this going. I love reading and discovering new worlds and people through stories. Now I am working at a Public Library I have easy, daily access to a plethora of reading fodder 🙂 Like I said guys… pig in mud. I would like to keep challenging myself by reading different things. I would like to try at least one Bibliography this year and a couple of Non-Fiction books. I still did not get to read the Hobbit 😦 It will happen, hopefully this year 🙂
• Try something new – This was another challenge I took on last year in order to break myself out of the routine I was in and I really enjoyed it. Particularly in relation to expanding my knowledge of food and cooking… so much fun! I also did brave things like cut off my long hair which looked pretty good and I now keep it shoulder length 🙂 For the most part trying new things was positive and I think that it was a great goal to set myself so I am going to keep it going for 2015. Trying new things in 2014 also made me better at my job. We had the comment from a lecturer that the Library classes on research strategies were boring so I completely changed them and used pop culture references to demonstrate search strategies and aspects of information literacy. It was so successful that I was invited to present at the Uni conference at the end of last year, it was the first conference I have attended and I presented at it, how awesome is that?! Trying new things can be amazing!
• Health – I am not going to say I am going to lose ‘X’ amount of kilos. I’d like to lose a lot of kilos, but I know that is difficult because of my conditions and at the moment I am eating okay (most days), but I am not really exercising. With this new job I am often stuffed when I get home (plus having to cook dinner etc.) The second week of my new job I also got slapped with a stomache virus, couldn’t take time off… so I didn’t. Come last Saturday I went to bed early Friday night and slept for over 12 hours. I get that these are “excuses” in Personal Trainer terms, but I am working on it.
  I am going to commit to ensuring I am taking my medication. There are so many now that sometimes I lose track. So I am grandma-ing it and have bought myself a pill organiser. I plan to set it up every Sunday night so that my pills for the week are ready to go and all I have to do is take them 🙂
  
  I am also going to try and link ‘trying new things’ into this area. Trying to be active by trying new things or doing things I don’t normally, I think this will make it more interesting for me and therefore easier to accomplish. I will also use it to try new foods that are healthier for me. For instance I tried avacado some time ago (years) and I hated it, this year I am going to try it again.
• House – We were supposed to have our new house completely finished by last year… yeah that didn’t happen. Thanks land development people. So my dream for this year is that we will be moving into our new home around my birthday 🙂 Gotta dream big guys.
  
• Baby – It’s about hope 🙂 This year I have a new job, I am going to have a new house… these things come in 3’s right?! I want to wait a little while until I am settled in my new job before I get all gung ho about trying again. We are still doing the right things on the right days, but we are not measuring and medicating and temperaturing 🙂 Come on baby… this has to be our year… we are waiting to love you 🙂

What goals have you set yourself? Do you have any suggestions for 52 Books in 52 Weeks? Or do you have a low GI recipe to recommend?

Part 2 – Evaluative report

Part 2A. – Evaluative statement utilising OLJ experiences

I have chosen to focus on the three experiences in my OLJ that I gained the most from professionally. Interestingly, deciding which three entries which had been most beneficial proved rather difficult.

The challenge of finding authentic information in a socially networked world

As an Academic Librarian, a large part of my role is connecting information; staff are trained to locate and critically evaluate information for clients as well as teach them these skills so they can perform their own searches. Lorenzo’s ideas surrounding “information literacy” are very interesting (2007, p.2), it is not too late to learn this at University, but ultimately it would be best if people learnt these skills at a younger age. Compounding this is the fact that relying on the words “peer review” might not be an option for much longer (Wittenburg, 2007) and also that places like Google and Wikipedia appear to now be the “go to” for information (Garfinkel, 2008, p.84). Whilst reading and learning about this was valuable, it took a query from a student attempting to reference a Facebook post to make me realise how vital and current this topic really is. This experience allowed me to suggest and be involved in the evaluation of my workplace’s current reference guides in order to include social media.

Building a market strategy for social media

Utilising various platforms of social media is gaining popularity with Libraries. Whilst this provides a slightly less formal and more social interaction with clients, it is important the organisation is not represented poorly. Building a marketing strategy and policy prior to implementing any social media technology is vital. As discussed in my post, the questions outlined by Brown (2009) provide a sound foundation when building a marketing strategy. Two of the most important I feel are “Does the organisation have a social media policy?” and “Who is the target audience?”

A social media policy provides comprehensive guidelines regarding appropriate behaviour as deemed by the organisation, particularly in outlining socially acceptable practices, and cultural and ethical matters. This document assists staff engaging with clients via social media and clearly defines what is suitable to be publicised in this arena, preventing any embarrassment to the staff or the organisation as a whole (Schrier, 2011). Previously I had no knowledge of social media policies. However, due to knowledge gained through my studies, my assistance was requested in the creation of a social media policy for my workplace. The resulting document covers all social media currently used and is suitable for application to any additional platforms the Library wishes to explore.

My newfound knowledge also resulted in being asked to contribute to the evaluation of the social media platforms the Library uses, regarding effectiveness, improvements and possible expansion to other technologies. I introduced Bernoff’s (2012) Social Technographics profiles to staff involved and all found these extremely intriguing, they were referred to during the evaluation of the platforms. Consequently, when evaluating information gained (for example from Facebook statistics) and looking at the profiles, we were able to provide meaningful, considered suggestions.

 What is a Librarian in a web 2.0 world?

Prior to undertaking this subject I engaged in social networking and felt I had a reasonable understanding of what constituted “Librarian 2.0”. However, this subject made me consider this concept afresh. The works of Harvey (2009) and Abram (2012) instilled realisation that one did not gain the title “Librarian 2.0” by simply knowing how to use a few social media platforms. To remain relevant, I feel it is vital for Libraries to attain “Library 2.0” status and this begins with the Library’s staff.

Originally for this post I provided what I felt were basic vital skills for Librarians to possess. I still agree with this list, however after further completion of this subject I believe it essential to include information fluency – the ability to unconsciously and smoothly move between the critical skills of finding relevant information, devising solutions, collaborating, creating and communicating (Lorenzo, 2007, p.2). Librarians not only need this skill, but also the ability to teach it to others.

Currently a large portion of staff at my workplace does not hold the skills discussed above. As a University Library this isn’t ideal, therefore I have dialogued with management and recommended they consider:

• engaging staff in professional development sessions surrounding these areas;
• raising the current accepted IT competency level for all staff;
• investigating ways staff who do not have one, could develop a Personal Learning Network (Klingensmith, 2009),
• encouraging staff to get their own RSS reader, subscribe to professional sites and spend 30minutes per day engaging in professional reading.

Part 2B. – Reflective statement on development

This subject was chosen due to personal interest in social media and my growing belief that knowledge of social media and its potential is vital to Librarians of the future. I was unprepared for the large impact this subject had on my skills in this area generally and in my workplace specifically. Multiple opportunities for involvement with projects have eventuated due to knowledge gained from this subject. These include:

• Creating a social media policy for the organisation:
  I liaised with the Marketing & Promotions Officer in the research and writing of this policy. This was my first attempt at policy writing; knowledge gained from this subject gave me the confidence I needed. This document is in draft form, but is close to completion.
• Being involved with future social media planning for the Library:
  I was involved in creating questions for focus groups with students regarding the Library’s social media presence. Subsequently, I aided in assessing the data collected and making suggestions to management in a report.
• Reviewing the Library’s current social media platforms, assessing their success and recommending improvements:
  I volunteered for a staff group formed to discuss the Library’s social media presence. This group reviewed the current situation (taking into account staff opinion and student responses from the focus groups mentioned previously) and discussed possible improvements and additions.
• reviewing and improving our website:
  As a result of exploring RSS feeds offered by other University Libraries, I realised our own RSS page was inadequate. The page was outdated and not easily locatable from the homepage even if searching for it. I approached my manager and received permission to update the page. Also flagged for 2013 is investigating ways to offer more via RSS than we previously have. This page still isn’t as visible as I would like, but it is still progress.
• In addition to the above, I am now a regular contributor to the Library’s Facebook content.

RSS feeds page

Through the completion of assignment two I gained many skills, including:

• Comprehensive project planning,
• Evaluating social media technologies against an organisation’s business plan or mission statement to ascertain which technologies could meet organisational needs.

• Research for this assignment also unveiled a technology called Hootsuite which allows pre-programming of Facebook posts (Hootsuite media inc., 2012). For social media to be successful it needs to be “active”; unless it is well maintained it will not be used by clients, therefore content needs to be regularly added (Brown, 2010). Previously my workplace did not post messages over weekends and holidays, but now utilises Hootsuite to make such posts.

Something really unexpected resulting from this subject was a personal issue of knowledge management regarding tacit knowledge. This subject provided me with new knowledge and skills and I was motivated to use them in my workplace. Some knowledge is easily imparted by providing staff with research to inform themselves or providing management with suggestions. Whereas, the tacit knowledge I gained from this subject is more difficult to impart and I am still seeking ways to effectively and successfully do this (Oye, Salleh & Noorminshah, p.72).

Prior to this subject I had a WordPress blog. Whilst I occasionally wrote a Library-related post it was certainly not a professional blog. Since posting professional content I have noticed a marked increase in visits to my blog  as well as comments. Initially I assumed that these were other students in the course, however my post titled “The challenge of finding authentic information in a socially networked world” was scooped by Joyce Valenza for her Scoop.it! toolkit entitled, “Information Fluency transliteracy research tools” (Valenza, n.d.). This was the first time I felt not like a student, but like a professional who has information worth contributing. Writing professionally has encouraged me to read widely and keep abreast of new trends, it pushed me to refine my RSS feeds to ensure I receive valuable, relevant content and made me think of myself in a wider context than just my workplace.

This subject has had a huge impact on my knowledge, skills and has opened up new avenues for me professionally. It has made me aware of the necessity of keeping abreast of developments in social networking technologies to be truly effective in my career. It is easy to become entrenched in the day-to-day workload and accept the status quo. However, for an informational professional, knowledgeable about developments and innovations in information dissemination and communication is essential. This should be easier for me in the future with the establishment of my PLN, Twitter account and RSS feeds instigated by this course. The success I have experienced with my blog has also inspired me to continue professionally posting.

 

References

Bernoff, J. (2012). The global social takeover. Retrieved fromhttp://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2012/01/the-global-social-takeover.html  on 15 September, 2012.

Brown, A. (2010). A to Z of social networking for libraries. Retrieved from http://socialnetworkinglibrarian.com/2010/01/22/a-to-z-of-social-networking-for-libraries/ on 30 July, 2012.

Brown, A. L. (2009). Developing an effective social media marketing strategy. Salt Lake city social media examiner, Retrieved fromhttp://www.examiner.com/article/developing-an-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy on 15 September, 2012.

Garfinkel, S. (2008). Wikipedia and the meaning of truth. Technology Review, 111(6), 84.

Hootsuite media inc. (2012). Social network management. Retrieved from http://hootsuite.com/features/social-networks on 31 August, 2012.

Klingensmith, K. (2009). PLN: Your personal learning network made easy. Retrieved from http://onceateacher.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/pln-your-personal-learning-network-made-easy/ on 7 August, 2012.

Lorenzo, G. (2007). Catalysts for change: Information fluency, Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and the new education culture. (March). Retrieved fromhttp://www.edpath.com/images/IFReport2.pdf

Oye, N.D., Salleh, M. & Noorminshah, A. (2011). Knowledge sharing in the workplace: Motivators and demotivators. International journal of managing information technology, 3(4), p.71-84.

Schrier, R. A. (2011). Digital Librarianship & Social Media: the Digital Library as Conversation Facilitator. D-lib Magazine, 17(7/8). Retrieved from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july11/schrier/07schrier.html on October 6, 2012.

Valenza, J. (n.d.) Information Fluency Transliteracy research tools: Helping learners perform more meaningful research. Retrieved from http://www.scoop.it/t/research-skills-and-tools on October 8, 2012.

Wittenberg, K. (2007). Credibility of content and the future of research, learning, and publishing in the digital environment. The Journal of Electornic Publishing, 10(1). Available http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;cc=jep;rgn=main;view=text;idno=3336451.0010.101

The challenge of finding authentic information in a socially networked world

The way in which users are connecting with information is constantly changing, new trends, apps etc. come out every day. Users are literally bombarded with information from an endless variety of places, but how are they to know what information is to be trusted? Lorenzo (2007, p.2) discusses people moving towards building “information fluency”, this refers to being proficient in three skills; “basic information technology skills (including computer literacy), information literacy skills, and critical thinking skills”. Wittenberg (2007) also discusses the credibility of information and what students need to accomplish this, she also posits the idea that the much-loved “peer review” system of the Academic world may be coming to an end. Garfinkel’s (2008, p.84) article supports Wittenberg’s theory through his discussions on Wikipedia being the primary source for information on the Internet. A large number of researchers cite it as background reading and Garfinkel confesses that the majority of the article was created using Wikipedia as the information resource (2008, p.84).

From reading these three articles I believe the following two messages are important:

1) Find new ways: No longer does there seem to be a hard and fast “right” way to find authentic content. We need to develop alternative ways of identifying or critically analysing information, more important than identifying these alternate avenues is finding a way to provide our clients with these skills. We cannot always be there with our clients, but by providing them with “information fluency” skills (Lorenzo, 2007, p.2) we enable them to locate and analyse resources on their own.

2) What is authentic? Or what is being now accepted as being authentic? The majority of information seekers now use Google as their first source of information (Kaur & Singh, 2011, p.738). When users are googling for answers more often than not Wikipedia articles are the first or second listed results. That these articles are so high in the results means they are frequently used (Garfinkel, 2008, p.84).

As a staff member of an Academic Library it is important for me to know whether if a lecturer will accept a student using Wikipedia, particularly if they can verify the information in a second source. Recently a student came into the Library for assistance with his referencing, it turned out he was having difficulty referencing a Facebook post using Harvard Author Date as he could find no reference to Social Media referencing on the guide. It seems that in some subjects Facebook is now acceptable as a resource.

 

References

Garfinkel, S. (2008). Wikipedia and the meaning of truth. Technology Review, 111(6), 84.

Kiran Kaur, Diljit Singh, (2011),”Customer service for academic library users on the web”, The Electronic Library, Vol. 29 Iss: 6 pp. 737 – 750

Lorenzo, G. (2007). Catalysts for change: Information fluency, Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and the new education culture. (March). Retrieved from http://www.edpath.com/images/IFReport2.pdf

Wittenberg, K. (2007). Credibility of content and the future of research, learning, and publishing in the digital environment. The Journal of Electornic Publishing, 10(1). Available http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;cc=jep;rgn=main;view=text;idno=3336451.0010.101

 

Building a marketing strategy for Social Media

Social Media is a form of online media that promote participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness (Mayfield, 2008). A good example is Facebook which is the most popular social networking technology in Australia (Cowling, 2012). Facebook currently corners the social networking market and has also gained popularity as a marketing and client interaction tool by libraries (Jacobsen, 2011, p.79). Through Facebook organisations can promote themselves via posts, photos and sharing videos, they can interact with clients in a social space and, due to the popularity of Facebook, potentially enhance their online presence significantly (Myers, 2012). But how does an organisation ensure they make the impact they want with their target market. Marketing strategies are produced for all other areas of business and it is important that they be developed for social media also.

Brown (2009) posits some important questions to bear in mind when considering a strategy for marketing social networking technologies for an organisation, these include, but should not be limited to;

• Does the organisation have a social media policy?
• How much time daily is to be spent on social media?
• Who is the target audience?
• What is the marketing budget?
• What will you use the social media for?
• What sites will be used regularly.

This last question provokes deeper thought on whether there are sites that will not require constant upkeep, for example something like Pinterest could be set up initially and only reviewed once every few months. It is important to note that one marketing strategy will not suit all forms of social media as it is likely the organisation will be using them for different purposes. Brown’s questions should be considered for each individual social media platform used by the organisation.

When creating a marketing strategy another vital component is knowing your target market. There is no point to answering the questions above if the market isn’t going to use what you are marketing. Bernoff & Li introduced ‘Social Technographics’ (Bernoff, 2012) they provided profiles based on the social technology behaviour of the market. The profile takes us from “inactives” who never use social media at all through to “creators” who record their own podcasts, maintain their own blog, and tweet their day away.

Social Technographics profiles

The profiles are fascinating, but then I questioned it. How could we be ensured that this related to the majority of University Students in Australia? The answer is relatively simple if you want it to be. Academics have referred to people born after 1993 as the ‘Google Generation’ (Rowlands, et al., 2008, p.290), this generation are now entering as Undergraduates. Therefore if there is not enough time or budget to do further research it would be reasonable to assume that the Google generation would fit into the profiles the ladder puts forth.

                                                                               
                                             
                                                                                          

 

 

References

Bernoff, J. (2012). The global social takeover. Retrieved from http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2012/01/the-global-social-takeover.html  on 15 September, 2012.

Bernoff, J. (2012). Social technographics: Conversationalists get onto the ladder. Retrieved from http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html  on 15 September, 2012.

Brown, A. L. (2009). Developing an effective social media marketing strategy. Salt Lake city social media examiner, Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/developing-an-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy on 15 September, 2012.

Cowling, D. (2012). Social media statistics – July 2012. Retrieved from http://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-july-2012/ on 2 August, 2012.

Jacobsen, T. B. (2011). Facebook as a Library Tool: Perceived vs. Actual Use. College and Research Libraries, 72(1), 79-90

Mayfield, A. (2008, August 1). What is social media? Retrieved from iCrossing: http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebook.pdf on 15 September, 2012.

Myers, J. (2012). What is Facebook? Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-facebook.htm on 15 August, 2012.

Rowlands, I., Nicholas, D., Williams, P., Huntington, P., Fieldhouse, M., Gunter, B., Withey, R., Jamali, H. R., Dobrowlski, T. & Tenopir, C. (2008). The google generation: The information behaviour of the researcher of the future. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 60(4), 290-310. doi: 10.1108/00012530810887953

Second Life

This technology has grown in popularity for use by learning institutions, Librarians have also had a growing interest in Second Life, although in some cases; such as University Libraries there have been barriers such as permissions, authentication and limits due to the security restrictions of the institution (Swanson, 2007, p.79).

I would generally consider myself pretty good at picking up and learning new things, particularly where social networking technologies are concerned, but I must admit that Second Life had me totally stumped. I followed all the instructions and named myself ‘LibraryCat’, I looked at the help guide and visited some forums that promised help, but nothing could explain why the entire world appeared to be pink. I was attempting to interact with the Charles Sturt University ‘CSU-SIS Learning Centre’ which was developed in 2009 (Hay & McGregor, 2010, p.20). Here is a picture of what I should have been seeing…

CSU SIS Learning Centre

And here is what is looked like when I went there…

Same place… different colour scheme

I thought perhaps that particular area was experiencing difficulty, but to be sure I checked all plug-ins that could possibly affect it and even had my husband who works in IT program support to have a look at it, all to no avail. The world remained pink, even more disturbingly when I went to another area called Bear Lodge not only was everything pink, but others Avatars seemed to be in various states of undress.

Oh my…

So I tried another area, everything was still pink, but thankfully people were fully clothed. I struck up a conversation with a fellow ‘newbie’ 5 mins later he started asking inappropriate questions so I located the friends I was supposed to, added them then logged off. I have been on since after encouragement from my Uni Facebook group, but the pink remains.

Currently for my position in an Academic Library we do not foresee use of Second Life. Due to my recent research work in the field of Web 2.0 technologies they are considering implementation of other social networking technologies, but Second Life is not of interest at this point in time. So for now I will concede defeat, but only for this battle. I am determined to win the pink war that Second Life has waged.

References

Hay, L. & McGregor, J. (2010). CSU’s Second Life. Incite, 31(1/2), p. 20.

Swanson, K. (2007). Second Life: A science library presence in virtual reality. Science & Technology Libraries, 27(3), p.79-86.

What is a Librarian in a web 2.0 world?

Librarian 2.0 – I fully embrace this term. I believe it is the way of the future and I think all Libraries need to get on the 2.0 train.

In the past libraries didn’t market themselves, then with all the alternative avenues for obtaining information opening up they had to. Then came web 2.0 and they began using web 2.0 technologies to connect with their clients. However, in some cases (such as the Library I work for) the Librarians do not do the work with the web 2.0 technologies. A marketing or liaison officer is behind the curtain rather than a Librarian. To me this is NOT Librarian 2.0, clients are expecting to connect and interact with Librarians on the Facebook or Twitter feed not a promotions person. This is also not encouraging Librarians to go inside a technological cocoon and emerge a Librarian 2.0 butterfly.

Librarians need to immerse themselves in this ever expanding web 2.0 world and be a part of it, there should not be a middle man between Librarian’s and their patrons.

What I believe Librarian 2.0 should have – the basics:

• A working knowledge of a significant range of social networking tools
• A passion to investigate how different social networking tools could be effectively harnessed by the library (Harvey, 2009).
• The ability to accept change whether small, big or ongoing as this is the future environment of Libraries, forever evolving.
• Passion, dedication and interest in continuing professional development.
• A “guru of the information age” (Abram, 2012).

I believe we are the gatekeepers of information. There is scope in the future for Librarian’s to aid clients to develop their RSS feeds to locate information surrounding their topics of interest rather than aid them finding online journal articles or physical items. I believe information literacy classes will soon include social networking technologies and personal learning networks. I feel that a Librarian’s function or role will have to be much more flexible, Librarian’s will need to be more multi-skilled than ever before.

References

Abram, S. (2012). Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and Librarian 2.0: Preparing for the 2.0 World. Retrieved from http://www.imakenews.com/sirsi/e_article000505688.cfm/ on 8 August, 2012.

Harvey, M. (2009). What does it mean to be a Science Librarian 2.0? Retrieved from http://www.istl.org/09-summer/article2.html on 8 August, 2012.

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

What is a ‘Personal Learning Network’ (PLN)? Klingensmith (2009) has a definition on her blog which I quite like, “the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online” to me this is a simple, straightforward and accurate definition.

Utech (2008) has proposed 5 stages of personal learning networks adoption on his blog The thinking stick, these are; Immersion, evaluation, know it all, perspective & balance. He created the below diagram to display the stages effectively along with a short description of each stage.

Stages of PLN adoption

Looking at Utech’s stages I realise I remember stages one and two fondly, but I have well and truly rounded the corner into stage three. Particularly with the addition of Uni work and some projects I am involved with at work currently. I believe at times I have gone into stage four and even paddled in stage five, but I seem to have back peddled recently. Currently my PLN looks something like this…

My current PLN

… rather messy and out of control. Definitely a stage 3 in serious need of reviewing to gather some perspective. Utech (2008) suggests cutting oneself off from technology for a week; this is not an option currently (particularly as one of my subjects at Uni is ‘Social networking for information professionals’) so perspective must come with continuing use of the technology. Smith’s (2008) presentation provides information on how to build a PLN, it shows effective use of RSS feeds to keep yourself connected. Using my RSS reader more effectively and having more of my information come through this feed would be a good way to feel more in control of my PLN. I could also set up different feeds for university work/work learning and general interest so that my feeds are more concentrated to what I require. During this process it would also be valuable to evaluate what I am subscribed to in order to lose anything that doesn’t provide me with value. Hopefully this will go some way to providing me with balance.

References

Klingensmith, K. (2009). PLN: Your personal learning network made easy. Retrieved from http://onceateacher.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/pln-your-personal-learning-network-made-easy/ on 7 August, 2012.

Smith, B. (2008). Creating an online personal learning network. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/bethanyvsmith/creating-an-online-personal-learning-network-presentation on 7 August, 2012.

Utech, J. (2008). Stages of PLN adoption. Retrieved from http://www.thethinkingstick.com/stages-of-pln-adoption on 7 August, 2012.

Creating Library websites – some criteria

After reviewing literature by Mathews (2009), Lazaris (2009), McBurnie (2007) and Governor et al (2009) which discuss criteria for the creation of websites I have devised some of my own for creating effective library websites. I have then evaluated a library website against this criteria.

1. If the library is part of a bigger organisation such as a University, the website design should not be divorced from the style of the other websites of that organisation. It should be recognisable as part of that organisation and not sit apart from it.
2. Content should not be overcomplicated, out-dated or over-crowded. This could confuse users and give them a frustrating or negative experience (Mathews, 2009).
3. Navigation and call-to-action areas should be clear, concise and easily recognisable (Lazaris, 2009) if a website is hard or confusing to navigate clients may abandon their efforts.
4. Searching the catalogue should be accessible from any page on the Library’s website, clients should not be required to stumble around attempting to search the Library’s catalogue (Mathews, 2009).
5. “Clearly define the audience” (Governor et al, 2009) there is no point proceeding with development of a website if you do not know the wants and needs of your clients and build your site as a response to that.
6. Carefully consider scripting. CSS offers the ability to change templates across the entire site simultaneously rather than the tedious exercise of editing each page. When building consider sustainability and staff time for upkeep/editing (Governor et al, 2009).
7. Incorporate web 2.0 technologies: there is no shortage in options so look at your needs vs. what the platform is capable of vs. how popular it is. For example if you need video sharing and vimeo offers more editing options than YouTube you would be inclined to use vimeo. However, YouTube might be more popular which increases the discoverability of the Library’s videos and therefore helps build the Library’s online identity (McBurnie, 2007; Cowling, 2012).
8. Clients should have positive experiences using the website. Use bright colours effectively to highlight areas of your page and positive focal points such as pictures of people enjoying themselves in the Library space (Lazaris, 2009).

 

The University of Wollongong Library page does embrace some of the above criteria. The website has similar branding to that of other UOW sites, colours are bright and cheerful without overwhelming the page and the focal points include drop down menus, a cheerful photo of a student in the stacks and the navigation buttons. It does embrace Web 2.0 technology and it’s Facebook and Ask-a-Librarian pages are easy to locate from the homepage. They do use CSS scripting to style their page and it is obvious they have considered their target audience whilst building the page from the options available e.g. support for researchers.

One big negative for this website is the fact that there is not a catalogue search bar on every page. There are search bars for other purposes which could be confusing as they are sometimes in the same spot as other search bars have been.

UOWL homepage

References

Cowling, D. (2012). Social media statistics – July 2012. Retrieved from http://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-july-2012/ on 2 August, 2012.

Governor, J., Hinchcliffe, D, & Nickull, D. (2009). Web 2.0 architectures (1st ed.). Sebastopol, Calif.: O’Reilly Media. [ebook] Available http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/9780596514433

Lazaris, L. (2009). Designing websites for kids: Trends and best practices, Smashing Magazine, (27 November). Retrieved from http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/27/designing-websites-for-kids-trends-and-best-practices/ on 2 August, 2012.

Mathews, B. (2009). Web design matters: Ten essentials for any library site. Library Journal, (15 February). Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6634712.html?industryid=47126 on 2 August, 2012.

McBurnie, J. (2007). Your online identity: Key to marketing and being found. FUMSI, (October). Retrieved from http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/share/2510 on 2 August, 2012.

University of Wollongong (2011). University of Wollongong Library Homepage. Retrieved from http://www.library.uow.edu.au/index.html on 2 August, 2012.

Vimeo(2012). Vimeo homepage. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/ on 2 August, 2012.

YouTube (2012). YouTube homepage. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/ on 2 August, 2012.

Brown’s A-Z List of web 2.0 technology for Libraries

AnnaLaura Brown (2010) wrote an article on her blog listing ways in which libraries can utilise social networking technologies to benefit their clients. Below is just a couple of her points and how I feel they could be applied to a University library, this library has begun use of some social networking technologies, but does not appear to be using them to their full potential.

“F-Facebook, having a presence on facebook with a fan page or a group is a must. Facebook is so popular now that it is expected” (Brown, 2010).

The library posts once a week or so, mostly concerning services. These posts are just general informative posts with a stock picture. Comments on the Library’s posts are few and far between and the ‘likes’ have sat at 621 for months. This page needs a total refresh, include content that students are interested in, engage using information and questions that are interesting, e.g. today is Charles Dickens 200^th birthday, what is your favourite tale?

“H-Help- relying on only one or two people to build your library’s social networking presence will not work. It needs to be a whole team effort on behalf of your entire library staff.

Z-zeal, is your library staff exciting about the possibilities that social networking can offer your library? If not, you will struggle to make it work for you” (Brown, 2010).

In a lot of ways H & Z go hand in hand, if staff aren’t excited about it, they will not help whole-heartedly. Getting staff familiar with these technologies will go a long way to getting them excited about it. Perhaps at an all staff meeting encourage your staff to tweet and have a screen up displaying the live twitter feed. Create a storify later on so staff can come back and revisit the events of the day.

“M- Mobile, more and more your library’s social networking needs to be able to be accessed via mobile devices. There are also more options than ever for making this a reality” (Brown, 2010).

Almost everywhere has a mobile version of their website now, to not be well and truly in this sphere is a bad place to be. Currently the library has released a mobile site only last year and it is still working out bugs. Their needs to be a concerted effort to have this website running flawlessly by the end of 2012. Right now not only is the library far behind its competitors, but also behind it’s vendors.

yourlibrary.edinburgh.gov.uk

“V-Video whether on youtube or elsewhere, use video to enhance and engage with your users via social networking” (Brown, 2010).

Video sharing sites like YouTube can be embedded in most other social networking platforms. If the library were to create its own youtube channel it could promote it via the libraries facebook or twitter page. It can be used to connect with students, for example rather than book suggestions from Goodreads, you could tape interviews with library staff about books they recommend.

References

Brown, A. (2010). A to Z of social networking for libraries. Retrieved from http://socialnetworkinglibrarian.com/2010/01/22/a-to-z-of-social-networking-for-libraries/ on 30 July, 2012.

OnceUponaTingle2. (2012). Library role play #1: YA Recommendations (ASMR). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eCwdhpyqYQ on 30 June, 2012.

 

Libraries are boarding the RSS Train

RSS is an abbreviation of Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. RSS provides a simple way to stay current socially, news wise, events wise as well as keep you informed about places or areas you are interested in physically (receiving live updates from an NRL game whilst at work), digitally (notifications when your favourite bloggers post) and research wise (new acquisitions at your library). All this information and more is provided in a single convenient feed, you decide what you want to see, you custom build your feed to your wants and needs (Zanin-Yost, 2010, p.1: Wilson, 2008, p.9).

The library sphere is taking interest in RSS technology and how it can serve clients. Different libraries use RSS feeds for different purposes (Yue, Greene & Blackwell, 2006, p.307), for example the University of Sydney Library uses is for students loans information, promote library events, subject guides news, and library news. The State Library of NSW has multiple RSS feeds available, however they are almost entirely devoted to promotion of new resources.

Moxie Librarian is a blog that used to be regularly updated with lots of information relation to libraries and web 2.0 or library 2.0 technologies. Unfortunately this has not been updated for around 10 months now, however in 2008 a list was posted of 10 ways the author proposed that libraries could use RSS technology within the library environment, these included; new additions, reminders, events, and interestingly job openings which was an option I had not considered. Click here to view the full list.

I located some videos which demonstrate different libraries and their use of RSS feeds;

The University of Wyoming example uses Google reader. It was interesting to note that whilst there are a lot of videos available from Libraries surrounding how to use web 2.0 technologies not many people view them. Are these videos unwanted or are they just not well promoted?

The National University of Singapore, this video provides a step by step from the library homepage which makes it that much easier for students to follow.

Redeemer Lutheran College has recently released a video which is a good example of the fact that the use of this technology is still expanding.

 

References

Cheryl (The Moxie Librarian). (2008). 10 ways libraries can use RSS [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://moxielibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/10-ways-libraries-can-use-rss/ on 25 July, 2012.

Nuslibraries. (2011). How to add and view RSS feeds at the Library portal. Accessed via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWbXsVZYyYo on 25 July, 2012.

RedeemerLibrary. (2012). Adding an RSS feed. Accessed via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAb2vOFITD8 on 25 July, 2012.

Skrabut. (2012). RSS Feeds – Linking to UW Library search queries. Accessed via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUgLUJLsFU on 25 July, 2012.

State Library of NSW. (2012). RSS Feeds. Retrieved from                http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/rss/index.html on 25 July, 2012.

University of Sydney (2012) RSS Feeds. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/library/about/rss.html on 25 July, 2012.

Wilson, D. W. (2008) Monitoring technology trends with podcasts, RSS and Twitter, Library Hi Tech News, 25(10), p.8 – 12.

Yue, P., Greene, A. & Blackwell, L. S. (2006). RSS in Your Future? The serials librarian, 50(3-4), p. 305 – 310.

Zanin-Yost, A. (2010). Library 2.0: Blogs, wikis, and RSS to serve the Library. Library philosophy and practice, 09/2010, p.1.