I don't really like social networking - I don't have time for the 'real' friends I have, let alone cyber-friends. I did like the fact that I could look up high school classmates, but I wouldn't contact them out of the blue. I think people like them for that reason, and there's a lot to do and look at. I find the pages and all of the options/possibilities/add-ins confusing, most likely because I'm not willing to put in the time.
I prefer the Library Network on ning...everyone is there for a similar reason, so the network has a purpose and focus - I know what I'm there to communicate about, so it's not as overwhelming.
Other than the Library Network for patrons to talk about the library and books, etc., I don't know how something like Facebook would help at the library (except to advertise). However, I do think that it's helpful to know about it to help patrons with questions they might have when using the library computers. Especially in this economy, if a home computer fails or internet access is turned off, we may see a surge of people coming in looking for our free internet services, and knowing how to do some of these things, especially networking as it pertains to finding employment, would be helpful.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Thing #2: RSS
Okay, I'm on a roll! Two THINGS in two days~ who'da thunk it?
RSS is kinda cool - I didn't realize that I could get these summaries on a sidebar instead of filling my email box, although some of my favorite sites don't have blogs or RSS - they're just 'sites'. For example, the Lion Brand website is great for free knit/crochet/craft patterns, but they don't have a newsletter or RSS to tell you when new patterns are available. You just go and search on what you need/want. So RSS won't take the place of visiting some of my sites.
However, I was able to subscribe to all of the Playtime blogs, some design info from Adobe, a knitting blog and AllRecipes (which I use at home anyway) for both holiday/event recipes and healthy cooking recipes. Very cool!
How do we apply this to our library or libraries in general? Patrons could be notified when new books of a certain genre or by a specific author are released (like the top 100 author wait list - I'm never told when a new book is coming out, just when it's ready). We could also set up info that would inform about programming - subscribe to notifications of teen programming, YS registration opening, etc.
I haven't found a great blog, mostly because I don't feel like I have time to sit and read about what other people are doing...I'm late, I'm late, I'm late and don't have time to sit still - when I do, I don't know that I want to read from the computer what someone else has to say, but that's just me.
RSS is kinda cool - I didn't realize that I could get these summaries on a sidebar instead of filling my email box, although some of my favorite sites don't have blogs or RSS - they're just 'sites'. For example, the Lion Brand website is great for free knit/crochet/craft patterns, but they don't have a newsletter or RSS to tell you when new patterns are available. You just go and search on what you need/want. So RSS won't take the place of visiting some of my sites.
However, I was able to subscribe to all of the Playtime blogs, some design info from Adobe, a knitting blog and AllRecipes (which I use at home anyway) for both holiday/event recipes and healthy cooking recipes. Very cool!
How do we apply this to our library or libraries in general? Patrons could be notified when new books of a certain genre or by a specific author are released (like the top 100 author wait list - I'm never told when a new book is coming out, just when it's ready). We could also set up info that would inform about programming - subscribe to notifications of teen programming, YS registration opening, etc.
I haven't found a great blog, mostly because I don't feel like I have time to sit and read about what other people are doing...I'm late, I'm late, I'm late and don't have time to sit still - when I do, I don't know that I want to read from the computer what someone else has to say, but that's just me.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thing #1 - Blogs
Wow - blogging is cool! Okay, I haven't actually done much, but I've checked out formatting my page and adding cool tools (yes, the graphics person in me comes out in exploring new applications!)! AND I just realized that I can babble babble babble on a blog without anyone interrupting!!
I only sampled one library blog other than our own, and it was too technical for me to understand, although I did appreciate the clean format and graphics, as well as the way it was written - unfortunately, they were talking about tech things that I don't understand (yet)...
Our library blog (both Blogger Book Club and What's New) are a bit boring looking, but they're very informative. Again, I'm very visual, so if it doesn't look easy to read and very clean, I don't look twice. But I think it's a great way to get information to the public.
One thing that is not entirely clear to me - does the public subscribe to a blog and get emails when it's updated or have the posts emailed to them, or do they have to check it out every day to see if something has been added? If I have to check it each day, I'll forget - I need the email reminder of the content or that a new post has been added for me to look at. But I think there is a wealth of knowledge to share, and this is a good avenue for it!
I only sampled one library blog other than our own, and it was too technical for me to understand, although I did appreciate the clean format and graphics, as well as the way it was written - unfortunately, they were talking about tech things that I don't understand (yet)...
Our library blog (both Blogger Book Club and What's New) are a bit boring looking, but they're very informative. Again, I'm very visual, so if it doesn't look easy to read and very clean, I don't look twice. But I think it's a great way to get information to the public.
One thing that is not entirely clear to me - does the public subscribe to a blog and get emails when it's updated or have the posts emailed to them, or do they have to check it out every day to see if something has been added? If I have to check it each day, I'll forget - I need the email reminder of the content or that a new post has been added for me to look at. But I think there is a wealth of knowledge to share, and this is a good avenue for it!
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