Wow, that went fast! I can't believe class is already over! it was a whirlwind, but I can definitely say I learned a lot. I considered myself pretty savvy about social media at the beginning of the semester, but throughout the course of the class I started looking at a few things in a new light.
For one thing, I did quite a few things this summer that I'd never tried before. I made a podcast! I blogged! Neither of those things seemed as daunting once I actually sat down and did them. I might even start and keep up a personal blog now that I know how easy it is. I will also definitely keep up with my personal reading database over on LibraryThing. So much fun, and so easy!
The other thing I'd never really done before this class was to use facebook for "professional" reasons. For the first time since joining Facebook, I really took advantage of their tools, such as privacy settings and dividing my friends into groups. i think what this taught me is that I don't have to be so leery of adding colleagues. It turns out to be pretty simple to keep work/school things separate from purely social things. And there's more overlap there than I might have thought!
Moving forward, I think I'll get more out of Facebook now that I know more about how to really use it to my advantage. And, like I said above, I'll keep up with LibraryThing and maybe even blogging!
This has been a great semester, and a class I really enjoyed. I really liked our Facebook page where we could all post and discuss things either directly related to this class, or library topics in general. Thanks everyone for making this a fun, enjoyable and informative class!
-Ray
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tag, You're It
I found the article Social Tagging as a Knowledge Organization and Resource Discovery Tool to be much more lengthy and in-depth than I would have expected for a fairly simple concept such as tagging. I mean, how much can you really say about tags? (A lot, apparently!) I guess if you are completely unfamiliar with social tagging, this article would be a valuable resource to learning all there is to know about tags. What I found interesting from this article:
- I have a Flickr account, and one of my favorite things to do with it is "tag surf". I'll admit it, I mostly like to look at pictures of food. I can go from pictures of cheese, to pictures of cheese with bread, to just bread, to bread with eggs, to just eggs, etc. It's great to be able to zone in on particular keywords, then let those keywords direct you to related ones - rather than, say, randomly perusing a jumble of pictures in no order or relationship. I can also see how if a user has uploaded many, many pictures, they can use their own tags to keep track of and find particular photos. The same is true for sites like YouTube. I can easily go to that site looking for one particular video and spend the next two hours clicking on the next one...and the next one...and the next one...The article asks "Why would users keep surfing social tagging websites knowing that they may drift from their search target? Perhaps this is a different kind of distraction, one that is enjoyable, adds to the users' knowledge, or that leads users closer to what is relevant to them." Precisely.
There's a line in the article about how users "tend to increase their tag when perceiving that others are seeing them." To me, this is kind of the point. I don't tag my own pictures on my hard drive because it's just me looking at them (although I do group them into folders such as "dogs" or "family" so I can find things when I want them.)
In addition to YouTube and Flickr, I also explored CiteUlike and Librarything. CiteUlike seems very useful and user friendly. When I did a search for "social media", I appreciated that it not only returned over 800 articles, but it also showed other users and groups interested in this subject. I also liked that people can rate and "like" articles - it seems like this would be a useful way to weed out and sort through so many articles. Finally, Librarything - how did I not know about this?! I immediately signed up and spent a slow afternoon at work trying to remember all the books I've read recently and filling up my catalog. This might be dangerous for me, I can already tell I'll probably be spending more time than I should on that site....
- I have a Flickr account, and one of my favorite things to do with it is "tag surf". I'll admit it, I mostly like to look at pictures of food. I can go from pictures of cheese, to pictures of cheese with bread, to just bread, to bread with eggs, to just eggs, etc. It's great to be able to zone in on particular keywords, then let those keywords direct you to related ones - rather than, say, randomly perusing a jumble of pictures in no order or relationship. I can also see how if a user has uploaded many, many pictures, they can use their own tags to keep track of and find particular photos. The same is true for sites like YouTube. I can easily go to that site looking for one particular video and spend the next two hours clicking on the next one...and the next one...and the next one...The article asks "Why would users keep surfing social tagging websites knowing that they may drift from their search target? Perhaps this is a different kind of distraction, one that is enjoyable, adds to the users' knowledge, or that leads users closer to what is relevant to them." Precisely.
There's a line in the article about how users "tend to increase their tag when perceiving that others are seeing them." To me, this is kind of the point. I don't tag my own pictures on my hard drive because it's just me looking at them (although I do group them into folders such as "dogs" or "family" so I can find things when I want them.)
In addition to YouTube and Flickr, I also explored CiteUlike and Librarything. CiteUlike seems very useful and user friendly. When I did a search for "social media", I appreciated that it not only returned over 800 articles, but it also showed other users and groups interested in this subject. I also liked that people can rate and "like" articles - it seems like this would be a useful way to weed out and sort through so many articles. Finally, Librarything - how did I not know about this?! I immediately signed up and spent a slow afternoon at work trying to remember all the books I've read recently and filling up my catalog. This might be dangerous for me, I can already tell I'll probably be spending more time than I should on that site....
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Always On!
After reviewing the reading for this week - Always On and Mobile Design Tips - concerning mobile access to libraries and how exponentially that has changed and grown over the years, I couldn't help thinking of how much this has affected how I personally use and interact with libraries. Specifically, it made me think a lot about both the University of Kansas library (where I went to undergrad) and also the small public library I practically lived in as a child and young adult.
These days, when I need a book for school reasons, or when I'm just looking for a good new novel to read, I always check the library catalog for availability from my house or office before going in to the library itself. If the book I want is unavailable, I reserve it online. I do the same when I want to renew an item I have checked out.
The readings from this point out other ways patrons can use remote access to the library, such as reserving meeting rooms, signing up for programs and activities, and even checking the availability of computer workstations. It got me thinking how much I would have loved this ease of access in college. No more trekking to the library to find every book you need for that paper checked out. No more waiting aimlessly for a computer to open up!
I don't have a smartphone, so I have yet to enter the world of having all this information a click away in my purse, but even just being able to do these things from my work or home computer has made my life easier and my interactions with the library smoother. I'm glad that I'm old enough to remember what it's like to use an actual card catalog, but I'm also glad I'm still able to enjoy having pretty much the library has to offer at my fingertips.
These days, when I need a book for school reasons, or when I'm just looking for a good new novel to read, I always check the library catalog for availability from my house or office before going in to the library itself. If the book I want is unavailable, I reserve it online. I do the same when I want to renew an item I have checked out.
The readings from this point out other ways patrons can use remote access to the library, such as reserving meeting rooms, signing up for programs and activities, and even checking the availability of computer workstations. It got me thinking how much I would have loved this ease of access in college. No more trekking to the library to find every book you need for that paper checked out. No more waiting aimlessly for a computer to open up!
I don't have a smartphone, so I have yet to enter the world of having all this information a click away in my purse, but even just being able to do these things from my work or home computer has made my life easier and my interactions with the library smoother. I'm glad that I'm old enough to remember what it's like to use an actual card catalog, but I'm also glad I'm still able to enjoy having pretty much the library has to offer at my fingertips.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
I signed up for Twitter not too long ago solely to follow people and publications I liked (I never really intended to tweet anything myself!) Twitter accounts I follow:
Cooking/Food related: Beer Advocate, Slashfood, Chow, Bon Appetit, Epicurious, Gael Green and The Pioneer Woman Cooks.
Those are primarily my favorites. I also follow filmmaker Kevin Smith (he's quite the prolific tweeter!), Entertainment Weekly, Funny or Die, Shit My Dad Says, Mindy Kaling, and a few bands.
I tend to go on Twitter binges....I'll have it open all the time for a few days, then forget all about it for a month. Looks like I'll be using it more frequently for this class...I may even tweet something myself!
Cooking/Food related: Beer Advocate, Slashfood, Chow, Bon Appetit, Epicurious, Gael Green and The Pioneer Woman Cooks.
Those are primarily my favorites. I also follow filmmaker Kevin Smith (he's quite the prolific tweeter!), Entertainment Weekly, Funny or Die, Shit My Dad Says, Mindy Kaling, and a few bands.
I tend to go on Twitter binges....I'll have it open all the time for a few days, then forget all about it for a month. Looks like I'll be using it more frequently for this class...I may even tweet something myself!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Mashups, Wikis and Blogs
I was glad to see a discussion brought up about the age of the article for this week's reading. I actually wrote a note in the margin that says "Information becomes 'out of date' so quickly. 2007? Too old!"
Before moving on to the more recent blogs, I wanted to mention a little tidbit from this article that stood out to me personally. Under the section about "The Toolmakers", the author brings up how customer ratings can weed out dishonesty. I have become so used to referencing sites that have user reviews that I find myself a little distrustful of those that don't. For example, I like to cook, so I read a lot of recipe websites and blogs. While I don't base my decision to try a recipe solely on what reviews say, I do read all the comments first. I find it really helpful to see that others have tried it and what their suggestions might be ("Too much cumin!" or "I substituted frozen spinach for fresh and it worked well.") It's gotten to the point that I'm hesitant to try something if no one has reviewed it yet. The same goes for products on Amazon or eBay sellers. User comments and reviews have become very important to me when using websites as a resource.
Moving on, in reviewing the more current blog postings associated with this week's reading, I was excited to find an entry that directly relates to the literature review I'm doing for this class. The topic I will be looking at is how people use social media and social networks as a tool for social change. On the O'Reilly Radar blog, there is an entry from June of 2009 about the use of Twitter during the Iranian elections. In a nutshell - "While it is amazing to see individuals using technologies such as Twitter to sidestep repressive government censorship, Twitter has also made it easier for observers, a world away, to become active participants in an unfamiliar political system at times taking vigilante action against the server infrastructure of a nation-state." I'm sure this will most likely come up again and again as I get further into my lit review, and I'm excited to learn more about it. I've had a vague knowledge about social networking and how it can be used for social change, but now that we've been actually able to see it in action more and more in the last few years I'm excited to look into the specifics of it. I'll definitely be bookmarking this blog entry!
Before moving on to the more recent blogs, I wanted to mention a little tidbit from this article that stood out to me personally. Under the section about "The Toolmakers", the author brings up how customer ratings can weed out dishonesty. I have become so used to referencing sites that have user reviews that I find myself a little distrustful of those that don't. For example, I like to cook, so I read a lot of recipe websites and blogs. While I don't base my decision to try a recipe solely on what reviews say, I do read all the comments first. I find it really helpful to see that others have tried it and what their suggestions might be ("Too much cumin!" or "I substituted frozen spinach for fresh and it worked well.") It's gotten to the point that I'm hesitant to try something if no one has reviewed it yet. The same goes for products on Amazon or eBay sellers. User comments and reviews have become very important to me when using websites as a resource.
Moving on, in reviewing the more current blog postings associated with this week's reading, I was excited to find an entry that directly relates to the literature review I'm doing for this class. The topic I will be looking at is how people use social media and social networks as a tool for social change. On the O'Reilly Radar blog, there is an entry from June of 2009 about the use of Twitter during the Iranian elections. In a nutshell - "While it is amazing to see individuals using technologies such as Twitter to sidestep repressive government censorship, Twitter has also made it easier for observers, a world away, to become active participants in an unfamiliar political system at times taking vigilante action against the server infrastructure of a nation-state." I'm sure this will most likely come up again and again as I get further into my lit review, and I'm excited to learn more about it. I've had a vague knowledge about social networking and how it can be used for social change, but now that we've been actually able to see it in action more and more in the last few years I'm excited to look into the specifics of it. I'll definitely be bookmarking this blog entry!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
6/2 Readings
A few of my thoughts and/or responses to this week's readings...
Culture of connectivity
1.)At the beginning of this presentation, one of the speakers addresses the issue of a "digital divide". One of my first jobs out of college was working for a small, start-up non-profit called TechLink NH. My primary job was to do a variety of research on technology access in the state, especially in connection with public libraries. A lot of the research I did was specifically used for grant writing purposes - I was supposed to find data that showed how bad the digitial divide was in NH, especially in rural areas, to justify requesting grant funding to work on the issue. The problem was, all the literature actually showed how well NH was doing in that regard! Which is great for NH but made me job a lot more difficult! The digital divide obviously exists, but it favors non-minorities, educated, middle class people (as seen in the other presentation we viewed this week).
2.) I was intersted to hear that college students report one of the reasons for using Facebook is as a way to keep in touch with old friends for longer periods of time. This is my primary reason for using Facebook. Being 10 years out of undergrad now, most of my college friends are spread out across the world. I would not be in touch with them the way I am now without social networking (and that's even more true for high school, middle school, etc. friends.) I guess I was a little surprised to hear that students who are in college now use Facebook for the same reason.
3.) Just because students/young people used to a search engine doesn’t mean they know how to use it, or know how to verify the validity of a resource. I'm still vehemently opposed to using Wikipedia in a bibliography! Learning how to reasearch correctly is such a valuable tool. There is (or should be, at least) a lot more to it than punching some words into Google.
New Media Old Media
The really interesting point in this article is how much more foreign (non-us) events are reported in non-traditional press outlets. This represents the globalization of information. It makes it possible for people to seek out the information they want rather than solely rely on what the newspapers report. It also offers a variety of stories – most newspapers have the same headlines, while twitter, youtube, and blogs rarely share the same top story. However, stories come and go quickly and may not be researched in depth. I personally wouldn't depend on youtube or Twitter as my sole source of information on a subject, but they can be very helpful in alerting people to topics and events taking place outside of the US.
Pros and Cons
1.) Jessica Clark discusses“incivility, bullying, bias, [and] prejudice” in social media which is an interesting point to bring up. I'm always a little surprised when I read comments on message boards, especially on news oultets. There is often a shocking amount of racist, sexism, misogyny, etc. Does the anonymity of the internet provide us the opportunity to be brutally honest or just not adhere to social niceties? Or could it just be an outlet for people looking to do nothing but shock and get a rise out of people? I have to wonder if these posters - or Facebook bullies, or any other number of internet "trolls" - would be saying these same things in a face-to-face conversation.
2.) Matt Hinckley brings up the pressure to be first over being right, and Trevor Butterworth talks about how an oultet like Twitter can instantly create chaos without verification. This is a very interesting phenomenon which is very unique to this age of constant and instant digital information. It made me think of the January shooting of Rep Gabrielle Giffords. I was following the news online, and all of the first reports were that she had been killed (when, of course, she's alive and doing well.) On one hand, it's great to have such access to information. On the other hand, we have to be very careful on what we report and what we automatically believe ue.
Evolution or Revolution
This article discusses the school of thought that Library 2.0 is neither revolutionary nor evolutionary. My question is, can Library 2.0 not be both a revolution AND an evolution? Can't we look at it in terms of a whole new way of doing things (revolutionary) using many of the same tools with some updates and modifications (evolutionary)? We as librarians don't have to reinvent the wheel, but we do need to grow, change and adapt to the new technologies, much as the rest of the world is.
The one point I take a bit of an issue with is the claim that "technological illiteracy" is a reason to shy away from Library 2.0. I think that's not giving people enough credit. People are more tech savvy these days than ever before. No, we can't make things exorbitantly difficult, but we can trust the public to execute internet searches.
Culture of connectivity
1.)At the beginning of this presentation, one of the speakers addresses the issue of a "digital divide". One of my first jobs out of college was working for a small, start-up non-profit called TechLink NH. My primary job was to do a variety of research on technology access in the state, especially in connection with public libraries. A lot of the research I did was specifically used for grant writing purposes - I was supposed to find data that showed how bad the digitial divide was in NH, especially in rural areas, to justify requesting grant funding to work on the issue. The problem was, all the literature actually showed how well NH was doing in that regard! Which is great for NH but made me job a lot more difficult! The digital divide obviously exists, but it favors non-minorities, educated, middle class people (as seen in the other presentation we viewed this week).
2.) I was intersted to hear that college students report one of the reasons for using Facebook is as a way to keep in touch with old friends for longer periods of time. This is my primary reason for using Facebook. Being 10 years out of undergrad now, most of my college friends are spread out across the world. I would not be in touch with them the way I am now without social networking (and that's even more true for high school, middle school, etc. friends.) I guess I was a little surprised to hear that students who are in college now use Facebook for the same reason.
3.) Just because students/young people used to a search engine doesn’t mean they know how to use it, or know how to verify the validity of a resource. I'm still vehemently opposed to using Wikipedia in a bibliography! Learning how to reasearch correctly is such a valuable tool. There is (or should be, at least) a lot more to it than punching some words into Google.
New Media Old Media
The really interesting point in this article is how much more foreign (non-us) events are reported in non-traditional press outlets. This represents the globalization of information. It makes it possible for people to seek out the information they want rather than solely rely on what the newspapers report. It also offers a variety of stories – most newspapers have the same headlines, while twitter, youtube, and blogs rarely share the same top story. However, stories come and go quickly and may not be researched in depth. I personally wouldn't depend on youtube or Twitter as my sole source of information on a subject, but they can be very helpful in alerting people to topics and events taking place outside of the US.
Pros and Cons
1.) Jessica Clark discusses“incivility, bullying, bias, [and] prejudice” in social media which is an interesting point to bring up. I'm always a little surprised when I read comments on message boards, especially on news oultets. There is often a shocking amount of racist, sexism, misogyny, etc. Does the anonymity of the internet provide us the opportunity to be brutally honest or just not adhere to social niceties? Or could it just be an outlet for people looking to do nothing but shock and get a rise out of people? I have to wonder if these posters - or Facebook bullies, or any other number of internet "trolls" - would be saying these same things in a face-to-face conversation.
2.) Matt Hinckley brings up the pressure to be first over being right, and Trevor Butterworth talks about how an oultet like Twitter can instantly create chaos without verification. This is a very interesting phenomenon which is very unique to this age of constant and instant digital information. It made me think of the January shooting of Rep Gabrielle Giffords. I was following the news online, and all of the first reports were that she had been killed (when, of course, she's alive and doing well.) On one hand, it's great to have such access to information. On the other hand, we have to be very careful on what we report and what we automatically believe ue.
Evolution or Revolution
This article discusses the school of thought that Library 2.0 is neither revolutionary nor evolutionary. My question is, can Library 2.0 not be both a revolution AND an evolution? Can't we look at it in terms of a whole new way of doing things (revolutionary) using many of the same tools with some updates and modifications (evolutionary)? We as librarians don't have to reinvent the wheel, but we do need to grow, change and adapt to the new technologies, much as the rest of the world is.
The one point I take a bit of an issue with is the claim that "technological illiteracy" is a reason to shy away from Library 2.0. I think that's not giving people enough credit. People are more tech savvy these days than ever before. No, we can't make things exorbitantly difficult, but we can trust the public to execute internet searches.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
First blog post!
Hello, and welcome to my first ever blog post!
I'm Ray. I live and work on the seacoast of New Hampshire. I'm currently working towards my MLIS from URI. I created this blog for LSC 597 Selected Topics: Social Networking and Library 2.0. I'll be using it to discuss readings, literature and current events related to social media and networking, as well as some personal journal entires pertaining to the subject.
Looking forward to an interesting summer!
-Ray
I'm Ray. I live and work on the seacoast of New Hampshire. I'm currently working towards my MLIS from URI. I created this blog for LSC 597 Selected Topics: Social Networking and Library 2.0. I'll be using it to discuss readings, literature and current events related to social media and networking, as well as some personal journal entires pertaining to the subject.
Looking forward to an interesting summer!
-Ray
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