Social Networking & Online Videos

The last unit of our NetTrek staff training was all about social networking. I've used this type of site for a long time. The first sites I used were especially for writers, but the basic concept was the same. Some sites were simply forums, ongoing conversations among strangers who gradually became online friends. Other sites encouraged members to make personal pages and post stories or poems for others to read and critique. I still find these site to be the most useful and relevant to my life and interests.

Facebook is great for making contact with old friends you've lost touch with over the years. I have almost 100 FB friends and many are people I went to high school with 45 years ago. It's also a good way to keep in touch with relatives you don't see often. One unexpected benefit has been the ability to get to know professional acquaintances a little better. However, FB can easily become a compulsive time-waster with all its games, surveys, and vapid chitchat. I log in very seldom these days.

LinkedIn is supposed to be the way professional people network. I have several contacts there, but I think it would be more useful for younger people who may be interested in career advancement.

Twitter is another site that *can* be a timewaster. It is useful to be able to choose the people you follow and I've found some great links on tweets. The best thing about Twitter is the timeliness. If some is happening RIGHT NOW and you want to find out the details before CNN does - just log in to Twitter and search.

Online Videos and Podcasts: these are most useful when you're trying to learn how to do something. NO amount of words can replace having someone show you, step-by-step exactly how to get a job done. I've used online videos to learn new software many times. Humorous videos are fun and it is NEVER a waste of time to have a good laugh.

New, Smarter Catalog | Daniel Boone Regional Library

New, Smarter Catalog | Daniel Boone Regional Library: "New, Smarter Catalog


Searching for Books Becomes Faster, Easier and More Fun
This year the library plans to revolutionize the online catalog you use to look up books, music and more. We’re very excited about the transformation you’ll see this winter.

The Daniel Boone Regional Library will be only the second library system in the U.S. to use this innovative software, called BiblioCommons, that greatly improves searching and offers social networking tools to library users.

Behind the scenes, a smarter search algorithm gives you better results, and the sleek, modern interface provides easy ways to narrow or expand your search or browse for related items. For each book, CD, DVD or other item you’ll have interactive options like adding your own review, tags and rating or sharing the item on Facebook or Twitter. You can also make your own lists of books and follow other users with similar taste.

We’re working hard, along with the staff at BiblioCommons, to finish up all the technical details of customizing the software for DBRL, and we hope to premiere the new catalog in February."

Bibliocommons

I've been exploring the new DBRL catalog format. Bibliocommons is a great improvement in many ways. I love the pictures! The catalog pages are visually appealing and the immediate movement of the scrolling book covers add excitement. The little blurb that appears below many of the books is a good feature. Playing with the interface, exploring the many features is great fun. If I knew the exact title of a book in the system, it popped right up.

Using it to actually try to find books without an exact title is easier than the old system. What few problems I had, I suspect relate back to the underlying SIRSI catalog, and the old standby: "user error." That is to say, at times, I didn't know exactly what I was looking for....and floundered a bit trying to narrow down my choices. Unfortunately, patrons often are not able to give us an exact title.

The social networking aspects are useful and interesting. I made a list of local Callaway authors and rated a few books I liked. There were times, during the after school busy period, that it seemed a bit slow to handle these additional features. Probably because our internet connection is fully loaded during those periods.

It is absolutely essential that ALL staff who will be working with the public get comfortable with the new system before it is opened to the public. I'm sure we will have many questions, and we don't want to be fumbling for answers.

ResearchBuzz

Learning about RSS feed by visiting blogs written by librarians was certainly eye-opening. I didn't know there were so many chatty librarians out there! I have read some of them before, of course. I've loved Annoyed Librarian since I first read it a few years ago. She seems to be annoyed by all the same things that annoy ME and it's always great to read someone you agree with. So I subscribed to Annoyed Librarian and another LJ blog called In the bookroom about new books, award books, etc. Useful, but not too exciting.

My favorite so far is Research Buzz:

ResearchBuzz is designed to cover the world of Internet research. To that end this site provides almost daily updates on search engines, new data managing software, browser technology, large compendiums of information, Web directories — whatever. If in doubt, the final question is, “Would a reference librarian find it useful?” If the answer’s yes, in it goes!In the last few years an effort has been made to build tools relevant to researchers and make them available on this site.

I found some great new links browsing this blog. I will definitely keep reading it.

School's Out! Merry Christmas!

Fulton Schools let out at one o'clock this afternoon and the library was full by 1:20. Boys and girls were sitting on each other's laps at the tables, with social groups gathered around. No caroling - but cherry enough with giggling and squeals. All twelve internet computers were filled, of course, with a waiting list as long as Santa's. It was busy and hectic and once again we were thinking how nice it would be to have special teen space where the kids could cut loose without scaring off the older patrons.

It has quieted down, now, and I expect it will be a little quieter than usual in the late afternoons for the next week or two. When school is out the busy times are more evenly spaced throughout the day.

Lulu.com

I had fun exploring all the Web 2 Award winners. There are some great sites out there! Several of them I plan to go back and spend more time exploring.

I picked Lulu.com to blog about because it has been my favorite for a long time. I LOVE lulu. This site allows anybody with a modicum of technical know-how to become a published author at absolutely NO cost. If you have ever tried to publish a family history, a cook book, or a collection of poems, you know how totally amazing that is. Traditional self-publishers or printers have always demanded loads of money up front and required a commitment for a print-run of hundreds of copies.

Lulu.com is a print on demand publisher. Your book is published and made available for sale online for free. You don't have to buy a single copy if you don't want to. Pretty amazing.

Yes, I can see Lulu being used in a library setting. In fact, I already have! In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Callaway County Public Library in 2007, we sponsored a writing contest. The winners were collected in an anthology called "Callaway: 100 Years" and the book was published on Lulu.com. I priced it at the moderate printing cost: $8.96, so the winners were able to order copies to give to family and friends.

Google Docs

I've used Google Docs before as an easy way to access my work as I move between computers. The document is always available at any library workstation or even from home. It was a lifesaver when Callaway didn't have access to the psdesk. Now I use it at home and for backup storage.

I've also used Google Docs to collaborate with others on the board of the Missouri State Genealogical Association and with my local writer's group. The genealogy board uses a google spreadsheet to keep track of work that is passed from member to member thoughout the state. My writing group uses Google docs for critiquing.

But I've never even thought about posting to my blog from Google Docs! So this is something new and I will try to do it.