Libraries and Information Professional in 3D Worlds - Module 4

We were asked to read 3 articles about 3D virtual worlds. I only read the first 2 because I was unable to find the third article by the link.

Second Life: A Virtual World Why Are Librarians There?, in First Monday, 13(8) by Ilene Frank (4 August, 2008)

I am not overly impressed by Second life as I was unable to use it properly when I tried earlier on in the course.

This is an area that I have absolutely no interest in and can see no benefit in participating in.

This was a lengthy article to read and it was made all the more difficult as I really have no interest in it.

I was interested to see that Club Penguin is classified as a 3D virtual world. This is a site that my children love using, I guess I had never thought of it in the same light as second life.

Overall this article just seemed like a massive promotion for Second life and I could not be less interested.

Boulos, M. N. K., Hetherington, L., & Wheeler, S. (2007). Second Life: An overview of the potential of 3-D virtual worlds in medical and health education. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 24(4), 233-245. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=27477118&site=ehost-live

This article explained that Second life is the most popular virtual world in use today.
The popularity of the site could be due to its advanced technology.


This article suggests that virtual worlds are a major part of the future of the Web.


Again, I think that this is just a very good promotion of Second life.

Mobilisation of Social Media - module 4

In my lecture notes it says that the following article was dense and lengthy. They sure weren't kidding. I had to have a strong cup of coffee and several attempts before I managed to finish it.

Always on: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity, in First Monday, 14(1) by Lorcan Dempsey (5 January, 2009)

An aspect that I could relate to was when the writer said that "Students are results-oriented and value convenience". Well he really hit the nail on the head with that statement.

He also  said that "Socialization, personalization and location awareness becomes very important".

The article also draws the conclusion that there is a strong connection between younger generations and mobile communications. 

General developments in terms of consumption.

1.  significant resources targeted at mobile users- games, music, videos etc.
2. Social objects- shared interests eg photographs, movies etc.
3. Usability may be a less important value than the augmentation of real experiences. 

Space and Time
 Connectivity is important as a way of reclaiming time.

Social/Work/Leisure

Participation in a shared communications space blurs boundaries between work,social interaction and leisure.

This is a sore point in my household. My husband has a blackberry for work and seems to be on call 24hours a day. It can be annoying when you are enjoying time as a family and he frequently checks his emails to see if he needs to reply to any. In theory this should mean that he doesn't have a thousand emails to read when he gets back to work, but in practice what it means is that he never switches off from work, his boss demands his attention 24hours a days and there are no excuses for not being contactable by the office.

Issues for Libraries
Libraries need to look at how library spaces can support flexible, socially directed working styles of mobile communicators.
The library needs to get used to adapting rather than providing.

A library that I think does this really well is The University of Technology library in Sydney. They appear to be at the forefront of social media in libraries and it is a really exciting place to visit and in turn use.

Ways that libraries are already adapting with mobile-ready services.

• Reference/Enquiry
• Collections to go
• Presentation and viability
• Alerting
• Syndication
• Mobile sites
• Communications and referral
• booking
• Note-taking

Three issues in the management of collections.

1. The issue of management of print collections.
2. The issue of licensing external collections.
3. The issue of the continuity of personal and institutional collections.

People: Presence
It is important for the library to be more visible in the following ways:

• Marketing
• Physical Presence
• A 'signed' network presence
• Expertises

This was a difficult article to read, but well worth it for the insights that it offered.

Examples of web 2.0 working for libraries and other information agencies

I was very excited to see a link for blogging as that is something I am very interested in. However, that link appears to not be working. Such a pity.

I looked up a few of the other links and was quite inspired by what can be done in a school.

It has certainly given me something to think about and a plan to approach my principal to discuss the suitability of some of the ideas.

I could read these links for hours, they are all so interesting and quite inspiring.

Module 4 continued

We were asked to read two blog entries by Anna Laura Brown. They were the top 10 social networking tools and trends for libraries in 2009 and 2010.
After reading these I went on to read more blog posts that she had written and discovered one about trends in 2011.
They included:

1. Mobile applications.
2. QR codes. I don't know what these are so hopefully someone will enlighten me.
3. Google applications.
4. Twitter.
5. Virtual reference.
6. Increased collaboration between libraries and more that one institution.
7. Teaching social media classes.
8. Using Social media as a teaching tool.

All very interesting points. I will enjoy revisiting this list at the end of the year to see how accurate her predictions were.

Looking back at the 2009 and 2010 posts, in my modules it asks:

1. Which of these tools and trends has already impacted on your library or organisation?
2. Which of these tools and trends have been discussed by people within your library or organisation as having potential in supporting its goals?
3. Which of these tools and trends have not yet hit your library or organizations radar?

My responses are easy as none of them have impacted on my library. None of them have been discussed in my library. None of these trends have come anywhere near the radar of my library.

After reading these blog posts I think that the school library is a bit unique in that the students at my primary school aren't old enough to have facebook accounts or any other social media accounts.
It has made me think that we do need to find other ways to embrace the social media trend at school though.

Definitely food for thought.

Module 4: Social Media, Social networking and libraries: Why bother?

I have just completed the first 3 readings for this topic and they have been very helpful in providing many positive reasons for using social networking in the library.

Brookover, S. (2007). Why we blog, Library Journal, 15 November. Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6497263.html

I will be using this article when I am writing up my report about the library blog as it gives many excellent reasons of why we blog.

The author gave an example of a person who was not great technologically, but was able to embrace blogging because it was just simply a matter of "typing in a box". My goodness they could be talking about me. I just love blogging because it is so easy and everyone things you are really technologically savvy!

 

The majority of the people interviewed for this article all confirmed that blogs can break down the institutional wall between libraries and the members of the community.

We are also told that blogging is a creative and easy way to reach tech savvy people. 

Blogging is only limited by the bloggers imagination.

Casey, M. & Stephens, M. (2009). You can’t afford not to do these things, Library Journal, 15 March. Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6639942.html?industryid=47356

This article has been written in response to the economic downturn and the possible cut backs in staffing within libraries.

They emphasize that tight budgets should foster creativity, and social networking is free and can be used to promote libraries.

As the article says "All it takes is ingenuity and the proper mindset" because the tools are free or low cost.

Andy Burkhardt’s post Four Reasons Libraries Should be on Social Media  (August 25, 2009).

Burkhardt (2009) gives the following reasons why libraries should take advantage of social media.

1. Communication- A way of staying in contact with your patrons.
2. Respond to Positive/Negative feedback. 
3. Marketing/advertising.
4. Understanding users better.

Assignment frustration

For my project for INF506 I am doing a blog at school in the library.

The response from the students so far has been really positive.

I have placed a survey for them to complete in an effort to help improve the service we give in the library.

The library monitors are beginning to write their own posts and the other students are being very positive in their responses.

Overall it is progressing really well, in fact better that I would have expected.

Now comes the frustration part.......I have tried to put a visitor counter onto the blog, in fact I have spent the better part of an hour trying to do this. Unfortunately I have been unable to do so. I think it is because I am using blogEd and it is accessed through the portal so it won't let my counter systems access the blog.

Anyway I have now just spoken to someone on the help desk, who couldn't help me and he has now referred it to someone else.

Hopefully by the end of the holidays I will have an answer to my dilemma. But then again I am dealing with the DET so who knows???

Librarian 2.0

As part of this module we were given 2 readings to consider.

Harvey, M. (2009). What does it mean to be a Science Librarian 2.0? Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (Summer). Retrieved from http://www.istl.org/09-summer/article2.html

This article was interesting as the writer emphasised the need to not just embrace a new web2.0 technology because it is new, but to ensure that it is right for you.

 He then gave some examples of tools that are useful. They were: 

1. Blogs
2. RSS feeds
3. Podcasts
4. Video thread
5. chat/IM
6. Cloud tags
7. You Tube 

 He also emphaised the need to thoroughly evaluate if a new tool is appropriate for our library and will help deliver better services to our clients.

He also said to try and avoid throwing out the 'old' methods and tools just because they were old.

The other reading was:

Stephen Abram's paper at the Online Information 2007 Conference where he tries to define the 'work' of a Librarian 2.0, Web 2.0, library 2.0 and librarian 2.0: Preparing for the 2.0 world

The article begins by discussing web 2.0 describing it as a social phenomenon. We can all participate and influence the development of the next generation of the web.

Library 2.0 is another 'conversation'.

I felt that this article was quite motivating. In it he motivates us as librarians to guarantee the future of the profession by using our insight and knowledge of web2.0 to influence the creation of the new dynamic. He says that this is a once in a generation opportunity to invent a new future.

Make Librarian 2.0 the guru of the information age.