The story behind the huge 'Thank You State Library of Queensland' banner on the front page of Wikipedia (cross posted in INF206 facebook page)

AB

Reading Detectives

Reading Detectives combines crowd sourcing, geo tagging, local history and the love of reading to create a very interesting project (cross posted in INF206 Facebook page)

AB

National Archives, Social Networking and New Media (initial thoughts)

Below is a chart to compare how different the National Archives of the US, UK and Australia are using social media.




All three are quite involved by having RSS feeds, are on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, do podcasting, allow some sort of tagging and have email newsletters.

Welcome Home

This video from T-Mobile UK has been making the rounds in the blogosphere:



It is so clever on so many levels. It all at once tugs at our collective heartstrings with the experience we have all had (coming home), plugs in some very talented singers with songs we all know and creates this space that makes us all stop and wish we would have been there too.

But the really clever thing about this ad (and lets not forget it IS an ad) is the use of social media. What do many people do these days when they see something interesting happening? They whip out their phones to capture the moment. They ring a friend to tell them about it. They add it to Facebook, Flickr, and yes, Youtube. And this ad engages those people. Look at how many watches this ad has had. (Over 5 million at the writing of this post) Then you can also follow the whole campaign on Facebook or Twitter. The whole campaign is interconnected and very popular.

But what can libraries learn from this? We obviously don't have the budgets to pull of something like this but I keep thinking about how interconnected this campaign is and how it allows the public (fans?) to participate, share and discuss the brand. Two things to note on their Facebook page; how many fans they have and how often they post on their own wall. If you think about it, those 32,000+ fans get an reminder of the T-Mobile brand at least once a day.

I keep thinking about how the whole idea is very simple, basically people want to be a part an exciting experience and then share it with their friends. And in 2010, the way many of us share is with a mobile device connected to our online social network. T-Mobile has really tapped into their market with this campaign.

(sorry, this post isn't really part of my normal OLJ task list for class, but I kept thinking about the video since I saw it and how they used social media in really exciting ways so I wanted to reflect on it)

-AB

RSS feeds (initial thoughts)

I'm a big fan of the RSS feed. I collect information from a variety of sources and with RSS i can have it all in one one place. (I currently use Google Reader)

But how can libraries use RSS?
I found this interesting blog post from The Moxie Librarian who covered some of the basics (new additions to the catalogue, upcoming events, local interest stories) but then suggested some note worthy ideas. What about having an RSS of library media releases? Or library closings? Or job openings? Hold notifications?
The Library of Congress in the US has an extensive RSS page. I was surprised at some of the topics on offer. They have the sections about news and events, but there are also feeds for librarians and teachers, digital preservation, poetry, copyright news and the latest additions to the Library's gift shop.

I guess the lesson is to not limit to your thinking and to talk to the different departments. Each department knows what their customers are asking for on a regular basis.


Public Library RSS Brainstorm:
Here are a few ideas that came to me after reading through some of the RSS information
1. Teacher feed- new books related to the curriculum, author talks, summer reading programs
2. HSC feed- new additions, local talks, pod casts, study tips
3. Parent feed(s)- information about new books, events, and news just for parents. These could be tailored for particular age groups
4. Book group feed- what's happening with the Library's book groups, books they are reading, groups that have openings, reviews from book group participants
5. Staff pics- books selected by the staff with links to the catalogue

-AB

Podcasts

After reading the Module 2 I found out that the CSU library has a series of its podcasts. The very first podcast is about how students can access library services while doing a prac. That's so handy because I'm hoping to do my prac this year. Nice when things come together.
A podcast that I am particularly fond of is Adventures in Library Instruction. It is light hearted but so very informative. (I laugh and learn every time I listen) It is because of this podcast I now have a QR code on my business cards.

-AB

Delicious (initial thoughts)

I have reactivated my Delicious account. My first thought about how this type of bookmarking service

1. Tagging could be powerful for groups. A library could encourage staff to tag interesting articles with an agreed library tag to share with the group.
2. The cloud computing aspect means that if you find a great link at home, it can still be shared at work.
3. Links can be emailed to colleagues
4. searching by tags can lead to new information sources


-AB

Mythbusting in Social Media Marketing is a talk being presented by the Social Media Club Sydney. Sadly I can't go to this one but I've been to their talks before and they are worth going to.

AB

Entry 1

A. What is social networking:

In 2010, social networking consists of a variety of technologies that allow people to connect and share (although I would argue that the backyard BBQ is also a form of 'social networking'). Some of these spaces have a theme or topic like Flickr (for photography) or LinkedIn (for professionals) while others Facebook and My Space are for general socializing.

B. Social networking technologies and sites I use:

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Linkedin, You Tube, delicious, Google chat, Google Reader (which I would consider 'social networking' because you can share links with others), Windows Messenger and I have a Wordpress blog (but it has been pretty quiet at my blog since I've gone back to Uni).

Over the years I have been on a number of social bulletin boards (craft ones, a wedding one and one for ExPats). I have also contributed to Wikipedia and have used wikis for work and other personal projects.

C. What I expect to learn in INF206:

I'm very interested in technologies and how we in the library industry can use them to our advantage. In INF206 I am hoping to gain a deeper understanding of social networking tools by looking at them with a critical eye. I'm also hoping to learn about the future of social networking and connect with others who are interested in this subject.

-AB