Thank you!

Thank you to all my fellow student-educators during this class on social networking. 

It has also been one of the most enjoyable classes I have taken.

I learned a lot from all of you, and wish you the best as you continue your studies!

Reflection

I always knew direct communication was my forte (go email! telephone! and especially.... in person!) and so it was with a little trepidation that I stuck my toes into the world of social networking this semester.  

I have to say, while I don't think I have become a convert, I do feel I have a greater understanding of social networking, a clearer picture of its' benefits and many uses, and my comfort zone around the use of Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media has expanded exponentially in these last few weeks of this short summer semester.

As I prepare to become a librarian, this knowledge is invaluable, especially I should think as I hope to work with youth, and in many instances, the way they communicate and receive news and information is primarily accomplished through use of various forms of social media.

Now, to work on my texting....

News: an observational post about the generational divide regarding news gathering

My daughter, who is 15 and gets virtually all her news and information from social media (or the John Stewart show) tells me the news practically the minute things are happening. She always knows the facts and is very up to the minute. I am shocked some times at how quickly the news finds her.

I, on the other hand generally use more traditional print and online newspaper sources combined with a little of "Morning Joe" and know less about immediate happenings, media and celebrity news, and less stories in general and have a more in depth view of the things I follow or am interested in, perhaps you could say I know more about fewer events and happenings.


I am curious as to how the news industry will respond over time in order to provide news rapidly, without sacrificing fact checking and background information and in a format appealing to her generation.

 

Academic Libraries, Facebook and MySpace, and Student Outreach: A Survey of Student Opinion Ruth Sara Connell

After reading this article I would be very wary about setting up a Facebook page for the library with this age group. There is a sizable minority who might eventually resent the communication and view it as an intrusion. 

I would be curious to see the comparison of these results if a similar study was replicated with a different age group--such as young adults/teens at a public library, adults, or senior adults. As a librarian I would most likely investigate the possibilities of other social networking sites such as the library fan page mentioned in this article or some other sort of interactive web page or blog.

http://www.citeulike.org/

Wow, this is a great site for academics and students of every stripe.
Gives Google Scholar a run for its money....

Re: Tips for Writing Facebook and Twitter Updates by Kivi Leroux Miller

These tips I found to be very succint and helpful. I do think that one of the challenges is to combine being brief, which these tools necessitate, as do the attention spans of the readers, with letting your own personality shine through without letting the story be about you, to paraphrase Ms. Miller. 

I think there is a real talent, an art form, to social blogging and networking-- some people who are good at it are capable of personalizing without getting personal, sharing information without seeming to "teachery" or too commanding and authoritative.

Blogs, mashups, and wikis

Oh My...

this article talked about a lot of the topics we have been reviewing and discussing in our LSC 597 class. The last section of the article reviewed the challenges, which have already come up and been debated recently in our classroom forums, such as: "Technology outdistancing policy" We discussed this in the Forums recently, as it applied to Face book. This thorn has been a factor of the equation since the world wide web was invented. As soon as a program to stop a hacker is invented a new way to hack comes along. The repercussions for someone hacking into your personal and financial privacy in a country where it is laughed off or even encouraged doesn't help you as a user to bee secure, or have your rights protected.

For librarians, "Defining a "record" in a complex electronic environment" is going to be a challenge. I just finished taking a cataloging course. Cataloging has only just begun to adapt to the challenges by having records be online vs. being formatted to adhere to and be consistent with the card catalog system!

We discussed the "Gauging (of) legal responsibilities" as it is becoming murky to define. If you truly embrace the theories, advantages, and freedom we can all be afforded in our current "free" information culture, it stands to reason that our old way of viewing copyrights and copyrights infringement must evolve to reflect the current modes of operation.

If we as librarians seek to embrace the opportunities afforded to us by new technology we will need to become part of the solution in solving the challenges presented by social networking and other available information technology.