LIBR 246-04/13 Web 2.0 (Fall 2010)

When I signed up for this course, I was looking for something to expose me to the latest 2.0 technology without having to delve into actual programming or anything scary like that. I am so glad I was able to sign up for this class! I have completely changed my perception of social software. I use to think it was trivial because of the “social” aspect of it, but in the course of the semester, I was able to see how applicable and relevant web 2.0 tools can be for libraries. Of course, as many of you know, my favorite technology is Twitter! I just love it!

Although I do not yet work in a library, I want to work in an academic library hopefully in the very near future. The greatest barrier to implementing social software that I can anticipate in a medium to large academic library would be the fact that with a fairly large number of librarians on the staff with a wide range of experience working there, resistance would be inevitable. I like the example in the Sierra (2006) article about the “leaf nodes” (that would be me as a new librarian) and the “branches” (management layers).

From a library user’s point of view, the two libraries I use the most are SJSU King Library (100% remotely since I don’t live in San Jose) and my local public library, the Sanger branch of the Fresno County Library system. For an academic library, I am not convinced that user-generated content would be such a good idea. I have visions of students tagging library materials in a way that would make future students lazy when it comes to finding books and articles for their projects and papers. The students may just use these tags and not bother to look any further.

This was a pretty fun exercise. I am glad we learned how to use delicious at the beginning of the semester, so I was able to focus on the experience of resource discovery rather than trying to learn how to get started in the first place. I still don’t know why my page comes up as “kala’s mom,” which is a pseudonym I used once when I posted a review on Yelp. Sorry if anyone was confused about that. I must have missed a step when I originally signed up for delicious.

The business students at Ohio University are lucky to have such an engaging, approachable business librarian. Chad Boeninger gets my vote as having the most effective library wiki. I can see why Meredith mentions his wiki in her book as well as her lecture. This library wiki really stands out in the crowd, but I am not convinced that all librarians can have success with this wiki style. It works for Chad Boeninger because he is very comfortable in front of the camera and has a great voice that translates well in the videos.

The University of California Riverside (UCR) is a part of the 10-campus University of California (UC) system of public universities. The UCR Libraries serve a current student population of approximately 19,000, as well as faculty and staff of the university, and the community of Riverside, California. They are a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).

Now that social networking software has become so ubiquitous, one would assume that most libraries have jumped on the bandwagon by now in order to be where their patrons are. After reading this week’s lecture, reading the articles, and reviewing the various Facebook page examples, I decided that this is not a “one size fits all” kind of venture.

As I mentioned in my tweet this morning, a bird was actually tweeting outside my window. It was so weird, as if the bird was reminding me that I had to tweet today. I started my Twitter account yesterday with much trepidation. I read over the instructions on how to get started, and decided to take their advice about first following other tweets. I subscribed to the tweets of the people on the list that Meredith required, but then I got a little brave and started searching for more people to follow – what the heck!

I know I keep referring back to 203 class, but that was the first time I had ever heard of RSS, and it was a great introduction. That being said, I had a basic understanding of what RSS was, but now in this class, I am starting to see the wonderful possibilities of using RSS in a library setting. For one thing, I see how using RSS feeds is an efficient and painless way to keep up with what is happening in the library world, whether it is finding out about possible new databases and resources, what other libraries are doing, or what other librarians are talking about through their blogs.

I just wanted to make a comment about subscribing to these blogs on my Google Reader.  I actually find myself starting to like the way I can quickly scan the blog postings.  At first I thought it would be too much to go through, but I am getting the hang of it.  I am excited! Yah! 

See you all tonight!

Lucy