LIBR 246-13 Building the Social Library Online

This class is liable to be point of contention for any of the more traditional employeers I might choose, or it could very well be the best selling point I have. Over this semester, I've discovered some interesting new tools and some creative uses for them in a library setting. In the course of this class, I've woven some Web 2.0 elements into my work for better or worse. I say for better because del.icio.us makes it easy to work on several computers while sharing nifty things with friends. I say for worse because now that's one more thing I regularly have to check on.

When I found out about this class, I was pretty eager to sign up. I had regularly read Meredith's blog, and this class felt like my one chance to take a class with "celebrity" faculty. (I'll ask for your autograph later.) In October, I had suffered a "crisis of faith" of sorts at the CLA conference in Long Beach. After great presentations by guys like Craig Newmark (the Craig in Craigslist,) and social media expert Shel Israel, the naive questions that followed by the well-seasoned professionals in the audience surprised me in their obtuseness.

I’m going to unimaginatively go through each of the questions one by one…I’m in the middle of the big Course Project for my other class, so all creativity has apparently gone out the window.

1. How has your view of social software changed since starting the course?
My views have totally changed. Not because I disliked social software, but because I did not know all of the tools available, how to make use of them, and how beneficial they can be to me personally and at work.

Although I embrace learning new things and enjoy new experiences, I was definitely out of my comfort zone in the beginning of this class. At first I was very uncomfortable with using Drupal. The good old blackboard seemed so right, so comfy and so familiar. But now I see Drupal as different and even better way to engage with the instructor and other students especially since our focus is social networking. Now, having to go back to blackboard just seems wrong. One of the biggest benefits of Drupal was the RSS feeds.

That being said, here goes...

1. How has your view of social software changed since starting the course?

Here's my last post for this course. It seems like it has been a long time since Haikus and Top-Ten Lists, but as in my favorite style, I've included some bullet point lists and summaries. Happy reading!

I came across this video on one of the art blogs I read.  I think it applies equally well as a learning resource for understanding web 2.0. Explorations of mediated culture The machine is US/ing us              

The SOTES (Survey of Teaching Effectiveness) are coming up soon! For those who don't know, this is a survey that examines your satisfaction with the class and my teaching.