LIBR 246-13 Building the Social Library Online

It was really great to hear from someone who helped pioneer social software uses in his library (as well as libraries in general), because at the time Chad was considering the use of blogs and wikis for his business school it didn’t seem like there were many other examples for him to draw from. I really liked his comment about his job being “pattern-oriented”, which I think a lot of subject reference librarians can identify with. After being asked the same question over and over again, you begin to think “There’s got to be an easier and quic

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.

Wow, I can't believe it's really over. This is not only my last class of the semester, but also my last class in the SLIS program. I've spent this semester compiling my e-portfolio, and a lot of time reflecting on what I've learned over the last two years. It's hard to believe it's really over!

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

Trying to sell social networking tools to some colleagues is like pulling teeth. Sometimes it may be painful but in the end they’ll be glad they did it. I’ve been playing with lots of different types of social networking tools for several years (especially in this class). Sometimes I’m not too impressed and can’t see how it will be useful down the road but I like to be familiar with it for that “lightbulb” moment in the middle of the night.

I see a couple of different barriers to implementing social software tools at the public library where I work. One is lack of long term support by staff members. There is no lack of enthusiasm when a web 2.0 technology is mentioned, and everyone is eager to get started using it, but after the initial enthusiasm wears off, we are left with a bunch of half finished concepts that aren't going anywhere.

Boy, was this challenging!  I totally assumed that creating my screencast would be about as simple as creating my podcast.  For the most part, I wasn't too off base with that thought.  I used Camtasia to create the screencast and actually found it very user-friendly, even for first-timers like myself.  Their screencast tutorials are wonderful.  I watched them, created my screencast....then the problems started.

Short and Sweet – that’s how I would describe the screencast I created. Needless to say this experience reminds me of why I did not go into the teaching field. I’m not great at teaching. But I’m glad to have used screencast in this class. I very much doubt I would have tried it otherwise.

Although creating my screencast took several hours, I am optimistic about this as a resource that will really make an impact in librarianship and information services. Customers at my public library really appreciate when I come to their internet workstation to help them with the computer, and I think this is because many people are visual learners.  Often times verbal explanations get lost, confused, or distorted, especially when it comes to using technology.  However, showing customers how to complete a task on the computer by standing next to them and letting them control

I thought screencasting is a great way to provide reference services at a library because it pulls together so many elements that would occur in a face-to-face reference interaction. I really enjoyed doing my screencast with Jing. I thought it was pretty intuitive and a worthwhle experience.  To be fair, I regularly do screencasts for my job and find that they do help, especially since we only provide remote support (phone and email).

I used Camtasia to do my screencast, and was really impressed by easy it was to use. I found I really enjoyed doing it! So far, this has definitely been my favorite project for this class.