A golden opportunity?

Marketing I must confess is something that I have little time to undertake. The new social media does however offers more imaginative ways to do this but I believe that it would be just as time consuming. I heard a lecture by the librarian from a very large prestigious US university who although very enthusiastic about the new media, was also pragmatic. In her university, so much time was taken communicating with the students via Facebook, Twitter etc... that they had to have a dedicate PC that they took turns to man. She reported that she often spent a large part of the day corresponding with her students electronically and had very little face-to -face contact with them. She also reported that it had been impossible to fulfill the expectations raised because they did not have enough staff. I felt that this was very sad.

For our students, many of whom are part-time, face-to-face contact is very important and highly valued (their words not mine). The sense of community is an important aspect of our students training thus coming into the library, using the facilities and browsing the shelves is all part of that experience and helps them feel part of the college. If everything can be provided virtually the library experience will change and how long will our physical libraries last in times of financial constraints? Meeting students and talking over coffee/lunch is also a good way of getting to know students, understand their needs and break down barriers. I have found that being visible is a great PR tool.

So far I have not used Facebook to promote the library, I feel that this would be invading their social space. I like slideshare and can think of some possibilities for this. I do however intend to canvas the users opinions in regard to the different social media methods later this year so watch this space.....

Cite it right!

I found this quite difficult not least because I am unable to download programmes onto my computer at work. However our IT Officer was to hand and was very helpful (this is just in case he is reading my blog!). I do not think that Zotero is as user friendly as some of the other programmes we have been using. It took me a little while to come to grips with its idiosyncrasies - it did not help that I am not able to download FlashPlayer and watch the video . I therefore found Isla's document (Medical School Library documentation) very helpful. The down side is that the programme seems to slow down Firefox, thus it takes longer to load.

Once mastered, I can see that the programme will be very useful to researchers. The tags seem particularly good as they allow the quick retrieval of similar items. I also like the fact that you can create citations quickly and easily - I wish that this had been available when I first began my research. In a personal capacity I will find this programme useful, how many of our students will be as keen is difficult to predict. On a basic level we already provide our students with digital course readings that are organised in folders and I supply the citations. I shall however try and raise the awareness of Zotero to both our lecturing staff and postgraduate students and place it on our intranet's library pages. It will be interesting to try and gauge the uptake at the end of the year.

Big Brother....?

Is it me or is this scary? The more I progress through 23Things the more I have become security conscience. I Googled my name and was quite shocked at the information available about me online. It probably has not helped reading Larsson's - Millenium Trilogy (I would certainly recommend it). Linkedin provides too much personal information for my liking, there is such a thing as identity theft!

I was glad that we did not have to sign up for this for 2 reasons. One is for the above and the other because of account fatigue. I now have so many accounts and passwords that I don't know if I can remember them all. Discussing this problem with our IT Officer he has recommended a very secure piece of software called KeePass. You can type in all your usernames and passwords whilst only having to remember the master password, brilliant!

Do we need a Face?

Facebook is a very interesting concept. Allows the sharing of information, photos etc... finds 'lost' friends etc... Great for personal networking but is there a place for it for libraries? I joined Facebook sometime ago to keep in touch with some of our students. As the average age of our students is 35+ many are actual friends. One is a Navy Chaplain on active duty so Facebook plays an important role in maintaining contact with home.

Facebook is a great site for ministerial students as they have always depended upon the networks that they form whilst in college. At one of my colleges all academic staff and students are encouraged to join. Ministerial life can be lonely for some so the importance of a forming a network of peers has always been promoted by the training colleges. Facebook has taken this to another dimension with its facility to share photos, prayers etc... However, I question its use for communicating and promoting libraries. I can understand the reasoning for wanting to getting the library involved, i.e be visible where the action is, but I am not convinced that libraries have a role in that social space. Many of our part-time, off site users are not into social networking and prefer 'good old fashioned' email. I am however always willing to try new Things so despite my skepticism will try and canvas popular opinion with a survey at the end of the Michaelmas term.

If you are wondering about the significance of the graphic - I saw a Winters Tale on Saturday and one of the acts finishes with toppling of 2 large bookcases full of books. The books & leaves flew everywhere. Although it was very dramatic, I felt some sympathy for the person who had to pick up all the books and reshelve them!

Done in a jiffy!

This was exceedingly quick and easy to do. I enjoyed choosing the dust jackets, its surprising the difference it makes to the look of the catalogue. I can imagine that setting up my personal catalogue would not take long, it would probably take me longer to remember all the books that I had than to type them in.

As I said in my previous blog, this has great potential for small libraries although it might be challenging to find the correct dust jackets. This programme also takes away the need to be an expert cataloguer, something again that might appeal to a small under funded library. On a more serious note it might also reduce the need for cataloguers. Southampton libraries want to staff their public libraries with volunteers believing that they do not need professionally qualified staff, this might just be another nail in our coffin?

Closet Librarians?

I started reading the articles thinking that it was basically a tool for closet librarians but was surprised at the interaction that it has generated. I thought that the sample catalogues looked stylish and inviting and was quickly drawn into reading reviews of books that I have recently read. I really like the idea of book reviews, discussion groups and recommendations that LIbraryThing can facilitate. I am still not persuaded about the tags though. Tags are personal to the individual and although it was interesting to see those listed for Larsson's - Girl with the Dragon tattoo, I thought that they look messy.

Having worked in a Public Library for many years I can see the potential that this tool has to engage the users and generate discussion and interaction. I am surprised that no UK public libraries are listed as I would have thought that this would fulfill their criteria for public engagement.

At present, I am not sure how well LibraryThing would work in my own libraries but it might be interesting to try. For small libraries that cannot afford expensive library software, LibraryThing is ideal. I can see much potential for small third world libraries as long as they have good Internet connections.

Mirror, mirror....................

Well week 7 already, my how time flies. As I mentioned in an earlier blog I was skeptical about the value of this course but now after 12 Things I am a convert. I never thought that I would enjoy this course so much. I have learnt many new Things that I shall be able to use at work, personally and professionally.

I originally signed up to keep abreast of the new technological changes and to gain some understanding of the ways in which 'young people' communicate. Although our intake is 25+, it will not be long before new students will want to communicate via these methods. In fact I have already had a 'young' 43 year old ask me to renew his library books via Facebook! Although it may be sometime before the majority of our students use electronic tools to communicate other than email, it is good to be prepared (yes I was a Girl Guide!).

Of all the Things we have learnt to date, the iGoogle page, the Google Calendar and Delicious (I already used Doodle) have proven to have the most immediate relevance. As this is a reflection week, we will be spending time setting up a shared Google Calender and organising our Delicious accounts so we can share bookmarks. Although some Things I shall only use occasionally such as Twitter because I don't see the point of it, there are others that I will use when the occasion arises such as Slideshare (resources awareness is a great thing).

It goes without saying that this course has increased my confidence, awareness and skills. I look forward to Monday mornings and the challenges that are set. Although I have enjoyed some Things more than others, it has been a steep learning curve but one I am enjoying a great deal. Well done the Cambridge team for producing this course.