An interesting blog post about libraries and Facebook over at In The Library With the Lead Pipe (crossposted in INF206 Facebook page)

-AB

Library closure protest

A library in Stony Stratford near Milton Keynes in the UK has come up with a very unique way to communicate the message to the local council that the library is important to the community. (The library is currently facing 'severe' closures.)

The library sent out 6,000 letters to everyone in the community and asked them to check all of the books out of the library.

every
single
book

See, they wanted to show the council (who meet in the library) the 'gaping void' that would be left in the community if the library closed.

The above photo is a shot of the empty shelves. Brilliant

A great quote from a local resident: 'The library is the one place where you find five-year-olds and 90-year-olds together, and it's where young people learn to be proper citizens'. It's crazy even to consider closing it - they should be finding ways to expand its services and bring even more people in."

How awesome is this community??? (cross posted in INF206 Facebook page)

-AB


But if you want to see books on shelves check out Bookshelf Porn :)

Social Media Week

Social Media Week will be celebrated at New York Public Library the week of February 7, 2011. Nice to see a big public library get involved like this. The talks they have up at the moment are Future Library: Socializing History with Maps and The Inner Workings: Staffing for Social Media. Both sound pretty darn interesting to me. Well done NYPL.

Social Media Week events are being held around the world (sadly, none in Australia). But I think it is interesting how this falls just a week after the ALIA Information Online conference.

There are some interesting looking talks around the world. 10 Ways to Suck at Social Media, Hosted by Chemistry is on in London, Sustainable Flashmob, Hosted by Foodspotting and Whole Foods Market in New York, and Empowering Women Through Social Media in Hong Kong all sound like they would be worth attending. (cross posted in INF206 facebook page)

Now where did I put that worm hole....

-AB

Virtual talks regarding Games in Libraries using 'guild chat'. (cross posted in INF206 facebook page)

AB

Module 5 notes

A few scribblings from the Module 5 reading My Life As A Dog:


"Online, you are increasingly the incessant record of your every twitch and grunt."

"This is what social networks and related services tend to obscure: the normal directedness of communication. It should be to, not just from."

"Bloggers often cite a rule of thumb: never write anything you wouldn't want your grandmother to read"

A really interesting read about web 2.0, communication and security. It makes me wonder if in the future we will all need some sort of searchable online space where we keep all of our information like a virtual CV. Should we in the library community worry if we blog or share our opinions of library services on Facebook?


-AB

Pearson, Joseph. Life as a dog [Personal identity and the internet.] [online]. Meanjin (Melbourne), v.68, no.2, Winter 2009: 67-77. http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/fullText;dn=200906244;res=APAFT

"The above cartoon by Peter Steiner has been reproduced from page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20)only for academic discussion, evaluation, research and complies with the copyright law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code." (via University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Did you know 4.0 and library policies (initial thoughts)

After having a look at the following video a couple of times a few things stood out to me




1. Print circulation is down by 7 million users in the last 25 years but unique readers of online newspapers are up 30 million.

As libraries move forward, do we have collection development policies in place to account for this? Are we spending our limited funds on newspapers that no one is reading? Libraries might need to include something in the collection development policy that states that as newspapers come up for renewal, rather than just renew blindly, look at how the paper is being used and see if an online alternative can be sourced.


2. Text messages sent by the average American teen per month: 2,272

How does this fact impact on a library's teen services? Can we find ways to communicate with teens on their mobile? Can we send them overdue reminders by text? Let them know about upcoming events? Give homework help or reader advisory services? How might this impact on privacy policies or impact on library budgets? (as the cost of a text message is higher than a phone call)


3. Among larger companies 17% have disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies

Companies may have written up formal social networking policies, but have libraries? There are LOTS of really great blogs run by librarians out there, how would a policy like this affect them? Could it stem the flow of information if a blogger has to worry about how their employer will react to their personal blog, especially if a g blog post doesn't fit in with the organization's philosophy. (I'm thinking how my employer might react if I ranted about how the LOC banned Wikileaks) Personally, I use library blogs for professional development and would hate to see them muzzled.

4. The mobile device will be the world's primary connection tool to the internet in 2020

Do libraries have policies to check how mobile their web site is? How about the catalogue? Blog posts? Media releases? Do we need to think about this now before everyone has a computer in their pocket?

5. 'The computer in your cell phone today is a million times cheaper and a thousand times more powerful and about a hundred times smaller (than the one computer at MIT in 1965) . So what used to fit in a building now fits in your pocket, what fits in your pocket now will fit inside a blood cell in 25 years.' Ray Kurzweil

This one blew my mind. I must have read it 4 or 5 times in a row. How will this affect the library infrastructure? How will this change the way we check in and out books? Deliver services? Communicate with our clients? Do we have the people and policies in place to watch as these technologies become more available (and affordable) to make our jobs easier? How do we implement them?


-AB

Over Christmas I was chatting with a friend and she mentioned that the architecture firm that she works for has gone onto Facebook. The partners in the firm know that things like Facebook and Twitter exist but don't really know what they do, how to use them or even how to post a status update. They mostly see them as shiny new toys that make their firm look cutting edge. Lucky for them my friends has used some of these technologies before (plus she's a smart cookie) and has them all set up. But now she is starting to see the need for a social media plan and or policy. Funny how this came up right after I read about different social media policies.
here's the list I ended up sending to her:

12 ways to use Facebook professionally

Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy

Should Your Company Have a Social Media Policy? [blog post]

10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy, [blog post]

What Every Company Should Know About Social Media Policy [blog post]

David Fleet's Social Media Policies [E-book]

Chartered Institute of Public Relations

3 Great Social Media Policies to Steal From

List of 40 Social Media Staff Guidelines

8 Tools to Track Your Footprints on the Web

Yes, I did let her know that all of these came from either my class reading or from other students.
But she was very grateful (if maybe a little overwhelmed). I'll be having dinner with her next week and will be curious to hear if anything has become of all that reading.

-AB