This Week's readings...

I know this posting is a bit late..but figured I'd still put up my thoughts...

Starting the articles off with Farkas was a great introduction, on good and bad practices, and how libraries can creatively use social networks, and be effective within the community. Most of the focus is on youth, which makes a lot of sense, and connecting with these people is crucial. Also, as Schmidt says, we should concentrate on educating, being role models. The library has to realize it's role and have a positive presence within the community. Abram's thoughts on the whole topic are interesting, he states "Why am I looking at this kiddy stuff, you ask? What can it possibly teach me about providing excellent service to my users/colleagues/students that have serious needs in our community and schools? Good question. And like all good questions, it generates more questions." This point is very valid. We need to sometimes step back and look at our surroundings and see how we can improve.

The Harris article is also interesting, I like the way he presents three possible areas where social networks can be used in the classroom. It's all about being productive, using new technology and appealing to the new generation.

Jer


P.S. I finally have aFacebook account. It's kind of interesting, not really sure what I want out of it yet, but true I have found a lot of friends on here, but what do I do after I've found them. I am not really sure of the possibilities/potential, and well I hope to figure some of this out in the near future. And to be honest, this week's readings made more sense on the role of social networks in libraries, so now I am trying to think about it, in a different manner.