Again I know I'm a bit behind the schedule, but here goes...
I looked at the cases in reverse order, the first one was the UWO community live journal. I think that it is a great idea. It's a good place for students/people to communicate activities, questions, and interests about UWO. Now this is sort of going on a side point, but I'm going somewhere with this. A few of the posts were from incoming students, looking for apartments, student cards/bus pass, etc. Now when I was playing on Facebook, there's a whole section dedicated to people going to a new school (university)...now I wonder how this is being delt on that site. I looked up the community size on the Live Journal and it was a decent size, but I wonder how active is it? Facebook, it would seem that it would be easier to note the activity levels, etc. I am just making a comparison, and wondering how effective, each one is. I haven't gone or joined the Facebook/UWO new students, so I don't know, but I wonder how that network works.
The MySpace and Teens list on the wiki...I scrolled through the list and picked Pickering Public Library, figuring it might possibly be Canadian. I then looked at their site, and it seemed really outdated, and not very used. I am not sure what I can say about it. Some of the content seemed to date back to January of 2007. This makes me wonder, did they just give up, or not try to improve their site, etc. So many questions, but what to do, where to go? The idea of regrouping a list on a Wiki is a great idea. Makes me wonder if the people behind the Pickering Space, know about their presence on the Wiki. If so, why not look at other libraries that seem to have a Space that works. It is good to sometimes see what other people or groups are doing.
Jer
Saturday, July 21, 2007
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.
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.
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