Social Networking

Social networking sites are very useful for any type of business including libraries. They help you communicate to a selected audience, for example, to notify patrons of an upcoming event. They can also be used to gauge what is of interest to the public by listening in on forum discussions etc. People who participate in these forums tend to be "early adopters", so this is a good way of learning about new and exciting topics of interest ahead of time. Forums can also be used to assist library staff by allowing other members of the public to answer reference questions.

Link to Google.Docs

When I was in Google.Docs, I chose the option "Publish this document to your blog". This published the whole document onto my blog, but because it was five pages long, I decided to delete it. I tried instead to put a link to the document, but this didn't work, perhaps because there is restricted access to the document.

Document Sharing

I have posted a set of instructions for the microphone P.A. system onto Google.Docs. This site would be very useful in any business as it offers a way for people to view and edit the same document, rather than have hundreds of separate documents that have different dates and different updates. It ensures everyone is "working from the same page" (literally). It also allows people to find documents easily because they are all kept in the one spot.

Mash Ups

This is an example of a mash-up created using the Warholizer website.

Mash Ups

This is an example of a mash-up created using the Warholizer website.

Podcasts

One use of podcasts in the library would be to create instructional videos for other staff members on such things as using the P.A. system, or setting up the laptop and projector in the meeting room. A video would be easier to follow than written instructions alone. You could also put videos or audio podcasts on the catalogue. For example, you could record author talks or oral histories and put these on the website.

Library Thing

What a cool site. This is a great way to see if there are others out there who share your same wierd taste in books. You can see which of your favourite books are popular with other people and which are not. It would be a great way to meet people with similar tastes in books as you.

Social Bookmarking

I think this would be very useful if I had the Internet at home and used it regularly. It allows you to access your favourites from any Internet computer. You can sort them and find them easily using tags. You can then share them with others. This would be very useful in work situations where you wanted to share your knowledge with your colleagues.

Embedded Video

Link to Video

This link will take you to Christian the Lion video on YouTube

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Wikis

Wikis are a great way of bringing together knowledge from people who have similar interests or who work in the same industry. They are a very democratic way to create knowledge and this helps to ensure the entries are less biased or agenda-driven than other sources of information. I have found the following three Wikis to be particularly useful to my work in the library industry:

"The Full Library Success" Wiki - This contains well-written, professional entries on a range of issues relevant to the management of a library. Topics include: Selling your library, readers advisory and technology.

"Booklovers" Wiki - This is very helpful for my readers advisory role in the library. I particularly like the section on five star reviews; this helps if you want a good book to recommend to someone.

"SJCPL Subject Guides" Wiki - This site offers information to library users and those that work in the industry. The grouping of topics into subject guides on this Wiki is very useful. For example, there is a whole lot of information and links grouped into such subjects as Technology (including handouts for computer classes and links to online tutorials) and Geneaology (with links to genealogy websites and tips on how to do geneaology research).