Thursday, June 11, 2009

Thing 3: Flickr

Well, I went ahead and set up a Flickr account because I figured that was the best way to "get it". I posted some photos that I enjoy from my computer, however, after the fact read the "Do's and dont's" and realized that some of what I had posted were little treasures I had kept from messages that were sent to me. Don't know the actually origin, but someone posted them somewhere and they ended up in one of those pass-it-along e-mails. Too bad, because they are kind of cute. I want to obey the rules, however, and definitely don't want to take credit for someone else's photo.

I definitely see the value to libraries of posting their photos out there, although many libraries already post their programming photos to their own website, so Flickr seems to be more useful on a personal basis. But, it is free, and I'm not sure if some of the other photo posting sites are.

Thing 2: Learning about Learning 2.0

Well, I listened to/mostly read all four items in step Thing 2. Some of it is sort of old news...IM, for example. There is no reason at all that every library isn't doing IM for reference, except for those who are afraid. Certain precautions can be put in place, such as response time expectations, and restrictions on the depth of questions, hours of operation, etc. I have been a proponent of that type of reference for a long time.

I have been in at least one, maybe two sessions on Web 2.0 already, and I am overwhelmed by the terminology on a lot of the other stuff and why I would need it. Don't know what a ning is and don't know if I want to know (but I guess I'm going to find out when I get there). I understand what flickr is, but hesitate to put my personal photos out there for anyone to find. On the other hand, I can see library program photos out there for everyone to enjoy. I do understand it all has to do with communicating continuously and in every possible way, and that is what libraries need to be doing so that we don't lose everyone to their home computer.

On the other hand, I'm not sure that that will really happen. I am not inclined to think that there will not always be books, or that there will not always be people who need someone to guide them to information. Especially in a community like ours, there are many people (including librarians) who just aren't into it. On the other hand, more and more are, across the age spectrum and certainly the younger, youngest and future library users.

All of that said, I think it is important for librarians to be as savvy about these things as possible. It is, of course, always nice to know what someone is talking about...a good reason to do this exercise in and of itself. The world has also become a 24/7 world and these tools enable libraries to be 24/7 institutions also along with e-reference books, downloadable audio, and databases.

E-mail vs. Blogging

Thursday, June 11, 2009
I still don't get how this works exactly and why is this better than e-mail? Do I really want to have everyone knowing my thoughts on everything? E-mail is more personal. If someone doesn't want to read it or doesn't want to respond, they can choose to not read or delete or not answer. I need to get busy and do another "thing". I know there are a lot of folks out there who are into this sort of stuff so I would like to understand why it is so great. Here's hoping I will discover the answer.