Online Communities

During my undergraduate years, I was introduced to online communities for the first time.  This was odd to many of my friends in college, but I did not find the need to join MySpace or Facebook even as a high school student.  When I arrived to college, I found that Facebook would help me stay in contact with my high school friends.  Once I joined Facebook, I joined several different groups to help me stay in contact with certain groups of people.  This included the education honor society, music honor society, drama club, and a high school group.  Later as I began working, it was required that I also join the group for our educational program and the Library of Congress.  Facebook has served me well over the years with keeping in contact with people and groups.  One of the sites mentioned above were not that great because they were not kept up to date causing it to be not useful for the members.  While in college, I was also asked to join a Yahoo Group for the music society which also did not work for the group because it was not kept up to date.  After trying the Yahoo Group, we decided to try a Wiki instead because we could share more items and we could keep it up to date more.  I was the one that created the group but it has been monitored by the current members who still use if to share specific items.  Lastly, I joined Second Life and Twitter when I came to San Jose State University as part of my classroom assignments.  I have not used these much, but have found that I do like Twitter because I can follow several of my friends, educational items, and celebrities.  Twitter has allowed me to stay more informed of what is going on in the same way that Facebook has.  The one other online community that I have knowledge about but have not created an account for is Flickr.  I have accessed Flickr for my work with the Library of Congress.  I may one day set up an account, but have not found the need.  Overall, I find that online communities are very important because they allow people the opportunity to stay connected and collaborate on certain things.  

Week 13: Training video

           For my training video, I looked at the Pekin Public Library’s page on YouTube.  On this page, I was able to find many videos which included story time, guest speakers, and instructional videos.  I decided to view a video called “Ebooks on the iPad app” located at http://youtu.be/CTvVfjhGpc8.  This video discussed the use of Overdrive Media Console app to access and read library books.  The librarian started the instruction on how to download the Overdrive Media Console app and ended with how read the book on the iPad.  She was very detailed in her instruction so that all patrons would understand how to use the iPad for ebooks.  The librarian also included the library’s phone number so that if any patron or viewer had any questions about the how to access ebooks on the iPad then they could call for further assistance.   

            Even though the librarian was very detailed in her instruction, the video in itself was not of great quality.  I could not actually read the iPad screen that she was sharing which made it difficult to see all of her step by step instructions.  This could have been easily fixed with some focusing of the camera or some editing software.  Another issue that I had with the video was the glare and random red dot.  Both of these can distract the viewer from the instructions. 

            Overall, I found that the library instructional video served its purpose of informing patrons of how to access ebooks with the use of an app.  I would suggest that in the future they took some time to edit the videos or had an assist video tapping so that the librarian can focus on teaching patrons the task only.  

Tagging

4.  What are some of the weaknesses of tagging for making content more findable? 

            I believe that the biggest weakness of tagging is the lack of structure or consistence especially with folksonomy tagging.  This type of tagging is based on what a specific person finds to be the most relevant term or terms to describe an item.  Since tagging through folksonomy is based on what a person thinks and not on a standardized system like taxonomies it can be harder to find an item of interest.  This means that to find specific content or an item a person searching would need to know the exact term(s) that one used while tagging their items.  Overall, tagging is not as reliable of a way to finding content as some people would think.

            Even though tagging is not as reliable as one may want, it is still a great tool to have because it does allow people to find some of the relevant information that they are looking to access.  One may not find every relevant item that they are looking for but they will have located some items that may help them learn more about a subject.  Thus, I believe that tagging is useful, but could be improved to help one find more of the content that they are looking for.

Exercise 5

For Exercise 5, I created a screencast of how to use the groups function of Facebook.  Enjoy: http://www.screenr.com/LUC8.

Social Media and Marketing

            I attended the presentation by Nicole Purviance titled “Social Media and Marketing.”  Nicole presented how social media is used as a marketing strategy.  Social Media tools can be used as communication devices and can provide an interactive way for business/companies can inform their customers.  The social media tools that Nicole discussed were Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Linkedin, Pinterest, Google +, and several others.  I found it interesting that the demographics of social media tools are females, youth, and Hispanic people.  I was surprised to see that more Hispanics use social media tools than other ethnic groups.  I also found the preferred social networks slide interesting because I thought that more than 6% of people would prefer Twitter.  I assumed that Facebook would be a high percentage, but I really thought that at least Twitter would be a little higher because of how many different people are using it to communicate. From this presentation, I learned about some new social media tools.  I had not previously heard of The Fancy or Yelp, but see how these are helpful for some businesses.  I have heard of Pinterest, but did not realize that it was becoming as popular and in such a short period of time.  I really liked the part about marketing strategies for Facebook because it provides detailed information about how one can use it to communicate with their customers.  I will save this presentation and use some of the strategies when I start to work in a library.  Specifically, I would use some of the marketing strategies to use Facebook in a way that will serve my patrons and attract new patrons.  I will also use the best practice slides to help set up any marketing that I do for a library, such as, creating an app or adding a link to other social media networks.  I really enjoyed this presentation on social media and marketing.      

Collaborative Tools

2.  What technologies do you find most promising in facilitating internal collaboration and why?

After looking at through the examples for collaborative tools, I found that several of them looked promising to be used in the library setting.  The first example that I liked was Google Docs.  I find that this tool is very helpful while working on collaborative items.  For example, my boss and I use the functions of Google Docs to keep track of the participants who want to take Teaching with Primary Source workshops from Quincy University.  This helps us keep track of who we have been in contact with through our website and email addresses.  I think that Google Docs would be a great tool in the library setting to keep track of classroom visits, book club dates, and free time to use the library.  I found that the four planning tools were all similar to each other, but I did not really like the setup of Bubbl.us.  I would prefer to use any of the other three tools to help develop plans for the library or lesson plans.  I personally have used Mindmeister in a previous class and found that it was very easy to use and helpful.  The usefulness of online communication tools is very helpful when you are trying to have a meeting with a group of people that are not within a reasonable driving distance.  The three online communication tools that I have heard about or have previously used are Meebo, DimDim, and Skype.  As a way of communicating with our workshop participants we have used DimDim and found that it works best in our situation because it is able to run through our broadband connections without any major problems. 

I think with all of these collaborative tools, librarians and others will be able to work in a more productive manner than before, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t draw backs to the technology.  Ones broadband connection can be a determining factor in what will work best in the office and at home.  There is also the idea of being in an online setting that others can see at all times of the day.  For example, if the library is using an instant message tool or using an email account set up to a chat box, it could be on even when one is not at the office.  This was stated as being an issue in Will Kelly’s article “Corporate Culture, Not Technology, Dives Online Collaboration.”  I have come across this on occasion when I am on vacation but still checking my work email.  I have found that if I do not change my chat window to say that I am busy, coworkers and students will contact me with their questions.  These are just some minor issues with collaborative online tools.  In the end the librarian or administration must choose whether or not to use these tools.    

Effective Wiki

1. Which of the library wiki examples did you consider most effective (you can pick more than one) and why?

            After reviewing the wiki examples, I found that I was more drawn to the pages that were more colorful and formatted in a way that encouraged patrons to use them.  I specifically liked three pages.  The first paged that I liked was the Plymouth Regional High School Library Research Pages.  I found that this page well organized and accessible for all students.  I liked how each class/teacher had a specific page for their content that they taught.  The pages didn’t look the best, but they contained plenty of information to help the students.  The second page that I liked was the The University of South Carolina Aiken Gregg-Graniteville Library.  I found that this page not only contained all of the necessary information but was organized and formatted in a better way than the first wiki.  This libraries wiki mirrors that of an actual website making it not appear to be a wiki.  I think that students will be able to access this website without any problems.  The last wiki that I like is The Ohio University Libraries Biz Wiki.  This wiki was very colorful and filled with many different functions.  The first thing that caught my eye was a welcome video that told patrons what they would find on the wiki and some helpful hints to finding the information needed.  There was also a message box allowing the patrons to ask questions in real time.  I found both of these helpful to patrons and welcoming.  The wiki also includes information on how to contact the librarian, more videos, and specific topic pages.  Overall, I found that each of these wikis served their purpose of informing their patrons of the libraries resources.  

Marketing Critique: Quincy Public Library

        For my marketing critique, I wanted to focus on one of the libraries in Quincy, Illinois.  I found that the Quincy University Library was missing an online presence.  The library only could be accessed through its website and Facebook page.  Thus, I choose to concentrate on the Quincy Public Library.  The Quincy Public Library serves not on Quincy, Illinois but several of the surrounding towns.  I found that Quincy Public Library did have an online presence outside of their main website.  One can find the Quincy Public Library on its website: http://www.quincylibrary.org, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/QuincyPublicLibrary, YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/QuincyPublicLibrary, the radio through a show called Book Notes: http://www.quincylibrary.org/books_music_media/NorasBookNotes.asp, and through e-newsletters/blog: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nt/landing.cfm?menu=nlcarousel&submenu=newslettersmenu&CFID=90287420&CFTOKEN=81806224.  Each of these sites provides patrons with the information that they are looking to obtain.  I will be critiquing each of these pages and how they help the library market. 

            The Quincy Public Library has an informational website that informs its patrons of several things.  This includes the titles of new books added to the collection and staff reviews on books.  The website also informs the community of library news and events.  There are also links to specific pages for kids and teens.  The one thing missing from the home page is a list or links to social media sites.  I was not able to find anything mentioned about a Facebook or YouTube presence.  The radio show and e-newsletter/blog information was found under the heading of Books, Music and More. 

            The Facebook page for the Quincy Public Library includes the basic information about when the library is open, where it is located, how to contact them, and the link for the website.  The page also includes information about the calendar of events, book news, catalog, teens, and other basic Facebook functions (photos and videos).  The wall of the page has been dedicated to important news items, such as, what is going on at the library that day or who is supporting the library.  The wall is recent as it was updated this month.  There does not appear to be a big following of this page.  There are currently 712 likes out of the possible 40,000 people that live in Quincy alone.  I feel that the library could be doing better at attracting followers to Facebook if there was a link off of the main library’s website. 

            The Quincy Public Library YouTube channel is very new to the library.  The videos that have been posted to the site are from last year’s Summer Reading program and are informative about the theme of the program along with being creatively produced.  The channel is not pretty as it appears to be the same gray and black colors of the main YouTube website.  Overall, this site is missing a creative and attractive background that would bring patrons in to view the clips.  I also feel that the library could have posted a video about the Big Read program that is hosted and sponsored by the library every fall.  There is so much more that they could have done with the site.  Lastly, the library should have a direct link off of the library’s main website and Facebook to YouTube. 

            Next, I looked at the information provided about the local radio show that discusses books.  The library along with one of the local radio stations partner up to discuss a book that is being read by the book club or is an alternative book.  This program is produced weekly, and includes a librarian and two radio hosts.  The specific website of information does inform patrons that they can learn about these book notes through the e-newsletter.  At the bottom of the page a list of past reviews was provided, and each of these did link to an audio file of the broadcast.  I found that this site was hard to find off of the home page of the library’s website, but that it provided good information about books. 

            Lastly, I explored the library’s e-newsletter/blog.  It appears that the site is more of an online newsletter, but it some areas works more like a blog but without the commenting function.  A patron is allowed to subscribe to only the area(s) that they wish to receive news on.  From the main page of this site, a patron can view some reviews of books and view news items.  This website was very colorful, but not always easy to navigate.  As I was exploring the site, several functions stopped working.  This was another site that was not easy to find off of the main library page.  It was found under a label of “What Should I Read Next?” 

            Overall, the Quincy Public Library is trying to build an online presence that will severe the Quincy, Illinois area.  However, I feel that they could improve their efforts greatly if each of these sites was listed in its own section of the website.  If they were more visible to patrons than maybe more people would be visiting them.  I also feel that specific patron groups could have their own unique social sites that would benefit them the most.  Each of these social sites could then be maintained by a representative of that group.  For example, there is a teen page where specific information for them is posted.  This page should be connected to other social sites, such as, Facebook.  One teen or a group of teens could then help the library staff maintain not only their website but their social sites.  Letting the patrons help build an online presence maybe just what the Quincy Public Library needs to expand its current patronage. 

            Next, I think that library staff should take more time to keep each of their current social sites updated.  There is no reason why the YouTube channel for the library does not include recent events that have happened at the library.  At the same time the videos posted to YouTube could also be posted to Facebook.  Each of the different sites used to market Quincy Public Library should be listed on each different page.  Seeing the repetition of sites to visit for information would build visits to each of these sites, and may attract more people visiting the library.  These are the suggestions that I have for the Quincy Public Library that will help them achieve a greater marketing strategy.  At the end of the day, the public library is here to serve the community, but it cannot do that if it is not known in that community.     

The World of Facebook and MySpace

1.  Do you think libraries should be building presence and providing services in MySpace and/or Facebook?  Why or why not?

            I do believe that libraries should be building a presence and providing a service on MySpace and/or Facebook.  I would personally suggest using Facebook over MySpace because MySpace seems to be a thing of the past.  When you listen to people talk about what is going on in the world, they tend to say they learned the information from Facebook not from MySpace.  The reason behind having a presence on Facebook is that it has become a key communication device for people.  Of course, some people don’t have accounts on either of these sites, but the library will still reach many people.  I think that every library can benefit from having Facebook or MySpace as a social media communication tool.  The one problem that I do see is for school libraries.  Since there is an age requirement for joining these sites, some libraries may not be able to use these, but they can look for some other useful media tools to communicate with the students and parents.  Even with the age issue, I feel that school libraries and academic libraries will have the biggest following on these sites versus public libraries.  I feel this way because as stated in Reaching Students with Facebook: Data and Best Practices, “…it is an environment that students are already comfortable with” (page 4).  Since these types of libraries serve the computer generation more, they will see the biggest draw as long as they have a positive presence.  Having a positive presence and an active presence will be key in retaining patrons and for attracting new ones.  This does not mean that a public library cannot also benefit from having a Facebook page.  For the public library, a Facebook page may be a great tool to use to attract new patrons into using the library, such as, teenagers. 

            As you decide on what is in your libraries best interest, remember to think about: which social media tool will serve your library the best, who is your audience, who is going to maintain the site, how often is it going to be updated, what information are you going to be providing, etc.  Facebook and MySpace are great media tools to communicate with, but they have to be up to date and provide an environment that is the most beneficial to the majority of your patrons so as to create the best results.    

RSS

1.  Why should libraries care about RSS?

            First, a RSS feed is a great way to help keep organized on information.  Last week, we discussed how to not become overwhelmed with information with all the different tools available to us, and I think that using an RSS feed is one way to maintain the vast world of information.  For libraries I believe that using RSS feeds will not only help their patrons but also help the librarians.  For the patrons, being able to have a library with RSS will help them stay informed of what is going on at the library in a different capacity than using a social networking site.  For librarians, subscribing to different RSS feeds will keep them informed of what is going on at other libraries or companies that they follow on a consisted basis.  Being able to gather up-to-date information from different sites in one location will also cut down on the time that it takes to visit each site.  Overall, I believe that libraries should care about RSS because it will help them grow in knowledge and provide their patrons with the information that they are looking to obtain. 

            I personally trust Google’s Reader to store all of the sites that I follow.  Through this site, I am able to find all of the up to date information that I am looking for.  Many of the sites that I follow have been suggested to me while I have been attending SJSU, and I find that this has provided me a nice start to learning more about the world of libraries.  By using the Reader, I am able to see full articles of information rather than short tweets about things.  This helps provide me more details about an item that I may find important.  I would strongly suggest that libraries use some type of RSS feed to help them manage information.

Stream and Web Environments

3. How can you avoid information overload in a real-time web/streaming environment?

In today’s world of the Internet, anyone can become overloaded with the information that they see.  I think that the best way to not become overwhelmed with information is to set some guidelines.  The first thing that one can do is decide exactly which stream or web environment that best suits their needs.  Next it is important to decide what exactly you will follow on that environment.  To help decide this it is best to ask yourself some of the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of your environment choice?

2. What do you find to be the most important ideas and/or things about the topic(s) you want to follow?

3. By following this, will it serve you in the future?

After you have determined what your purpose is and whom you would like to follow, begin to add those to your environment.  One should next think about how many times and for how long they want to view the site for up-to-the-date information.  By following some of these things, a person may be able to not become overwhelmed with the vast amount of information on stream and web environments.  

Exercise 2

1.  What do you see as differences between the five blogs I asked you to subscribe to in terms of the type of blog and type of post (genre, length, etc).

The lengths of the blogs are different with some having only one paragraph and others being a full page.  Most of the blogs included pictures or graphs, but one in particular was plain.  The genres or topics of each were also very different.  The first blog In the Library with the Lead Pipe is a very interesting site.  It attracts its readers with a catchy name and catchy topics.  The down side to this blog is that the posts seem to go on forever.  Other genres include: the changing world of libraries, the world of digital technology and books, the role of librarians, and trends and technology.  Some of the blogs reference their information while others are talking from experience.  Not all of the blogs include a background or other color aspects making some of them unappealing.  These were some of the differences that I found in the blogs.   

2.  What types of posts do you find most appealing to read and why?

I personally enjoy blogs that include some type of graphic.  I feel that graphics help explain what is being talked about.  I also like posts that are creative because they help catch the idea of the reader.  I did not particularly like some of the more creative post, but I think that was because of the content within rather than the main blog. 

3.  What three library blogs did you subscribe to?  Please include a 1-3 sentence description of each one.

The three library blogs that I choose were: Gargoyles Loose in the Library, Miss O’s School Library, and the St. Joseph County Public Library Blog.  The Gargoyles Loose in the Library blog is a very informative and colorful for its readers.  The librarian has included several pictures along with short paragraphs.  I think the pictures really help bring this blog to life for the students and other readers.  Miss O’s School blog hasn’t been updated in a week, but it provides its patrons with the latest news about books and library news.  This blog includes original post by the librarian and also links to other blogs.  I do see that this blog is not updated as frequently though.  The St. Joseph County Public Library Blog is very simple with its white background, but the blog includes several pictures and important information for patrons.  Personally, I like how one of the blog post was made to look different by simply changing the font and background color.  This made the post stand out in my mind.  I also liked how the titles discussed in some of the blogs were directly linked to the library’s card catalog.  

4.  Based on the blogs you chose, what are some of the characteristics that you think make a library blog successful?

Through looking at the above three library blogs and a few others, I feel that a good library blog must include pictures or graphics.  These help a library blog more informative to its patrons.  I also think that including outside lings into a post is helpful because it allows the reader to access more information.  Lastly, I would suggest that blogs be colorful or creative in the formatting of the blog site.  

Exercise 1

For this exercise, I decided to look at JCPenney.  I not only shop at this store, but had noticed some recent comments made about it on social network sites and in the news with the announcement of Ellen DeGeneres being the new spokesperson.  Through my research, I was able to find that JCPenney uses several different branding tools or appears on several different online tools.

1. What are people saying about this organization online?  What tools are they using to talk about the organization?

            It appears that the majority of people online are saying positive things about JCPenney.  The few negative comments that I encountered were addressed by telling the customer that they could email their concerns to JCPenney.  Each of these responses was polite and did not attack the customer for their opinion.  The tools that people are using are: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Polyvore, Kaboodle, Chictopia, and personal blogs.  On Twitter, customers were talking about the recent announcement of Ellen DeGeneres and how they could not be more proud of JCPenney taking that step.  Some of these tools were new to me, but customers are using them to share their thoughts about JCPenney.

2.  Is the organization responding to these people through social media?  If so, how effective do you think they are?

            Yes, on some social media sites they are responding to the people.  I think that it is effective because they are not attacking the views of their customers.  Instead they are asking their customers to send them an email with their concerns or views of JCPenney; this was especially true on Twitter.  I feel that this is more effective because it makes the customer feel that they are valuable. 

3.  What social media tools is the organization using to proactively communicate with their user base (rather than just responding)?  How effective do you think they are in building relationships and engaging their customers online?     

            JCPenney is found on several social media sites.  The list was quiet surprising to me because they are only a retail store instead of a celebrity or really major company.  One can find JCPenney using the following social media sites to advertise their brand: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Polyvore, Kaboodle, and Chictopia.  Each of these tools is different, but JCPenney is using each of them to their advantage.  On many of these sites, JCPenney posted about their hot new items or their new way of pricing.  Several people commented on some of these new ideas either through encouragement from the store or freely.  For example, on Facebook people were asked questions about what they thought about new items at the store and the new way of pricing.  Each of the sites that I visited had a nice following of people meaning that JCPenney is doing something right about building online relationships with its customers.  I believe that JCPenney is on the right track of holding onto longtime customers and gaining new customers through its online social media venture.  JCPenney should keep up this way of advertisement.        

Twitter's Positives and Negatives

3. What do you think of Twitter?  What are some of the positives and negatives?

            I was not a fan of Twitter when it came out because I felt that it was another Facebook.  While I like using Facebook, I did not see the value of its services.  Now after taking classes at SJSU and by creating a Twitter account I see what wonderful things it brings to the world of mass communication and social networking.  Twitter has become the way of the future for mass communication because of its simple use and fast delivery.  These two things are just part of the positive reasons for using Twitter.  Twitter also allows a company or person the ability to post short messages about what is happening with them.  Another positive aspect of Twitter is that it is completely free.  It allows news companies, sports teams, colleges, Hollywood, etc to share exiting new developments with the world without spending any money.  Overall, it is a very informative way of communicating with a mass group of people.

            Even though Twitter has many positive qualities about it, it also has some negative ones.  First, it can be an over abundance of information for one person because it is so simple and fast to post to Twitter.  It can also be overwhelming for individuals if they have decided to follow several different things.  A third negative to Twitter is that once something is posted it is really hard to make it go away.  This means that any negative comment that is made would be permanently saved even after removing it from one’s feed or making a correction to it. 

            Twitter is here to stay and it is a valuable tool for libraries to use because it allows their patrons to instantly receive updates on what is happening at the library, what new resources there are, and other news worthy events.  It is our job as librarians to learn how and when to use Twitter to promote our library in a positive way.  I am open to the challenge, but will need more time to learn how to best use it.

Branding Libraries

2. How effectively do you think most libraries are in building a strong, consistent brand online and why?

After doing a search for public and school libraries, I was able to see that libraries are updating their web sites on a daily or weekly basis.  Next, I looked at if they were using branding tools to promote their library.  A look at several different web sites led me to the discovery that very few libraries are branding themselves with the help of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or discussion forums.  From the Twitter accounts and Facebook pages that I was able to find, I can see that libraries are using them on a consistent basis to promote the activities/events or important information to their patrons.  One of the school libraries that had a Facebook page link on their home page informed the students that they should like the page, but would not be able to do access the page on a school computer.  Based on these examples, I would conclude that there are some libraries that are building strong and consistent branding.  I believe that over time more and more libraries will be using the Internet to help brand their libraries, but this will only occur after librarians and administration see the positives in using the Internet to brand the library.  

Welcome

This will serve as my blog for LIBR 246: Information Technology Tools and Applications - Advanced.  Enjoy what you read.