Social Networks and the Library

I have seen My Space before and my kids have their own myspace pages and I had heard of Bebo and Facebook but never really looked at them before now.
I found Rotorua Library on Bebo was quite interesting and easy to navigate. I prefered it to the British library on Facebook.
It is another impressive tool to engage the younger generation and encourage them to participate in the Library even if it is in a virtual world.
I did not like the look of Second Life and the interactive chat room aspect. (I didn't spend much time on it though as it didn't appeal to me from the start)
I can see though that social networking sites such as My Space, bebo and Facebook could be very valuable to promote the library, library services, library events such as visiting authors and to highlight parts of the library collection.
Exciting times lay ahead of us!

Online applications and tools

Google docs

Well what a fabulous tool for those working and collaborating together. The concept of Google Docs has implications for changing the way we work together regardless of where we are in the world. (Now there really is no excuse for going on holidays and missing a deadline!)

Mash ups

I was a bit daunted by mashups at first but I found Big huge Labs really easy to use.

I put together a mosaic from the BookFair I hosted at my local school earlier this year.



I can see there is huge potential to use these tools for book promo, themed displays of photographic collections, competitions and however else we can engage library users.

Podcasts and Audio

I really like podcasts and see them equally as valuable as the clips on YouTube etc.

I think they can perform a variety of functions from assisting with online learning to how to tutorials, lectures and book reviews.

I went to Arizona State University Library and then Nancy Keane's BookTalk and listened to some very simple book reviews/summaries.

Podcasts are another avenue to engage the user.

The video below comes from an online bookshop and they have used this as a great marketing tool. I found this site via my delicious account and my network connection with Judy O'Connell. I loved the interview with the author of Zen Ties (Just fabulous)

The website is Expanded Books http://www.expandedbooks.com/index.php

Answer Boards

I can see the potential for Answer Boards in engaging students with their learning on line.

This could have very positive outcomes especially for schools.

Tagging with delicious etc

I am already a user and a fan of delicious having been introduced to it by another Web 2.0 educator some 18 months ago.

It is fabulous for Professional Learning and sharing of information.

It is also a must have tool for organising your resources for easy access no matter where you are or what computer you are using.

Check out my link but remember it is also still in its experimental stages as I have just been playing around with it.




Library thing



I didn't have too much time to play around with this one but will come back to it later.

As you can see I have been busy getting into some serious chic lit reading and having a great time.

You Tube - The Super Librarian