Method 8
I started off looking at the Facebook and MySpace pages of the Library of Congress. The Facebook page was informative in that it included information about several events that the LOC was sponsoring. Also, there were some links to some interesting Flickr photos. The LOC MySpace page had very little to offer. The Texas Tech MySpace and Facebook pages both had interesting and useful information and links on their respective sites.
I have never sent out a twitter message, but in looking at some of the sites that distribute twitter messages, I can see how they can be used to reach people that don't normally use the library. Also, to reach library users to help make them aware of certain library events, or new books, or programs, etc. In some of the material that I have looked at, someone made the comment that keeping a Twitter page current and interesting could take a lot of time. If it is not being updated, library patrons and other people will stop visiting that library's Twitter page. Operating a Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook page is definitely something that needs to constantly be updated and kept current and relevant, in order to keep people coming back. One thing that I noticed is that several of the sites, whether Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace kept material on their pages long after it was no longer relevent and current. I don't know how easy it is to remove messages, but I would think that should be part of the process in running this type of Social Network.
I have decided not to create a MySpace or Facebook page at this time, but I realize that in order to really understand how a Social Network works, I may have to sign up for one or the other or both, in order to better understand how they work. I don't know if I would worry about privacy or not. Probably not too much, but I wouldn't really know until I had a Facebook or MySpace account. Our library has a MySpace page, but not a lot of information is on there. Several of the links to other information do not work. There have been a lot of changes here at the Amarillo Public Library with some staff reorganization and an extensive remodeling project, which may explain why the MySpace page isn't being used to its full potential yet, but I suspect that in time, it will become a more useful and interesting site.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Method 7
Method 7
The use of Tags in an interesting concept. I had heard of tags, and had come across them in several different places, but had not explored the concept on my own. I had already opened a Delicious.com account several months ago, and had bookmarked several Internet sites, mainly articles that I wanted to come back to read at a later time. The idea of bookmarking different web sites through delicious and organizing them in the same way that I have organized web sites in folders on my home and work pc did not occur to me, at least not in a well thought out manner. This is something that I will try. I am also looking to see how other libraries are using Delicious. San Mateo Public Library's way of organizing bookmarks by Dewey order is an interesting concept. Some libraries arrange the bookmarks by many specific topics. Grouping topics into Tag Bundles, or some other grouping, seems to be a better use of tagging.
The use of Tags in an interesting concept. I had heard of tags, and had come across them in several different places, but had not explored the concept on my own. I had already opened a Delicious.com account several months ago, and had bookmarked several Internet sites, mainly articles that I wanted to come back to read at a later time. The idea of bookmarking different web sites through delicious and organizing them in the same way that I have organized web sites in folders on my home and work pc did not occur to me, at least not in a well thought out manner. This is something that I will try. I am also looking to see how other libraries are using Delicious. San Mateo Public Library's way of organizing bookmarks by Dewey order is an interesting concept. Some libraries arrange the bookmarks by many specific topics. Grouping topics into Tag Bundles, or some other grouping, seems to be a better use of tagging.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Method 6
Method 6
The YouTube video on the New York Public Library is an excellent video. It brings out information about the library and all that it has to offer [http://www.youtube.com/user/NewYorkPublicLibrary] to individuals, young and old, who come through it's doors. It is difficult to compare the relatively small library I work at, the Amarillo Public Library, to the huge New York Public Library, with all that it contains. My library is like a microcosm of what the NYPL is. But the YouTube video brought to my mind the realization that even if we cannot offer to our patrons all that the New York Public can offer, the Amarillo Public Library, and indeed all public libraries to some extent, can offer to our patrons the same types of services that the NYPL offers to it's patrons on a larger scale. We can offer reference and research services, books to children and adults, a variety of programs that meets the needs and desires of different groups of people, genealogy services, and many other library related services, programs and events. And while, most other public libraries throughout the nation, (probably all actually) cannot offer the incredible research and reference sources that the NYPL has, nearly every public library across the United States probably has some unique reference source, unique to that library, that cannot be found in the New York Public Library, or in any other library. What I mainly got out of the video was that we must work with what we have, and offer our patrons the same enthusiastic and caring services that the librarians and staff of the New York Public Library offer, as is shown in their YouTube video.
NYPL
The YouTube video on the New York Public Library is an excellent video. It brings out information about the library and all that it has to offer [http://www.youtube.com/user/NewYorkPublicLibrary] to individuals, young and old, who come through it's doors. It is difficult to compare the relatively small library I work at, the Amarillo Public Library, to the huge New York Public Library, with all that it contains. My library is like a microcosm of what the NYPL is. But the YouTube video brought to my mind the realization that even if we cannot offer to our patrons all that the New York Public can offer, the Amarillo Public Library, and indeed all public libraries to some extent, can offer to our patrons the same types of services that the NYPL offers to it's patrons on a larger scale. We can offer reference and research services, books to children and adults, a variety of programs that meets the needs and desires of different groups of people, genealogy services, and many other library related services, programs and events. And while, most other public libraries throughout the nation, (probably all actually) cannot offer the incredible research and reference sources that the NYPL has, nearly every public library across the United States probably has some unique reference source, unique to that library, that cannot be found in the New York Public Library, or in any other library. What I mainly got out of the video was that we must work with what we have, and offer our patrons the same enthusiastic and caring services that the librarians and staff of the New York Public Library offer, as is shown in their YouTube video.
NYPL
Monday, November 9, 2009
Method 5
Method 5
First Impression. Overwhelming, as in the number of photos uploaded to Flickr is overwhelming. Or, here is another thing that I need to keep up with -uploading my photos to Flickr, adding comments and tags, grouping them, editing them, sharing them, etc, etc. But I suppose I am not obligated to do so.
I have looked at what libraries are doing on Flickr, but was not really drawn to any of the sites I looked at. I looked at several, and didn't find any of them very interesting or informative. I may not be looking at the better ones, or more likely, I am not looking with the right set of eyes and the right mindset.
I can see the advantage of sharing certain photos of a personal or family orientation with others in a private group. This might be easier than trying to share them via Facebook or MySpace. Also, it would be a way to have photos backed up in case something were to happen to one's home computer.
Something is not adding up for me. First I tried to find images of New Mexico. Many images that had been tagged "New Mexico" showed up. Being too broad I tried to narrow it. An option presented on each page of images was to click "New Mexico Clusters". This brought up what seemed to be other tags that would still be New Mexico but would narrow down the number of images by narrowing down the topic. I was presented with tags such as, Albuquerque, route66, clouds, mountains, adobe, Santa Fe, Taos, whitesands, etc. I chose mountains and assumed that I would get just images of New Mexico mountains. But instead, I got pictures of mountains from Scotland, Austria, France, Wyoming, but not New Mexico. I tried New Mexico Mountains as a tag search and got some hits, but not very good ones. I feel that there are more images out there that are better than what I brought up.
Image to include in my blogpost:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maximalideal/3934015809/
First Impression. Overwhelming, as in the number of photos uploaded to Flickr is overwhelming. Or, here is another thing that I need to keep up with -uploading my photos to Flickr, adding comments and tags, grouping them, editing them, sharing them, etc, etc. But I suppose I am not obligated to do so.
I have looked at what libraries are doing on Flickr, but was not really drawn to any of the sites I looked at. I looked at several, and didn't find any of them very interesting or informative. I may not be looking at the better ones, or more likely, I am not looking with the right set of eyes and the right mindset.
I can see the advantage of sharing certain photos of a personal or family orientation with others in a private group. This might be easier than trying to share them via Facebook or MySpace. Also, it would be a way to have photos backed up in case something were to happen to one's home computer.
Something is not adding up for me. First I tried to find images of New Mexico. Many images that had been tagged "New Mexico" showed up. Being too broad I tried to narrow it. An option presented on each page of images was to click "New Mexico Clusters". This brought up what seemed to be other tags that would still be New Mexico but would narrow down the number of images by narrowing down the topic. I was presented with tags such as, Albuquerque, route66, clouds, mountains, adobe, Santa Fe, Taos, whitesands, etc. I chose mountains and assumed that I would get just images of New Mexico mountains. But instead, I got pictures of mountains from Scotland, Austria, France, Wyoming, but not New Mexico. I tried New Mexico Mountains as a tag search and got some hits, but not very good ones. I feel that there are more images out there that are better than what I brought up.
Image to include in my blogpost:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maximalideal/3934015809/
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