Saturday, September 13, 2008

# 23 (Week 10) Play Week and Catchup



Wow! Congratulations!! You’ve reached the 23rd thing. We hope the experience has enhanced your Web 2.0 skills, provided you with the information and knowledge to provide better service to our customers, and has been a fun and rewarding experience along the way.

Be sure to give yourself a pat on the back for completing the programme!

For the last Exercise:

Please reflect on your learning journey and write a few thoughts about your journey on your blog.

  • What were your favourite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

  • How has this programme assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

  • Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Use your gmail account to email northshorelibraries@gmail.com with a link to your blogpost. Please put Exercise #23 in the subject heading.

When we sign you off for this last exercise we will send you an email to confirm completion of the programme and will arrange to have your reward and certificate sent to you in due course.

The programme officially closes on Monday 5 October 2009. There will be a one week extension for those who have fallen behind to finish and be eligible for the reward.

In closing, we want to thank you all for joining us on this journey of discovery and learning.

NSL Training Support

Saturday, September 6, 2008

# 22 (Week 9) Read some articles on social networking and libraries and write a post with your thoughts on social networkings

Libraries are using new ways to communicate with their patrons and social networking is one of these. By choosing the methods that patrons prefer, a wider section of the library community can be reached. Young people especially are keen users of social networking and this is an excellent way to reach them.

Check out the articles below on the ways libraries are using social networking, and some of the issues involved.

Discovery Resources:

Ways libraries are using social networking and some of the issues involved:

A list of Libraries Using MySpace
Libraries in Social Networking software (you may have to scroll down to find text).
Libraries Get Social
Your Space or My Space?

Discovery Exercises:

  • Check out some the articles above.
  • Set up another blog post and write about your thoughts on libraries' use of social networking.
  • Use your gmail account to email northshorelibraries@gmail.com with a link to your blogpost. Please put Exercise #22 in the subject heading.

# 21 (Week 9) Get social - MySpace and Facebook

You may have heard of websites such as MySpace, Bebo, Facebook etc. - but have you taken the plunge and joined?

In general, social networking services, such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo, allow users to create a profile for themselves. Users can upload a picture of themselves and can often be "friends" with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, if Alice lists Bob as a friend, then Bob would have to approve Alice's friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a "favorites" feature that does not need approval from the other user.

Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc.


Discovery resources:

How Stuff Works - Facebook
MySpace safety tips from Australia's Sunrise TV show

Discovery exercise:

  • Check out Auckland City Libraries and Rotorua Public Libraries to see how Libraries are using Bebo to let their patrons know what is going on at their libraries or as a social network for staff.
  • Visit MySpace and take a look around. Find out about your favourite band, radio station or something of interest.
  • Look at Facebook. - As well as connecting with your friends here and overseas, Facebook has groups you can join on topics that interest you, and an event feature that lets you know about social or professional events you might like to attend. LIANZA has set up an event page for Conference 2008, Poropitia Outside the Box. North Shore Libraries has a Facebook Group, so check it out and join if you'd like to.

  • Set up another post in your blog and write about your experience with insights into what you've discovered and learned. Feel free to share what worked for you...and what didn't....what surprised you...what frustrated you....what amazed you...or even which of the social networking sites you liked best. As before this post should be at least 3-4 sentences.

  • Use your gmail account to email northshorelibraries@gmail.com with a link to your blogpost. Please put Exercise #21 in the subject heading.