Social Networking

This week's activities have prompted me to sign up for Facebook, a site which I have been meaning to check out for many months now. So many of the Young Adults and people in their twenties who visit our library use this sight (or Bebo or MySpace) and I have been really curious as to what all the hype is about.

So I am really grateful to this Libraries Learning program for prompting me to look more into social networking sites as I think there will be much value for me in understanding how they work. Yes, I can see the obvious benefits of a Library using MySpace or Facebook for communicating with users, posting information about upcoming events, posting photos of exhibitions, receiving feedback from the public and having more of an online presence, but personally I think one of the greatest benefits will be knowing how to use these sites so that I can talk to the youth in our library and not appear completely out of touch. In this way I can work towards breaking down the stereotype of the dull and boring librarian. How nice it would be if we were all seen to be cool and 'in thek know', and able to speak the language of the majority of our online users. As I explore Facebook some more over the coming weeks I will defintely share what I have learnt with fellow colleagues and encourage them to also find out for themselves why these sites are so popular.

One other thought I had was that with such a focus on web 2.0 technologies and meeting people in the online environment, I suppose we need to be mindful that we do not neglect all of our valued customers who prefer to visit the library in person, and that we make as much of an effort to be innovative in the way that we engage with them in all of the activities we offer.

Wow something for free!!!

Well I've just discovered Google Docs for the first time - Wow! I can't believe the range of tools available - all for free. I'm kicking myself because not so long ago I purchased some software to use at home that operates like Microsoft Office (but costs around half the price). Now I wish I had of known about Google Docs - I could have been word processing to my little hearts content... without having spent a cent.

The number of tools available in Google Docs that could be used in the Library environment is amazing. I can easily see our Branch staff using the Event Management tool to plan some of our larger promotional events, the team holiday calendar to plan annual leave, and a yearly calendar along with notes relating to the activities we have planned for our @ your library months. I think Google Docs would be great for giving input to, and editing draft versions of Dress Codes, Annual Plans, Customer Service Charters etc especially for country libraries where staff in branches might be spread many kilometers apart. Rather than waiting for all branch staff to come together in one place, the use of Google Docs would make creating these documents quite a simple process I would think. I can also see advantages in using the online 'to do list' personally as I won't have to try and keep track of the endless lists I have scrawled down on little bits of paper.

I also converted a doc file to a pdf file, which I was very pleased about, as sometimes community organisations ask for copies of promotional flyers to be emailed to them as pdf files. Now that I know how easy this is, I can do it myself, and not rely on others to do it for me.

I love Libraries Learning 2.0. This is great stuff... I'm very sad it's coming to an end soon.