Blog # 23 Reflection

What do you think about social media in libraries?

They absolutely have the ability of enhancing the library services. Facebook, Flickr, Blogging  etc.  These tools can bring to the public much more than advertisement. Social media can help create a virtual reference desk that goes beyond the physical location of the library.

What do you wish FPL was (or wasn’t) doing? 

            I think that as a library FPL is doing great. It is best to take thing one step at a time and do them right. It would be of no use to have many social media services and neglect to keep up with them. Technology changes quickly and if the library decides to jump in and use the social media it is important to keep up with the demand of the library costumers.

Have you learned anything from the program? 

            Through this activity, I found many interesting tools that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I have continued to use RSS and even created one only for research updates. Thanks to Elizabeth and Adam (Rachel and Heyvind too) for creating and organizing 23 things.  

Blog # 22 Your Choice

         
       My choice falls between Flickr and Music Streaming. I find that with Flickr it isn’t necessary to use words to describe the success of the library. Images can provide an open interpretation and plus it is fun to photographs all the library events. Music streaming may not be directly correlated with the library but nonetheless, it has influenced its development. I enjoyed the easy access to Flickr and Pandora.

Blog # 21 Wikis

I enjoyed posting a review of 5^th Street Patio Café on our Wiki 23things. It was interesting to read others lunch selections and experiences. Wikis are good for individuals who are looking to find basic information about a particular topic. Unfortunately, because wikis authorize the edition of pages by any individual, one is at risk of encountering bias information. However, it is a great way of sharing information like “Let’s do Lunch”.

Blog # 20 Podcasting

Podcast application lets you share your favorite podcast with your friends. For a library this is great! Say for example creating a podcast based on story time, these can be shared by the community among friends and family members. I haven’t created a podcast and honestly don’t plan to. Nonetheless, this is a great tool to have for future projects.

Blog # 19 Hulu

Hulu, much like YouTube, can provide library patrons the opportunity to browse beyond the library’s catalog. For instance, a teen is interested in a particular topic say animals, they can access Hulu through our computer lab and watch Discovery Life clips.  The best thing about Hulu is that in most cases it will direct you to the original website were the user can browse for more information.

Blog # 18 YouTube

I notice that most, if not all, of the videos I watched focused on advertising the services of their library. One particular video that caught my attention was A Librarian’s 2.0 Manifesto. This was a great source of information for the public. Many individuals may be interested in discovering the goals and objectives of a library. The library staff ultimately reflects the library itself. Using YouTube to distribute this information is wise. It is more effective to create a video and “dress it up” with images and music than publishing an article on the internet.  

Blog # 17 Music Streaming and Sharing

Without a doubt, music streaming has altered the pace of audio material checkout. We can see it happening here at FPL. Our music collection has not grown as quickly as our printed material. The new era of electronics has influence this change. Patrons can now access music from different devices. That decreases their need of checking out physical CD’s. I find Pandora/Last fm to be user friendly and quite honestly much more productive than downloading CD’s.