I believe libraries in the future will be very different from what they are today. What we do and how we do it will change dramatically and we will have to be creative and adapt to different roles and be constantly changing. As jobs are more Web focused who’s to say we won’t be having staff working at home and still being able to do their job effectively. We must be seen to be leading the way so we can advise patrons on the most effective way to research e.g. advising how to create your own search engine, with the sites that you have established and considered as reliable, is a valuable tool for everyone to learn.
One area I thought I would never be interested in was TWITTER. I couldn’t think of anything worse ‘tweeting‘ all day long and the only experience I had with it was kids or younger adults who would ‘tweet’ about anything and everything they were doing. I would rather TALK to people personally. Then, only just this week I saw an interview on TV with Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and she had an inspiring way of using Twitter and Facebook that I hadn’t thought of before. Even though she is the Queen of Jordan she finds using Twitter and Facebook allows her to share her personal feelings and personality more openly with others. Being a Queen of her country there are certain protocols in addressing her and her husband and people don’t say exactly what they are feeling, they are too scared to view their opinion on a personal level.
Queen Rania says she finds Twitter an effective tool to find out what people all over the world are thinking and bridges the gap between East and West. People can easily express their feelings and discuss important issues she may not be aware of within her own country and across the world. She not only posts updates about her everyday family life with her husband and children she uses these sites, along with her webpage to advertise causes she is working on, to ask people to support her work. She has also written a book called ‘The Sandwich Swap’ which is about breaking down barriers.
BRIGHT IDEAS
I love the Bright Ideas blog by SLAV (School Libraries of Victoria) which I have now subscribed to. This blog allows library staff to share some of their experiences with Web 2.0 and encourage each other. Don’t just look at the Home page but click on the Photo Gallery tab and be inspired by the displays that some of the schools have done especially during book week. By subscribing you get the latest posting with some very innovative tools and ideas. A link on bright ideas titled ‘Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh) has a YouTube link which is based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman and states:
- Over 50% worlds population is under 30
- 96% of Millennials (Generation Y) have joined a social network
- Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in USA
- To reach 50 million users it took radio 38 yrs, TV 13 yrs, the Internet 4 yrs and ipod only 3 yrs,
- While facebook added over 200 million users in less than 1 yr, ipod application downloads hit 1 billion in 9 mths
- If facebook was a country it would be the 3rd largest (China 1st, India 2nd)
- We no longer search for the news, the news finds us
- We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social networks the question is HOW WELL WE DO IT
The message this video suggests is that the social media revolution is not a fad but a change in the way we will be communicating. Like it or not we will all be required to upskill and be Information Literate. Enjoy the challenge!
References:
Al Abdullah, R. (2010). Twitter.[Web log post]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/queenrania/ on 2010, June 12.
Al Abdullah, R. (2010). Facebook.[Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/QueenRania on 2010, June 12
Evan Kutsko. (2010, May 05). Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh). [YouTube]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng&feature=player_embedded on 2010, June 12.
School Library Association of Victoria. (2010). Bright Ideas [Web log posts]. Retrieved from http://slav.globalteacher.org.au/ on 2010, June 12.
I love seeing how much thought you are giving to the big pictures around how social media could impact library work, how they impact on social/community action - and how you personally relate to the tools and the abundance of resources.
ReplyDeleteSomething I enjoyed discovering through my feeds from the people who are engaging in social media in libraries is, in particular, their discussions about how librarians make choices about technology and change. One of the significant things students will gain from this unit is not familiarity with specific tools, but familiarity with the environment - how people interact with these types of tools, how we go about getting social media tools to do what benefits us and others.
Of course you're seeing that for yourself, and that's why I'm excited.