Thing6: Chat

I use chat on occasion to communicate w/ friends, typically via gchat but I've also used chat in Facebook. In library school we had an assignment that involved working a chat shift for an undergraduate class that was required to use a chat service (Meebo) for their assignment. My first shift was about a week before the assignment was due and I got no chatter. I volunteered for a slot at the tail end (right before the assignment was due) and got bombarded w/ chat requests and unfortunately had no back-up.

I currently work an hour shift a week for LRC Live and look forward to gaining more experience in this area. I do think chat can be very effective and convenient for certain types of questions - and a little more complicated in cases when the library user has little knowledge about how to use library resources and a not-so-clear idea on what they are researching. That said, I think sharpening my skills in reference and in the use of Questionpoint, will lead to better competency and better experience for both me and the LRC Live patrons.

I like that chat offers another avenue for library users to seek out help.

Thing 5: Wikis

I like the idea of wikis and find that they can be really useful- on the occasion that you can get folks to use and grow the wiki. I've personally used wikis for library school projects, where assignments are often collaborative. My largest concern about wikis is the problem of authority if the information is not kept current.

Thing 4: Social Networking

I've been on Facebook for about 3 years. I primarily use FB to keep up with Friends and Family, but also consider and sometimes play with the professional benefits. In addition to libraries, I am also a yoga instructor and I helped to create our studio FB Page, which has been a great way to post information about events and general announcements. We also post pictures and videos for fun.

Our library currently has a FB page and aside from the issue of not being able to transfer ownership of the Page, this seems like the best forum for the library presence to date. We currently only have 20 fans and we still need to put some more thought on how we can make this Page more useful (and by useful, I mean used).

I've debated signing-up on Linkedin. Some people really believe in having separate professional and personal lives (and contacts) and while I completely understand this position, I think, for now I've decided on one social networking identity. Life is already complicated enough : ) and I like having things in one place. And I like the idea of being transparent.

Thing 3: RSS Feeds and share your experience

I've been using Google Reader for quite some time now and here is just a selection of some of the feeds I subscribe to:

• Information Wants to be Free
• Lifehacker
• ReadWriteWeb
• Zen Habits
• Wired
  

Thing 2: Getting Started / Web 2.0 Concepts.

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