Social Media Counter

Survey for systems librarians

Do you consider yourself a systems or web librarian? Take 5 minutes to share some advice from your professional experience with me, a librarian who 'groks' that emerging technologies will always be a part of her job.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHhiNVNwQjB4dk5peDlPV1FYZWJYWnc6MA..
I'll return the favor someday soon.

Learning 2.0 PCL: Advanced Twitter

Advanced stuff (not required)

1. You can embed your Twitter posts in your blog or on your website. 
1. See side bar gadget: "140 chars at a time..." for my twitter updates.
2. This was added going to Blogspot's Layout>Add Gadget>Featured>Twitter Updates.

 

You can turn whomever you follow on Twitter into an RSS feed that you can then read in Google Reader or Outlook using this great little tool called ReadTwit.

Listen and see my trial of ReadTwit in this screencast:ReadTwit example via Google Reader

With so many different channels for social networking, it is nice to consolidate all your messages (blogs, facebook, twitter) into one feed, whichever one you love the most.  I just don't love Google Reader.  What about you?

Thoughts on PCL Learning 2.0: Twitter

Make a list of three things that Twitter could be useful for. 

1. For businesses: announcements to clients and interested parties, advertising to target audiences.
   
2. For digital collaboration: real time sharing of links and quick thoughts.  All parties must 'follow' each other to communicate.
   
3. For following job boards effortlessly:  LibGig_Jobs and ALA_Joblist I follow daily.  This is an alternative to RSS feeds.

Unfortunately, I don't know how long Twitter will last.  Apparently, it has yet to turn a profit at all.

Learning Web 2.0 lesson 2: RSS readers

1. What is RSS is and what it is for?

RSS=Really Simple Syndication.  It's a XML-based technology that makes subscribing to serial websites simple.

2. Describe how to locate an RSS feed.

There are several ways, but if you're on a website you like, look for the orange "RSS" symbol.

3. Talk about a feature you liked or disliked on Google Reader and/or your thoughts on the user interface in general.

Honestly, the color scheme is lousy for reading.  But the Navigation tab options are very interesting, especially the "Trends" section where you can view your own reading behavior over time.

4. Do you prefer Outlook or Google Reader? (Wait a few days to see how it works before you answer. You'll need to collect a few feeds before you can see how it works.)

In general, I hate Outlook.  It applies in this case too.  I did give it a fair shot with the reader, but it auto-subscribed me to Microsoft stuff!!!

5. Did you try out iGoogle? If so, what did you like or dislike about it?

I love how easy it is to customize iGoogle by adding or removing RSS based 'boxes' and other apps.  Unfortunately, loading all of this is very slow.  It feels like dial-up all over again.  Now I visit iGoogle only when I'm patient.

6. Talk about your experiences locating the feeds on the other sites mentioned and whether you have subscribed to any. Were you able to locate them all? Which ones did you have trouble with, if any?

Yes, they were easy to find and 'sign up' for, except Interesting Thing of the Day since the site was down.

Google Books and Libraries

Register of Copyright opposes Google Books settlement

I don't know much about the hulabaloo on the Google Books deal.  This is for later reading.  If you're already following it, it's another addition to the debate.

For Library 2.0-PCL blog workshop

1. Blogger is easy, and even better, you can make your own HTML/Javascript gadgets!  Now if only you didn't need a Google account.  I've heard that Wordpress is better, but don' t know why. 
2. I changed the layout but not the colors.
3. Yes, I use my own blog, but not in a systematic or purposeful way.  Sometimes it's just stuff for my own reference, but all of it is about libraries.  This blog originated out of an idea that I've since trashed.  See former post.  The big thing to keep in mind that employers or anyone can see these blogs (unless privacy is set high).
4. Yes, I subscribe to Librarian in Black, Librarian Avenger, and many many library job advice blogs.  Surely as interests change, so will my subscriptions.


Bonus question (not required): If you already follow a blog, will you tell us about it? How does help you professionally, socially, intellectually?
I follow Gmail Blog, How to of the Day, and LibGIG along with the Onion and sometimes political blogs.
Some give laughs, others technical tips, and the most important for me right now are the job advice and posting blogs.
So far the only one that "helps" me socially is the Onion, since friends who are fans of satire enjoy my links.
The one thing that surprised me about bloggers is that they love comments, and may actually start a real electronic dialogue with you.  (This is surprising if you used to post comments to journalists and other syndicated writers).  Is that helping me socially?  I suppose.