Quick in-between...

Just had a look at the new templates on offer by blogspot.com - very nice! Congratulations, guys. Only thing is - I am a creature of habit, and I realised while 'testing' them that I like my blog as is... and probably am scared of losing the customisations (sp) I've made to the theme. I know one can save the theme as is, and come back to it if need be, but it would all take time... tut tut.
Still - if I was starting a new blog now... :)

Week 6: Facebook - playing nicely with others

Aaahh... Facebook. Hmmm.
I wrote a lot about Facebook about two years ago. In our first blog/Web 2.0 experience. Not much has changed since then. (Have a look at previous comment using the tags...)

• What can Facebook do for you individually?

Quite a bit has changed since then... not counting Facebook's [slightly annoying] way of changing page set-ups and privacy settings [and only then letting you know]... I see that I had 28 friends at that time. Now I have 152. Well, maybe it's not a bad thing to have that many 'contacts', mostly from 'the old days'. The comment about the Zimbabwean diaspora still stands. We have found old school friends, neighbours, people we would otherwise have lost for ever. Good folk. Some of the 'friends' are pages of V8 drivers... F1 teams... library systems.. (Thanks Manukau! I've put on the book I was reading and my best authors ever... couldn't think of "a" book) All information about what we're interested in.

I play Scrabble more or less every day with my "bestest" friend from varsity days. She's in the UK now and has been for years. We used to play scrabble often when in Pietermaritzburg.

Not a lot has changed about the way I see it since 2008!

• Find 1 library (public, tertiary or other) and look at what sorts of update they make?

Brooklyn Public Library - http://www.facebook.com/BrooklynPublicLibrary. Well - most of the time they are very similar to our Manukau Libraries facebook page (or are we similar to it? ) - great information about what's happening and what to read/listen to, and so forth. Chose this one out of the 'over 500' facebook pages with 'library' in them because I'm sure I've heard about Brooklyn Public Library before - don't they use Pharos and Millennium? Together? Linked?
And then look what I found - they can alert all their followers and likers to the fact that they are at risk - this picture is from their website.
It made me realise how fortunate we are, in many ways.

• What can Facebook do for us as a public library?
  

Keep us in the public eye? As long as there are 'likes'.
BPL have 4,600 'likes'.
Arts and Architecture Library - another 'library' I looked at because of the number of likes it had, has over 38,936!!! From their info: "Arts & Architecture Library is a project of library by the University of November 7 in Carthage; Tunisia. specific for National school of Architecture and Town planning of Tunis sis at Sidi Bou Saïd ; Tunisia. The books are for Architect, Engineer, Designer, Student & passionate for Art & Architecture Page Created on September 23, 2009. Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/Architecture.Library - unbelievable! Well done to them - lots of book info as well - and suggestions. Just the ticket!

• Is it easy to use? Is it hard?
  

Ummm - Facebook does give one heebie-jeebies sometimes about 'privacy'! It's a learning thing, unfortunately. I met someone the other day whose daughter was abused via Facebook - closed her account and now has one in a pseudonym. Sad.

• Would you continue to use Facebook?

Most probably. Unless something drastic happened.

• Have our customers asked about Facebook?

Well.... not to me, but I am very pleased to see a growing number of folk on our site!

• What would our customers get out of a Facebook page?
  

Up to the minute info, reviews. My reservations long ago were that it would take 'time' 'out at the back' while we were being thrust 'out the front' and that we would have to have dedicated folk to continuously update it. Well, we do and we have and it looks good. Well done!

• Would you promote our page to customers? Why/why not?
  

Most certainly if they were that way inclined. Because there are polarised views I would be loath to promote it straight up, especially as one has to be a member of Facebook to access Facebook, unlike a blog. And some of our folk may not want to go that far.

Week 4: Goodreads

Well - I have yet another widget on my blog with book covers flashing past! Goodreads was very easy to go into, unlike LibraryThing when I first signed up there two years ago! It is a pain adding books onto any of these sites however , and it would be great if our Reading Lists had ISBNs in them which could transfer more easily to these sites.

How might customers find GoodReads useful? They might if they are serious about making lists and using other people's lists to find more books to read. they might also enjoy the groups - the author entries, for example.

What would library staff get out of this site? Probably much the same as the customers... and useful for Reader's Advisory "background info".

My book montage

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Would you promote GoodReads to customers? Most probably - especially in my little 'talk' on websites on What to Read Next" that I have given two of, and am planning one more of... very basic and just an introduction! Why? Just for information. Folk can choose their own 'poison'!

$50!!

Thank you so much - what a pleasant surprise! I won the draw for the voucher for starting up a blog again... I guess it should go on Sissi - poor woken up critter...

As a personal mission this time around (like the tags and word cloud the first time...) I think I want to find out where I can get a 'better deal' for a background/set up/ whatever... (Have a look at 'Words of Misery' in my "Blog'eagues" for an example...)

Week 3: Twitter

Finally I tweet! (And already someone called Marissa [url supplied but I deleted it]with a tweet that says...."more sexy pics of me... etc..." is following me! She has been blocked, I hope! How to learn about such stuff in a rush!)

Is it easy to use? Hmmm - probably too much so...
Would customers find it simple? They might - but this would be the generation that uses their mobile to email folk and to post things on e.g. Facebook... not everyone...
Could we use this in the learn.nets and in our workrooms? Perhaps not to the same extent as blogs in my opinion... it doesn't seem as 'profound', if I can use that word. However, at the 2009 conference folk were using it, and that's great for those far away - but it was distracting to those sitting next to them!
Do you think that you're likely to use this site again? Hmmm... I have avoided it in the past, and I may just continue to do so... personally I am "online" enough without adding this.
What could Manukau Libraries promote via Twitter? Next generation stuff... YA...
What would you use Twitter for? See above. nothing
Would you promote this service to customers? If they required it... "Customer Service" - walking in the customer's shoes....

Week 1 : Blogger

How could you use this in your role? As a librarian I could use this in both professional development - "my own comments on what's happening in the world of librarianship" - and in my Customer Services role I could use this to keep in contact with some of my 'customers' - like the reading groups...
What worked for you? Making it pretty and selecting what I wanted in there...
What didn't? Having to do it (this was in the first year we did it..) - and I also would prefer it to be more personal than as mentioned above... guess one should have TWO blogs then???
How could a library use a blog? What would customers get out of a library blog? Would you promote this to customers? To all three questions - the first comments apply...
What amazed and surprised me? The amount of blogs out there... a bit like reader's advisory work - it doesn't REDUCE the choices!!!

Time to wake Sissi up again....

I can see it's time to rise and shine and get cracking on the blogging again with Manukau Libraries Web 2.0!! Oooh dear.... don't know how much time I'll have this time round!

New Blogs to follow....

I haven't figured out what to do with that part (Reading List) of the Blogger Dashboard which allows you to keep track of what blogs you wish to "follow". I am using the blog listpart of 'gadgets' to do that - titled as "The Best of The Rest...". Some are really good - some are local New Zealand ones. Have a look.

Editing the blog...

I changed Sissi's Place's header picture. This is Sissi, queen of all she surveys, in our garden. Chases birds when they eat her food, chases cats when the come over the fence, barks and snaps at prickly hedgehogs... all this keeps a lady very busy.

Blogs galore

Does anyone know of other 'blog' sites out there? We have explored lots of stuff through the Learning 2.0, but I was intrigued the other day to see other 'blog' sites.... like Blogtown, and Wordpress, on which Blogtown is based....
I also don't know enough about other places such as LiveJournal.
All interesting and with their own rules and ways of getting one's daily grind into the ether capacious.....
Quite interesting - "messing about in blogs".