Social Networks

I am so glad that this is the last section as I have been extremely busy trying to find time to do this exercise and to meet my work deadlines at the same time. However, I think I will miss learning all the latest technology and having so much fun testing it.







I have been enjoying using the Facebook and other social networks to help me to keep in touch with my friends and to share my activities with them. It is a fun way to keep in touch when you are busy and sometimes you can pick up some long lost friends through you friends' networks. I get' invited' to make new friends a lot but I always decline it. I suppose it is now just another way to meet people from everywhere in the world. Building networks with people you don't know can be a hidden opportunity or danger. Depends on how you handle it.








I find it interesting that all these organizations try to look like and identify themselves as individuals and put on a very personal voice on Facebook/Myspace. Putting the Library on some of the social networks definitely can raise our profile to a bigger audience. It can also invite people to have a look on our page and they may be surprised that we talk their language and we provide them with the stuff they need and want. It is also a very good way to tell people what is going on in the Library. However, I think we have to be careful with the client groups that we are targeting. Working on 'live' reference always make me wonder that there seems to be a narrow group of clients using the service. May be we can have a 'youth' librarian to provide specialized service and to talk and listen to this niche market.








With all these new marketing tools that we are using now, how are we going to cope with the new increasing demand with new markets and new clients? It is always good to have a network of regular library clients to listen and talk to. They can also provide valuable imput to our services. However, are we going to provide a forum to allow our clients to answer to each other for support? There are a few issues to think about. I know there is a State Library NSW naughty client group in Facebook. They have over 100 members and I think they are mainly teens and young adults. They share all the naughty things they did in the Library including how they got kick out!!!




The Second Life Library looks so glamorous! I love to go there to have a wander around. Virtual library is a very interesting concept and it will get a lot of attention if it is different than a traditonal library. I can't see any point for anyone to visit the virtual library if it is just like any library in the world. I am hoping I can do some real reading and may be playing some online gaming with someone when I get into the vitual library. I don't mind to have some conversation with a virtual librarian who would show me around include the hidden chest with library treasure! What about showing our ML Original Materials stack in the Virtual Library? I would also love to check out our Offsite Storage warehouse and see how it operates! There are so many possibilities with virtual library and I think it all get down to the situation of our budget.

Online applications

One of the best things about using the Internet is all the free online applications and tools. You don't need to pay for many useful tools anymore because you can just download them. The only thing you need to worry is your download limit from your supplier and not giving away too much personal information when you sign up. No one would think we can now just DIY all those 'professional' work before. I am excited about some of the tools and they are now my favourite toys.


Google Doc is one of the website we recommend to clients when they want to use our PCs in the Reading Rooms to create a Word/Excel document. Overall, they are happy to use it ( I suppose they have no choice!) and I think it is straight forward and easy enough to use.



I am not sure about using these online tools at work. We got our own software provided by IT and I think we have some policies of getting approval from IT to use online applications. However, I love to use these tools for my personal use as it saves me a lot of money. Otherwise, I think sharing your documents, presentations and projects with your colleague is part of your everyday's work life and it is great to be able to do it easily with a online tool. Converting document to a different format eg. html, pdf is also getting more and more common now and it is handy to know there is a tool out there for me to use. The time saving factor is the motivator for us to use all these online tools.

Mashups

This is my friend's photo on Flickr and I got her permission to publish it on my blog. I like it as it looks very calm and soothing.

I think we can use some of our interesting photos in our collections (copyright free ones) to let our clients to create their own posters, bookmarks etc. I think they will love it and may be we can also make some money by offering some fancy printings for their creative works!