INF506 Introduction

How do the concepts and findings in these sections of the OCLC report reflect your view of the socially networked world in 2012?

A lot of what I read about in this ebook was not new to me but how I thought about it was new.  Like the fact that social networking is not a new concept.  People have always built relationships based on common interests in social communities.  It is only the medium, or how this is done that has changed. Technology has given us a new medium. 

Important Points

Introduction

• Libraries need to reach out to users on the internet.
• Research challenges us to think about research beyond the search.
• People have changed from information consumer to information producer.  How does this affect library services?
• Social websites have built a new social web, connecting communities.  What will these communities mean for the possibilities they hold for library services?

Section 1 - Our Digital Lives

• Behaviours/attitudes of digital immigrants and digital natives - beginning to converge.
• Usage of internet activities as grown substantially.
• Use of library websites has dropped.
• Tipping point on digital evolution timeline - from exploration to creation and mass contribution.
• Composition of online activities is changing.

Section 2 - Our Social Spaces

• The digital medium makes contact/sharing more accessible.
• Social networks are web sites "designed to allow multiple users to publish content themselves."
• Social network service - building and verifying of online social networks for communities.  Services are primarily web based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact.
• Different social sites have different emphases.
• Social networking is often not the central focus of the site, but a side effect of bringing people together with shared interests.
• While interaction occurs on social media sites, primary purpose is to publish and share content.
• Essence of social sites - social.
• Central value - platform.
• Function - social.
• Much of what takes place on social sites is motivated by a desire to connect.
• Information users are willing to share online varies by site.

Reference:

De Rosa, C., Cantrell, J., Havens, A., Hawk, J. & Jenkins, L. (2007). Sharing privacy and trust in our networked world: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC. [ebook] Available http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/sharing.pdf
 

INF506 - Social Media For Information Professionals

Well I passed my previous subject (Yay!) and have now started subject number 5 of my Masters. It feels so good to have got this far. I am a bit behind in my studies due to a number of external factors but now I feel like I am getting back on track.

Assignment One for INF506 is an OLJ creation and first entry. For this subject I am using this blog as my "Online Learning Journal (OLJ)" in order to keep everything from my course together in one place. I have also used this blog as a type of OLJ for past subjects, so it makes sense for me to just keep going.

As part of our first OLJ entry we are asked to define "social networking" in our own words. To me, social networking is online interaction between members of a community who relate to each other through a common interest. It can be a network of friends or colleagues, depending what the common interest is. The network uses a website or other technology to communicate and share information. No doubt my view of social networking will develop over the course of the semester.

I currently use a range of social networking technologies/sites for personal, work and study use. As well as Interact (CSU's social networking site) these include:
•Facebook •Pinterest •Twitter •Youtube •Diigo •Delicious •Blogger •Flickr •Yahoo •Grooveshark •Spotify •ebay •etsy •ravelry.
No wonder I don't get much housework done inbetween working full-time, three teenage kids and studying!

So what do I hope to get from studying this subject? Obviously I want to learn how to harness these and other social media sites/technologies to improve the information services I will provide as a teacher-librarian. I am currently using some of these to keep up-to-date with what's happening in the information services sector but I think this course may help me fine-tune how I do this. I am hoping to learn through the experience of trying new types of social media (Second Life and Linked In), thereby expanding my social network. Finally, I hope to gain some more confidence in using social media professionally and personally. Although I have been using a range of social media for a number of years, I still get a bit nervous when trying new ones and sometimes it all feels a bit overwhelming. Perhaps doing this course will also help me to organise my own personal social network a bit more.