Monday, October 8, 2012

INF506 - Evaluative Statement

For the posts that show evidence of meeting the learning objectives I have chosen
Delicious and Libraries
Evaluation of ASU Libraries and the 4C's
"Do You Know 4.0" Trends and Information Policy

Social networking technologies
Social networking technologies are sites that make use of Web 2.0 technology to facilitate communication between people who share interests and allow them to share content they create, collaborate with people and their content (OCLC, 2007, p.2-1). The essential feature is that they are social (OOLC, 2007 p.2-2), and it is the ability to allow participation between people that makes them valuable (Kroski, 2008, p.3). Being immersed in social networking technologies is a great way to learn and this course has allowed me to do this to better understand the intricacies of social networking technologies. I have joined networks I would never had done, such as Linkedin, Flickr, and Delicious all which has added to my understanding of the wider world of social networking. My post about Delicious indicates that I understand that social networks are social and require following people to get the benefit of collective intelligence in what to bookmark, and awareness of the issues of that collaboration can involve such as problems with social tagging.

Library 2.0
Although important, O'Reilly's definition of what Web 2.0 is has a lot of technical jargon (2005). I have found that the 4Cs of Web 2.0: Collaboration, Conversation, Community and Content creation (Hay, Wallis, O'Connell & Crease, 2012) has become a mnemonic for me in understanding Library 2.0. Library 2.0 collaborates with both staff and patrons to improve services, opens opportunities for conversations, fosters a feeling of community and creates content both through the staff and user-generated. Having this understanding allowed me to assess the Arizona State University (ASU) Libraries as a Library 2.0 example. Through this activity and my assignment case study on Facebook and Pinterest I have discovered that although many libraries are using social networking technologies in practice they fall short of the Library 2.0 ideal. They create new content, and a community of followers and have tools that allow for conversation but libraries have difficulty with creating conversations and opportunities for user-generated content. When libraries are successful in getting patrons to participate they can use customers knowledge contribute to and improve services (Casey & Savastinuk, 2006, para.11).

Meeting information needs of users
This course has given me the opportunity to interact with social networking technologies as a user to see how they met my information needs. It has allowed be to access the social networking technologies as tools. “Different social sites have different emphases” (OCLC, 2007, p.2-2) so it is important to find the technology that is the right tool to meet user information needs (Harvey, 2009, p.7). My post about Delicious describes how Delicious was the right tool to meet my information need of organizing web resources for my assignments but that there were features that could make it difficult such such as allowing inconsistent tagging. The assessment of ASU also demonstrates how I assessed the features of Twitter, Youtube and a blog with RSS in how it was delivering information content to its users.

Supporting informational and collaborative needs of libraries
Libraries are information agencies responsible for organizing and disseminating information. Social networking technologies about creating, sharing and publishing content (OCLC, 2007, p.2-2) which includes information, so the two compliment each other well. Social networking media allow libraries to provide information, promote and improve their services, collections and events. The evaluation of ASU enabled me to evaluate how libraries are using these technologies to support their information services to patrons. They use short youtube clips to impart library information and resources quickly and creatively to patrons, Twitter imparts reference information promptly and blogs are full of information about events and resources. My post about Delicious evaluated how libraries can use this social network technology to meet collaborative and informational needs. It enables libraries to share resources between staff and between libraries both in services such as reference and readers advisory as well as in programming and searching for ideas. Libraries were also using it as an information portal as part of the libraries web resources for patrons.

Information Policy
I have come to understand that policies are important and in this subject I can see the practical applications. Well developed information policy responds to the changes in technology and the way information is communicated (Dearnley & Feather, 2001 p.85). The video Are you 4.0? examines trends that can be used to influence information policy. I examined trends that addressed the social issues of where people get news from and changes in communication to texting; educational issues of Wikipedia; ethical issues of illegally downloading music; technological issues of trends towards mobile devices. Policies should be developed in consultation with stakeholders (Bryson,2006 p.130) which include patrons. In a socially networked world it is easier to obtain this feedback as there are more avenues for conversation.

References:
Bryson, J. (2007). Managing information services: A transformational approach. Burlington, VT.: Ashgate.

Casey, M.E. & Savastinuk, L.C. (2006). Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library. Library Journal, 1 September. Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html

Dearnley, J., & Feather, J. (2001). Information policy. The wired world: An introduction to the theory and practice of the information society (pp. 60-93). London: Library Association.

Harvey, M. (2009). What does it mean to be a Science Librarian 2.0? Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 58(1). DOI:10.5062/F4M906KW. Retrieved from http://www.istl.org/09-summer/article2.html

Hay, L., Wallis J., O'Connell, J. & Crease, R. (2012). What is Library 2.0 [INF506 Module 3:Library 2.0 and participatory library services] Retrieved September 14, 2012 from Charles Sturt website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/INF506_201260_W_D/page/09214ee0- f698-4c0c-8031-84f37037aa7a

Kroski, E. (2008). Web 2.0 for librarians and information professionals. New York: Neal-Shuman

OCLC. (2007). Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World : A Report to the OCLC Membership. Dublin, Ohio: Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/sharing.pdf

O'Reilly, T. (2005, September 30). What is Web 2.0. Retrieved from http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html





1 comment:

  1. The importance of social networking sites in today's world is immense. Indeed, the above mentioned websites are best, however there is also a latest Social Networking site MyworldGo , where you can connect with others. We are also available on iOS and android.

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