Social Media Competencies for Librarians

I have to admit that when I day goes by when I am not active on Twitter, I feel I've missed a lot. Yesterday was one of those days when I was out of the technology loop. Does that mean I am addicted to Twitter? Not really Twitter, the tool. But, definitely addicted to learning which is why I value my PLN (personal learning network) so much. It is a daily dose of learning which I believe adds up to quite a lot over time.

Bobbi L. Newman

On Twitter, one of the librarians I follow is librarianbyday; she is librarian Bobbi Newman from Columbus GA, actively involved in the Transliteracy blog. From her website, I learned that "Bobbi is dedicated to helping libraries find their place in the digital age. She has presented at local, national, and international library conferences on a variety of topics related to improving existing digital services through expanding traditional methods, while creating innovative new practices."

Today on Twitter I learned from Bobbi about the post on Stephen's Lighthouse (Stephen Abrams) blog: Top Ten (10) Social Media Competencies for Librarians.

This is a must-read post for all librarians who want to keep current in the profession. I really think that where we need to go with all this is in leading our students to find their place in the digital age. We need to be modeling what a PLN looks like, including students in our PLNs  and encouraging students to develop their own networks for learning.  After all, when I first learned on a PC in the early1990s my initial teachers were students because most adults at that time had no clue about how to use a computer, do email, save documents, etc.

Bobbi Newman's tweet at 7:03 am this morning has been retweeted about 15 times in just one hour. Think about how quickly hundreds, even thousands of people have read/seen Stephen's Lighthouse post about social media competencies for librarians.  That is truly learning at the speed of light and also generating an incremental shift in the way we all think about the work we do.