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.

New Kindles to ship soon

According to a New York Times article, "the new Kindles, which will ship Aug. 27, have the same six-inch reading area as earlier Kindles but weigh about 15 percent less and are 21 percent smaller. The Kindles have twice the storage, up to 3,500 books."

And the expected price? $139 (yes, one hundred thirty-nine dollars).

No wonder the articles also notes that "some analysts are predicting that e-readers could become this year’s hot holiday gift." Summer birthday, anyone?

Wired and tired. . .

In this morning's Slatest : Is adolescent exhaustion just a fact of life or is it a result of too many technological distractions? Either way it is important to realize many of our students are working on less than the ideal 9 hours of sleep.

The Need to Teach Transliteracy

Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. –  www.transliteracy.com



I connect this idea of transliteracy to the recent rush to judgement on the initial media coverage of USDA official Shirley Sherrod. Organizations, newscasters, media pundits and professional journalists need training in research to verify stories. Consider the flap caused by a Tea Party activist when he deliberately edited film to defame Sherrod.

The NAACP’s statement:

With regard to the initial media coverage of the resignation of USDA Official Shirley Sherrod, we have come to the conclusion we were snookered by Fox News and Tea Party Activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias.
Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Ms. Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans.
The fact is Ms. Sherrod did help the white farmers mentioned in her speech. They personally credit her with helping to save their family farm.
Moreover, this incident and the lesson it prompted occurred more that 20 years before she went to work for USDA…
Next time we are confronted by a racial controversy broken by Fox News or their allies in the Tea Party like Mr. Breitbart, we will consider the source and be more deliberate in responding. The tape of Ms. Sherrod’s speech at an NAACP banquet was deliberately edited to create a false impression of racial bias, and to create a controversy where none existed. This just shows the lengths to which extremist elements will go to discredit legitimate opposition.

This makes me wonder how increasingly flawed the nightly news is on any channel.
This certainly isn't the era of Walter Cronkite. Therefore, it is our duty and mission as librarians to teach critical thinking, the value of verifying sources, and the need to look at a variety of perspectives and viewpoints. As you can see, FOX news isn't the only culprit in this story. The NAACP went along with this story on racial bias before making any serious inquiry into it. Is it really necessary to come out with a statement in the middle of the night? Yes, information is coming at us like a firehose, but our responses to it require deliberation.

Collaborative Consumption

Michael Wesch recently tweeted about the growing trend of "Collaborative Consumption". This YouTube video explains the concept:

We are at the start of the "Big Shift" away from the 20th century defined by hyper-consumption towards the 21st century, an age of Collaborative Consumption.
But just how LARGE and FAR-REACHING is this groundswell? Watch & listen.

It seems to me that this ties in with the notion of "cognitive surplus" as explained by Clay Shirky. He argues that the time Americans once spent watching TV has been redirected toward activities that are less about consuming and more about engaging—from Flickr and Facebook to powerful forms of online political action. And these efforts aren’t fueled by external rewards but by intrinsic motivation—the joy of doing something for its own sake. I think that the enthusiasm for saving resources and sustainable living are a part of this shift.

Using Library Experts Wisely

Please take a few minutes and read about "sell it, know it, think it, show it" in "Using Library Experts Wisely", by Rob Weir, just published in Inside Higher Ed. A few favorite quotes:

"We [librarian and professor] munched, brainstormed, and hammered out a work-in-progress whose basic premise was: do less, but do it more often until less became more."

"This time the accompanying assignment was titled "Why My Database Rocks, and Why it Wobbles;" in other words, assess its strengths and weaknesses. The follow-up was to e-mail Dave [the librarian] with the name of the database they consulted, tell him why it was "wobbly," and ask him to suggest others. (These exchanges were copied to me [the professor].)"

"I can’t emphasize this enough: contact your library specialists."

And from the comments: "librarians (myself included) need to do a better job explaining the various possibilities of library instruction."

This article could easily be part of Library Departments' package/handouts at new teacher orientations. At a minimum, it's worth some discussion about different perceptions and changing roles.

Google Images gets a new look

Learn more about Google Images' new look in an article and slide show from PC Magazine OR check out the new look for yourself. Makes me think a bit of CoolIris and I predict students will like more images in the same space.

I'm generally positive about the Google Images change, though I can't say the same for Google News. I really miss the categories and mix of content that used to be there -- now Google News just seems to be a list of the most "popular" stories (and truly, how many stories about Lindsey Lohan does one need to see?). Yes, I know that I could build a custom filter, but I prefer to scan the news with the hope that I might serendipitously come across a story or two of interest (not unlike the "olden" days of turning paper newspaper pages...). What do others think? Have you set a custom filter? What site do you suggest instead of Google News to get a quick overview?