Method 8

Method 8

When I saw the topic for method 8, I set up a page for my library. I had put it under my name, since I am the sole librarian. I posted a photo from a recent event. I tried to change the name to the school library, but that doesn't seem like it is going to work. I didn't know what else to put on it until watching David King's video. This presented a number of excellent ideas. I will need to watch it again after making my changes.

I would like to add a blog of what is new or what is going on each day. I would also like to link to a Googledoc of my schedule, so that teachers can see when the library is available. I also intend to create user guides for students to us when using different databases. The major problem is, the district blocks all Facebook pages. Once I get everything set, I will ask our technology department if they can unblock that page. If not, the students will have to use it off campus. Even that will be better than nothing because they will be receiving some library guidance.

I need to find out how to set up a fan page, but not yet because I don't have much to be a fan of.
I looked up the Library Guides in Facebook, but noticed that most of the libraries listed are university libraries. I couldn't very well add mine since it is under my name and I don't have any guides. I wish to investigate this further. Another item that was listed in the comments under 10 ways to promote your library, was Camtasia. What is this, and what is it used for?

I didn't even consider the consequences of setting up the library page. I did not realize that this would prevent me from having my own personal account. I tried to change the name after I started it, but no one from Facebook responded. I will probably just create another under the school name one I get everything the way that I want it. I personally wouldn't be interested in the account if I were no longer employed there, but I can see how that would be problematic. One of the librarians commented that they set up the account under the name of the founder. I hesitate to do that though. I did not see any way to switch from an individual account.

I looked at the Texas Tech pages. I prefer the Facebook pages. First, I was already familiar with Facebook, and so I knew what to expect on each tab. Secondly, I prefer Facebook because the tabs all had information about the library. With MySpace, when I clicked on the other tabs, they had nothing to do with the library. I tested this out with the Austin Public Library and Library of Congress sites and discovered the same thing happened. I would not set up a MySpace page for my library, because I wouldn't want students associating the content on those other tabs with the library.

The "peek" at Library of Congress Twitter page quickly turned into 30 minutes as I explored their blog on Photochroms. I'm bothered that a recent twit mentions that their feed had been hacked. I wouldn't have any idea how to fix this if it happened to me.

I read through the ”How Your Library May Not Be Using Twitter But Should“ article with interest. I was mentally checking off which ideas I might like to try. Then I read through the responses. This is, in my opinion, the most interesting part of our local newspaper. I send links to articles several times a week along with a note to "make sure that you read the comments." I loved andrew r's response to style 5; it was laugh out loud funny. Of course, we do that sort of thing in the library all the time when we pretend to be shelving books, but then step over, after eavesdropping, and say oh, "is this what you are looking for?"

The first article in step 8 is no longer available. I read the second article. I remember being attending an Internet safety training several years ago. The presenter was cautioning putting photos on the Internet. When I asked why, he couldn't come up with a good explanation. Several months later, I found where he had posted a video of one of his classes on YouTube. I think that it is pointless to avoid posting photos, because even if I don't post my photo, someone else might. On my page, you will see photos of two people who have no idea that they are there.
I had an incident a couple of years ago. The district published a group photo of the librarians in a local paper in celebration of National Library Week. A couple of days later, I received a harassing phone call from some nut who had seen my photo in the paper and decided to contact me. I've had other women tell me about their daughters receiving inappropriate calls from strangers following the publication of their quinceniera photos in the paper.

I think that it is good that Facebook doesn't allow users under 13, but I've seen plenty of things posted by people over 30 that make me cringe. I point out some of the things I see to my daughters, and ask them "If this person were applying for a job with you, would you hire him?" I point out that his video, photo, information, can be copied and come back to haunt him years from now. I have cautioned them not to upload any photos without my consent and not to chat with anyone other than their aunt or cousins. The girls are preteens. They have avatars instead of photos and I have not posted their photos online, yet. I took some last week that I would like to put up, but will probably put them on Flickr where only my sister can see them. I don't want their faces photo-shopped onto someone else's body.

While I am very careful about what I post on my page; I haven't been as careful about the chatting. Occasionally, I wonder if that is being saved somewhere. I think that it would be especially important to be careful about what is posted if it is by someone representing a business or organization. My personal life is pretty tame, so I wouldn't really care if people at work know where I go and what I do. It is my personal opinions that would get me into trouble. I try to treat everything I post as though it could be read by anyone, because in most cases it can.

I added myself as a fan so that you can see what I've done with my library page (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000546641824). I shouldn't have a problem keeping this page separate as I only use this email address for library work, trainings, etc. I will probably will disable it after this training, and start over as a business account under the libraries name. I do wonder what the school administration may think of this, but as I'm one of the few people who actually reads handbooks, I know that no one has updated our handbooks to include guidelines on the creation of personal pages. The district encourages us to use their website, but there are limitations to what can be added to it. I can have links to websites on my library homepage, but not to documents. There is a man in our district who is going to train me in using Moodle. That may be a better alternative.

I think that social networking sites provide opportunities for library outreach, but when I'm looking for information, I go directly to my library's official website. If the library has no alternative, these would be good, but I still prefer the regular webpage. I think that Facebook or MySpace should be seen as free advertising to point users to the library page, or to comment on items listed on the regular page.