Facebook Professional

Hi,

This article nicely outlines 12 Ways to use Facebook Professionally.

~Sarah

Loriene Roy Podcast

From InsideHigherEd.com...very interesting!

More on Facebook

Hi all,
These items are from Gerry's McKiernan's blog - thought they'd be of interest:

(1) Thesis: Facebook.com At Ball State University: Perceptions Of Students' Communication In Virtual Communities: An Examination of Facebook.com At Ball State University
Joshua Sebastian Hill, M.A. | Educational Studies | 2006

Abstract
As new methods of communication have been created by technological advances, it has become important to examine how students use these methods to interact with other students, the campus community, and the world. This study at Ball State University helped researchers understand how students communicated online in order to create policies regarding online communication.

Data were gathered using the qualitative methodology of responsive interviewing. Students and administrators were interviewed (during May and June of 2006). The data were analyzed by identifying important themes, trends, and concepts among the data according to Rubin & Rubin's (2005) model. The study found that institutions should create educational opportunities for faculty, staff, and studentsto learn about online communication technologies. These educational sessions should include how to use the technologies, the potential for their misuse, and the responsibilities attached to their use. The study concluded that existing policies should be used to address online policy violations.

(2) Thesis: Uncovering The Social Impacts Of Facebook On A College Campus
By Matthew Robert Vanden Boogart, Master of Science, Kansas State University 2006

With the creation of Facebook in 2004, colleges and universities across the United States have been playing catch-up with students. This new technology carries much weight as a new medium for students to build social connections and grow as members of their institutions. However, this new technology also brings negative implications such as lowered GPAs with greater use.

Research was conducted at four major institutions across the country exploring how residence hall students use online communities and the impact it has on their physical world experience on campus.

This study explores the impacts Facebook has had on a college campus. University administrators are urged to use this data to take a proactive approach to using these technologies to enhance the overall campus experience.

Undergraduate Research

Some interesting discussion has been taking place within Ames over the use of the word, "Research." Many think it is what our students do when they come to the library. However, when surveying our student workers in preparation for the upcoming AskAmes chat reference advertising campaign, the term "research assistance" didn't resonate with them. Instead, "Need help?" really struck a cord. The usability testing done by Suzanne and Stephanie reflects interesting contrasts between the links in the student created categories of "Research" and "Help." In my recent undergraduate career, I never considered the work I was doing, "research" until I began to work in earnest on my senior project. All of these thoughts were rolling through my head as I began to consider the recent article, "WebGURU: The Web-Based Guide to Research for Undergraduates." in the July/August issue of the Journal of College Science Teaching. The authors are recommending that faculty direct their students to learn more about doing research http://www.webguru.neu.edu/index.php. Resources that can be found in libraries ARE included in the website. It just seems, from this site's scientific perspective, that research encompasses so much more than using the library. Maybe this is why our students are confused by the term...

Maddy's blog

Without my consent :) my daughter Madeleine started a blog of her own. I thought I’d share, just for your amusement. What’s fascinating to me is that Maddy is not a very forthcoming verbal communicator, so this blog allows me to see someone I know very well in a completely new way.

Marcia

IM training guide

hi,
I read the "Real-Time Virtual Reference Training Guide" that is posted on the AOK page. I found the information presented in the Scope of Service and Communication in Real-Time Virtual Reference Services sections to be very informative. Will we have some sort of a policy document to refer to that is IWU specific? I think this document raised some good questions for us to think about. I also think it would be helpful to have written policies to ensure that we are offering service in a consistent manner, and to help new librarians get up-to-speed in the future.

Lynda

New LibGuides Feature

The creator emailed me and there's a pic on Gerry Mckiernan's blog. LibGuides has made it so you can display your instructional guides on your Facebook profile. It's actually quite simple and tasteful as Facebook Applications go.

http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-libraryfacebookapp-libguides.html

~Sarah

Dewey Free?

According to the New York Times, the Perry Branch Library in Gilbert, Arizona, has decided to abandon the use of the Dewey Decimal System. Books are shelved by subject matter and searchable by subject terms and authors in a database, but no call number is assigned.

I don't think I would mind this experiment so much, except that this branch is located on the grounds of the local high school. What kind of information literacy skills are the students going to have when they leave this system to go to college? The casual browsing the director alludes to certainly isn't the only type of need these students will have as they work to complete their assignments for grades 9-12. Incoming college freshmen from the Perry Branch Library would be lost here at Wesleyan, and heaven help them if they ever have to find a book someplace like the main stacks at the U of I.

Faculty information needs

The latest issue of Educause Review contains a short article about The Changing Information Services Needs of Faculty. The results of the research commissioned by Itaka conclude confirm what we know: "It becomes evident that faculty perceive themselves as becoming decreasingly dependent on the library for their research and teaching needs."

Marcia

Cool idea for IL

I thought this was pretty interesting and the idea could be applied to different disciplines...
-----
In the spirit of national celebration, I am declaring Fantasy Sports as the official national sport of librarians. That's right, since I'm not aware of any other "National Librarian Sport" I'm declaring Fantasy Sports (ie. fantasy baseball, fantasy football) the official national sport. On what authority you may ask? None. None what-so-ever. But...

Fantasy Sports require:

• Strong research skills
• Excellent use of information literacy
• Critical thinking abilities
• Social communication
• No physical qualifications

[more at the link...]

http://researchquest.blogspot.com/2007/07/national-librarian-sport-declared.html

When 'Digital Natives' go to the library.

If you can look beyond the comparison of the library to the church, Jaschik makes a few interesting points. I know I am prone to doing the following.

"A digital native would never read an instruction manual with a new game before simply trying the game out, Gee said. Similarly, students shouldn’t be expected to read long explanations of tools they may use before they start experimenting with them."

http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/06/25/games

A Hipper Crowd of Shushers

There's a fun article in Sunday's NYT on librarians.

Marcia

Another view on Facebook

For another view on Facebook and libraries, see Steve Lawson's recent blog posts
Marcia

IM transcripts & Assessment

Hi all,

I read over the very helpful IM document Jean sent out this morning and just wanted to comment on her question on the last page about keeping transcripts. My opinion is that keeping transcripts of the interaction between user and librarian is important for evaluation and for training, and that we can strip any identifying information out of the transcript to ensure privacy. When I did online reference at UCI, our coordinator did this and it was helpful in training sessions to see how others handled questions differently. Also, from a website content management point of view, the transcripts could help us identify areas of our website that need changes, clarifications, reorganizations, etc. So, I would advocate for keeping this information.

Another idea for an assessment tool could be brief online surveys through SurveyMonkey or another online resource. At the end of the session, the librarian could send the link and the user could choose to do the survey or not. Another option could be to keep a list of emails of people who used the service (separate from their question) and then send a survey to them near the end of the semester.

My two cents!

Thanks,
Stephanie

Where is the RSS message?

We have so many new communication tools in play that I can't remember where I saw a message regarding RSS feeds for Luminus. I think it was from Suzanne and I think it was Luminus but I can't remember and don't know where to find it! Can anyone help? Thanks - Marcia

Test message

Hi Folks,

This is just a test to see if I am doing this correctly. I will be here this week but am leaving for Tennessee on the weekend. Back to work, July 23. A happy 4th to yo all.

Bob

meebo identities

Hi Everyone,

Apparently, IT is testing the meebo widgets. When I had my account and several other pages open Friday, I didn't see or hear that new messages were coming in. The tester got "cute" and typed some not-so-pleasant things indicating he was angry at my lack of response.

That got me to thinking, have you seen anything that will show who the sender is?

Over the weekend, I realized he could be anonymous by sending the message from the widget on my blog. At least that's what I'm guessing! But if he had his own IM account and had to use a specific IM address, we'd be able to tell who messages were coming from, right?

And in thinking of this as a tool for Reference, if we have to forward messages to someone else to handle how will they know who to reply to?

Meg