Free! 1 Voice Many Channels> Blogging & Tweeting 4 Libraries (a robin & amy gig)

Join us - Free! from the fab @amywatts @georgiawebgurl

One Voice, Many Channels: Blogging and Tweeting for Libraries
Free
Robin Fay and Amy Watts
University of Georgia
Does your library blog or tweet? Interested in getting started? Wondering what all the buzz is about? We'll explore how libraries use Twitter and Blogger to share news, events, as well as a community building tool. If you would like to blog or tweet during the session or set up a blog or twitter account, please bring a laptop with a wifi connection.

http://is.gd/fpogj

Join us -- new Drupal and Expression Engine Groups

Hola! I'm chairing the ATHDrupal group and for now, I am just "helping" the EEATH group (I hope a Chair rises organically in the group).
ATHDrupal is a new regional Drupal group (forming out of the ashes of UGA Drupal Group). We would like to invite anyone interested in Drupal to join us. We hope to have some f2f meetings -- perhaps, semesterly (and also, to connect up with DrupalAtlanta at some point).

Drupal is an opensource content management system.
You can join the Drupal group @
http://groups.google.com/group/athdrupal

Additionally a new regional group has formed for the CMS, Expression Engine
http://groups.google.com/group/eeath

If you have questions, just drop me a line. thanks, robin
georgiawebgurl@gmail.com

Why use Twitter (and why I twitter)

Some time ago, I gave up on the notion that I could be an artist and have a completely private life. The thing with being an artist (musician, writer, painter, director, actor, etc...) is that you need fans. You need supporters. You need people to know about your artwork and support your artwork (both financially and intellectually). So, unless you have an agent working for you, you have to do this yourself.
I think the same applies to organizations, businesses, etc. How do you stand out in a crowd? One way is to use social media to build a fan base (or user community or support network or ... )

I twitter for 3 reasons: to get up to date info/links/buzz about technology through people I follow, to build a network of followers who I might not want to facebook (facebook is more personal to me although there is some overlap on fb) or those that might not want to facebook with me, and to post news/announcements relating to artwork or my writings (in other words, straight up PR).

There are of course, other reasons to use twitter. If you are confused about twitter, I suggest you take a look at this great post. It explains what twitter is, how to use it and why it is useful, especially as relates to organizations.

Facebook and Friendfinder -- what you need to know

Interesting post about how facebook uses your email address to connect you to people through friendfinder

Delete your info here


...which all just goes to show, we all need to stay on top of what information we put out there. I don't use friendfinder, but apparently my email address was harvested from a couple of mailing lists by people who DO use friendfinder via facebook.

...and don't friend me on facebook, if we are not in the same professional circles -- especially, if we've never met or had a conversation (either f2f or online) because I won't friend you back unless you WRITE A REALLY REALLY GOOD MESSAGE EXPLAINING WHY YOU ARE APPROACHING PEOPLE ONLINE THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW.... AND EVEN THEN, PROBABLY NOT. GOT IT?

12 worst kinds of facebookers

From CNN (the short version)...

1. The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore.
2. The Self-Promoter.
3. The Friend Padder
4. The Town Crier
5. The TMIer
   
6. The Bad Grammarian.
7. The Sympathy Baiter
8. The Lurker.
9. The Crank.
10. The Paparazzo.
11. The Maddening Obscurist.
12. The Chronic Inviter

Okay, I think I might have committed all of these offenses at some time ... except for the Paparazzo and the Friend Padder. I surely hope I am not the TMIer (ick, we all have one of those in our friends' list, right?)

for more detail read the article here

Seeking librarians/writers (professional development opportunies)

Seeking regular contributors:
Do you have a story to tell?

Come and share it at Library Worklife!
Library Worklife: HR E-News for Today's Leaders is looking for aspiring and experienced writers - library employees and graduate students who have stories to tell about their careers, jobs, research, and pathways to success. Library Worklife is a monthly, electronic newsletter published by the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA). Stories can be about:

* You or a great project that you want to share with colleagues - Spotlight
* Advice, testimonials, opportunities and research about advancing your career – Career Advancement
* Why it is important to participate in professional development and continuing education, including state and national certification programs - Certification
* Legal issues facing or concerning library personnel - Human Resources Law
* How to manage library staffing issues, such as training, budgeting, performance appraisals, hiring, outsourcing, and motivation - Human Resources Practice
* What you, your library or your state has done to address pay inequities - Salaries and Pay Equity and Statistics
* How do we attract people to the profession? - Recruitment
* Profiles, standards, innovative approaches, conferences or topics of concern for support staff - Support Staff
* How you manage the two (or more) roles you play on a daily basis - Work/life Balance

Write about your ideas or use some of ours on almost any other topic related to working in libraries.

Submission should range from 200 – 1200 words, although longer articles can be accepted by arrangement. They can be in almost any style from serious academic research to humorous work-life articles. Further details can be found at the Library Worklife web page, http://www.ala-apa.org/newsletter/newsletter.html or by emailing the editor, Jenifer Grady at jgrady@ala.org.

And the best news is… If you commit to writing three (3), count ‘em THREE, articles in one year, you get a free subscription to Library Worklife, a $35 value (for ALA Regular members.)



So come and share your story, at Library Worklife.

Professional & Cont Ed Group online

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The Professional & Continuing Education Interest Group (PACE) of GLA (the Georgia Library Association) chaired by Robin Fay & Beth Thornton have decided to do a free online community portal (a ning).

Even if you are not a member of the Interest Group or GLA, feel free to participate. We decided to give this a try to see if we pool the library, IT and/or web2.0 resources that come across our desks (training, webinars, links, blogs, library videos, tutorials, etc.) we'd have a good mix of stuff, as well as a place to find help, network & discuss issues relating to librarianship.

Oh, and you can subscribe to the site via your rss reader (google, bloglines, etc.)

http://georgiaconted.ning.com

If you have any questions or thoughts feel free to drop me a line.

Need a mentor?

For those at the UGA Libraries, there is an internal mentoring program via the Professional Development & Research Committee. too.

New Member's Roundtable of ALA offers a mentoring program:

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Have you been a librarian for 5 years or less? Do you sometimes feel you have professional questions to ask and no one to direct them to? Do you find yourself wondering, in the midst of hardcore budget season, or in that massive collection development strategy meeting...What the heck are they talking about? Well, through NMRT's Mentoring Committee, help has arrived! Here's your chance to meet a new librarian ally, and to have someone to ask about all those questions you can't really ask!

The NMRT Mentoring Committee will pair up "newbie librarians" with "seasoned vets" as part of our Career Mentoring program. The program will last from October 2008 to July 2009. Conference attendance is not required. Membership in ALA is required, and NMRT membership is encouraged. Applications are due October 17, 2008, with the goal of notifying the matching pairs by the end of October.

If you are interested in additional information or would like to be paired with a mentor, please complete the online application at: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/mentor/mentoringcommittee.cfm

Free webinar - Second Circle Event Technologies - Beyond Registration to Community Engagement

Although not specifically library related, considering how many seminars, workshops, and conferences we all attend, this might be an interesting webinar (and free!)

Second Circle Event Technologies - Beyond Registration to Community Engagement
September 18, 2008
2:00 PM EDT | Register Now!

Events and meetings are a critical element of your overall market relationship management (MRM) strategy - providing customers, employees, partners, and franchises a powerful channel to experience your brand message. Meanwhile, event technologies have moved from being an adjunct support capability to being an essential part of every event or meeting. Unfortunately, too often, events are managed as one-time audience interactions and not as part of a continuous relationship that can address the audience needs over time. Join Stephen Saber CEO, CrossTech Group, with Chris Copelas, Director of Business Development, CrossTech Partners, as they discuss how Second Circle Technologies are transforming the way companies use these interactions to gain a competitive advantage.

shutterfly one-ups flickr in social networking

Whoa, so have you checked out shutterfly lately? I haven't done anything with my account there in FOREVER, because well, shutterfly didn't seem to do much. It certainly wasn't as great as flickr.

However, shutterfly has jumped into the social networking venue with both feet -- take a look at my "profile" shutterfly page vs my flickr page.

Okay, Okay, I know, the shutterfly page is more than just a profile -- it is an actual webpage with my blogs embedded via rss, images of my choosing, and even some basic design features (layout, color scheme, etc.); I can even blog via shutterfly, pull in my images from my shutterfly photo collection, plus control who can contribute (only me or a group).

Not sure about how tagging works in shutterfly and although it seems to support groups and collaborative galleries, I haven't tried to do that in shutterfly.

...but still.... it does makes my profile and site at flickr look pretty dinky, doesn't it?

..and apparently, you can batch export out flickr using flump.

Hmmm....

more here about the changes here
and here
and here

50 social networking sites (the basics)

From social networking to blogging to image sharing.... a nice list of all the basics organized by category.

A few additions:
Under social networking, I would add one of the oldest social networking sites for artists, deviantart; under misc, I would also throw in sites which are more tool based, too, like slideshare (for sharing powerpoint), and some of the rss/blog services (technorati, bloglines, google reader) and maybe most importantly, claimid, for identity management.

Most popular social networking services

From Digital inspiration:
A survey of the most popular social networking services (I'm not sure I consider email to be truly social networking, but anyhow...)

Email: 35%
Facebook: 10%
..
Myspace: 7%
del.icio.us: 4%

Complete stats and graphs here

Professional networking & Web2.0 - Are you LinkedIn?

A little bit of promotion for a program on the UGA Campus. Enclosed below is the announcement with bio information.

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Web2.0+ and Professional Networking: Are you LinkedIn? Panel Discussion
Date: August 12, 2008
Time: 2-3 p.m.
SLC Room 148
Free!

Web2.0+ and Social networking tools have changed many aspects of our daily lives from how we share information to how we learn and how we network professionally.

Learn more about how UGA faculty members are using Web2.0 technologies to expand their students' educational experiences, to share their own knowledge, and to tap into an ever expanding and connected professional network.

Panelists:
David Noah, Coordinator of Emerging Technologies, Center for Teaching & Learning
Dr. David Noah, Coordinator of Emerging Technologies at the Center for Teaching & Learning, pays attention to the impact of social media on pedagogy and professional development in higher education.

Janet Frick, Associate Professor, Life-Span Developmental Psychology Program
Janet Frick is an associate professor in the Psychology department, who teaches classes ranging from the 300-person intro psychology course to small graduate seminars in developmental psychology. She uses web 2.0 informally to get to know her students (and let them get to know her), as well as to share relevant course material in an interactive setting. She is considering further pedagogical options in the future and will discuss those brainstorms.

Audrey Haynes, Associate Professor, Political Science
Dr. Haynes' research focuses on the nexus of candidate communication strategy and the news media within the context of presidential nomination campaigns. She is also interested in the innovative strategies of political parties and candidates as they work to adapt to new electoral environments as well as differences across partisans and their implications for behavior. As to teaching, she is interested in using "new media" in the classroom with the aim of producing an "interactive" learning environment that encourages continued learning outside the classroom.

Kaye Sweetser, Assistant Professor of Public Relations
Sweetser found herself fumbling around the social Web her freshman year of college & has been active on all things Internet since, even incorporating social media assignments into the classes she teaches at Grady College today. She
researches social media, online political public relations, use of technology in public relations - but really she's just interested in the how and why people connect online.


Facilitator: Robin Fay, Dynamic Content Group, UGA Libraries

new facebook

Article about the new facebook user experience:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/21/the-friendfeedization-of-facebook/

or to see it in action, login @ facebook and then go to>
http://www.new.facebook.com/

Learn a new language with Babbel (not babelfish)

I think this sounds like a really interesting way to learn a language -- social networking & multimedia style! Mashable has a good overview & review here:

Babbel is the latest site to teach new languages through a social Web-based immersion program, where the majority of the content is packaged into lessons created by Babbel. So far, languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, English, and German are supported. Each lesson package contains material pertaining to a different theme, such as travel or business, so you can learn a series of words and phrases within context.

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Although I do like that the information is presented in multiple ways as it SHOUlD create a richer learning environment appealing to a variety of learning styles, I didn't find a lot in the way supporting documentation, research, etc. on the site. It seems to be all about language and play... but hey if it works (but how will they know?)

I also wonder if they will expand to other languages -- seems like kind of a short list, hmm?

Educational uses for social networking sites

First-of-Its-Kind Study at the University of Minnesota Uncovers the Educational Benefits of Social Networking Sites
University of Minnesota News (06/19/08) Badaracco, Luisa

University of Minnesota researchers have determined the educational benefits of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook and also found that low-income students are in many ways just as technologically proficient as their more advantaged counterparts. The researchers found that 94 percent of students in the study used the Internet, 82 percent used the Internet at home, and 77 percent have a profile on a social networking site. Students said social networking sites taught them technology skills, creativity, being open to new or diverse views, and communication skills. Data was collected over six months from students in 13 urban high schools in the Midwest. In addition to the initial surveyed students, a follow-up, randomly selected subset were asked questions on their Internet activity while they used MySpace. University of Minnesota learning technologies researcher Christine Greenhow says students that use social networking sites learn and practice the kinds of 21st century skills that educators say are needed to be successful. "Students are developing a positive attitude towards using technology systems, editing and customizing content, and thinking about online design and layout," Greenhow says. The results show that social networking sites provide more than just social fulfillment or professional networking and have implications for educators, who have an opportunity to support what students are learning on the Web, Greenhow says. The study contradicts a 2005 study from Pew that suggests a digital divide is forming in which low-income students are technologically impoverished.

More at Univ. Minnesota News

Flickr pro account -- is it worth it?

Just in case you didn't know, Flickr now allows video upload for "pro" accounts.
At this point, running time is limited to 90 seconds. Hopefully, if they want to be a full media site, they will up the time limit, because 90 seconds, well, that is not very long. To be honest, I'm losing my love of flickr quickly anyhow. "Pro" does not really mean pro - it just means that you pay to have more storage a few richer features (video, more collections, stats, etc.)

I'm thinking maybe I will keep my flickr account but downgrade it to the free account, and then switch over to smugmug or something else, where I can actually sell photos. I'd also love a place to host both my videos and photos, a flickr + youtube place. Yeah, I have my domain to do that, but I'd like to use a social networking site for that stuff, too.

flickr tos (what not to do):
http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne

and what comes with the flickr pro account:
http://www.flickr.com/upgrade/

LinkedIn, what it is and how to use it

From the excellent commoncraft folks.


What is LinkedIn? from LinkedIn Marketing on Vimeo.

Librarian professional/networking site

From Libgig's site
http://www.libgig.com

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LibGig is a new professional networking website dedicated to bringing together everyone who accesses, organizes, creates, manages, produces or distributes information for a living.

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Includes: Job listings, information about LS programs, blog posts, interviews of community leaders, etc.

Podcast about social networks and technical networks

Author, Here Comes Everybody ... The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

Moira speaks with CLAY SHIRKY about the relationship between social networks and technical networks. Now with texting, and digital photos and cell phones, everything from politics to socializing will never be the same

http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3596.html