Tame The Web » Social Software & Sites

Making Researchers Famous with Social Media

Michael — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:36:50 +0000

Making researchers famous with social media

Mal writes: These are the slides and notes for a workshop we are running for academic researchers on using social media to raise their profiles as part of our UTS Research Week 2012 program.

Web 2.0 & Libraries Parts 1 & 2 Available Free on Hyperlinked Library Site

Michael — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:21:10 +0000

I am happy to announce the full text of both of my ALA Library Technology Reports are available now at the new TTW companion site The Hyperlinked Library.

The rest of the site is currently under construction, but for now you’ll find:

Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software (2006) - http://thehyperlinkedlibrary.org/libtechreport1/

Web 2.0 & Libraries: Trends & Technologies (2007) - http://thehyperlinkedlibrary.org/libtechreport2/

Special thanks to my SJSU SLIS grad assistant Patrick Siebold who worked very hard the past few weeks inputting the content. I know the examples from ’06 and ’07 may seem out of date and quaint in some ways, but I’m very proud of the framework we used for the works back then. Conversations, Community, Connections, Collaborations – all those great C words Jenny Levine and I used throughout our early social software roadshows in 2005 & 2006 provide a useful context for looking at Web 2.0. I hope these works are still useful to some of you. Comments are open for adding more to the chapters and I plan on doing some types of updating as time permits.

The site will also serve my course Web sites and other items related to my teaching.

Revolutionising Libraries with Social Media

Michael — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:27:43 +0000

Revolutionising Libraries with Social Media

View more presentations from Judy O’Connell

Historypin

Justin Hoenke — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:01:16 +0000

I got an iPhone this past month, and I’ve been slowly digging into the vast library or apps that the phone offers. A lot of things have grabbed my attention, but nothing perhaps so much as Historypin. From Wikipedia:

Historypin is an online, user-generated archive of historical photos and personal recollections. Users are able to use the location and date of an image to ‘pin’ it to Google Maps Where Google Street View is available, users can overlay the historical photograph and compare it with the contemporary location.

When I use Historypin, all that I can think about is how libraries should be jumping all over this and using it to create a unique glimpse into their community. I’ve talked before about how I believe the path forward for public libraries is in encouraging our communities to create unique content (1, 2, and 3) and here is a tool that allows us to do this.

Here’s what I’m imagining from my point of view as a teen librarian: what if I got a handful of teens interested in photography, a few digital cameras or iPod touches, and we had a program where we headed out into the city for a half hour taking pictures. We could then come back into the library and, using the library’s wifi and the Historypin app, upload the photos and catalog our city at that moment in time. What’s even better is that Historypin encourages users to snap pictures of old photographs and upload them to Historypine (see the above image for an example). Say that your library has an extensive local history collection (sort of like the one at my library). Wouldn’t it be great to mobilize some volunteers to digitize photos and upload them to Historypin? The library could even partner with local tourism organizations to give people with mobile phones a walking history tour of the city.

You can download Historypin for iOs and Android devices here: http://www.historypin.com/app/
Or try it online here: http://www.historypin.com/

(many thanks to Nate Hill for turning me onto this awesome site)

-Post by Justin Hoenke,Tame the Web Contributor

Your “Library” Doesn’t Participate in Social Media, But Your People Do – A TTW Guest Post by Dr. Troy Swanson

Michael — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:20:12 +0000

Much discussion has been made about librarians reaching out through social media to our communities and our patrons and rightly so. But, we often overlook the role that social media offers for us internally as a means to strengthen our organizations.

One thing to remember is that libraries really do not participate in social networks. People do.

In fact, your “library” doesn’t exist. You may have a building. You may have items on your shelves. You may have people who show up to do work. But, there is no “library.” Often, we speak of our libraries as if they are these living entities outside of the people who make them up.

“The library prohibits the use of cell phones in all public areas.”

Actually, the library doesn’t prohibit anything. Only people can prohibit.

Our libraries are groups of people who come together to do a job. Together, we make rules, systems, policies, and procedures in order to coordinate our work. We need to understand how the individuals fit together to get a job done. We need some predictability. If we had to remake the rules everyday, we’d never accomplish anything.

There are two important challenges that come from this. First, it is easy to fall into a rut and make things so predictable that nothing ever changes. There are many people who talk about breaking out of ruts, so I am will not focus on this in this post.

The second challenge, which is my focus, is much more interesting. This is that it is impossible to create rules for most situations. Most of the time, when faced with a decision, organizational members take their understanding (based on past experience) and apply it as best as possible to the task at hand. Sometimes this is a very rote task, and other times, this is a once-in-a-career opportunity. It can take months or years of working in an organization to really understand the unwritten participation rules. Empowering people to act can be even trickier.

In an ideal, magical world, all of our organizational members would know about all of the actions ever taken by our colleagues. We would build up our knowledge and have that in our heads. Then, when faced with a decision, we would have the ultimate point of reference to use in acting.

But, as we know, that’s not how the real world works. In the real world, we are always making and remaking meaning within our organizations. Each person has limited knowledge and imperfect information. We react to our environment, observe results, and decide if our actions worked. Importantly, we decide together. Sometimes this takes the form of formal policies, evaluations, or procedures. Sometimes, this happens more informally through friendships, gossip, and frowning faces. In all cases, organizational members are bumping around, making sense of the world. Together, we make meaning through doing work. Talking to someone about working is never the same as actually working with that person.

My library is open seven days a week, day and night. Our staff members are never all together at one time. There are many staff members who will never meet each other. Yet, we hope that our staff members will make similar decisions when presented with similar situations. But, there is no way we can capture every rule, every practice, or every approach. There is no handbook that will ever be complete. There is no workshop that will ever be long enough.

But, with social media, we can connect. We can share our days via Twitter or Facebook. We can document via shared wikis. We can demonstrate via YouTube. Of course, social media will not solve all problems, but they offer an affordable way to overcome space and time limitations. They are one more tool in our tool box. Most importantly, it offers an avenue to work together, which is the most powerful way to build meaning.

The question becomes how? First, those with knowledge must contribute. Some of the most vital organizational information will come from managers, so they must commit to using these tools. Simply put, organizational members will follow their organizational managers. If they put needed information and direction in these tools, then staff members will need to access these tools to do their jobs. Second, organizational members must understand how the tools are used and what they can do. Most importantly, they must understand how they should contribute and how their contribution will forward the goals of the organization. Finally, participation must become part of everyday work. It cannot be seen as an optional fun activity, but as actual work.

Troy A. Swanson is Teaching & Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College. You can follow him on Twitter at @t_swanson.

Please Take Lori Reed’s Facebook Survey

Michael — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:47:01 +0000

Lori Reed writes:

For my capstone project at East Carolina University I am conducting research on best practices and current trends on using Facebook for work and personal use.

Please help me by completing this short survey on how you use Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/fbsurveylr

This survey is completely anonymous but I am looking for statements that can be attributed back to a source. If you would like to be interviewed for this project please contact me ASAP at lori@lorireed.com. Look for the final report to be published here in April.

More here: http://lorireed.com/the-facebook-balance-workpersonal/

The Underground Economy of Innovation – A TTW Guest Post by Dr. Troy Swanson

Michael — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 21:11:58 +0000

There are costs to maintaining and fully supporting technologies. For every dollar of software or hardware that is purchased, there are additional dollars that must be committed to implementation and ongoing support. Most organizations have lists of “supported” technologies and much longer lists of “unsupported” technologies. Yet, we continue to innovate. We continue to utilize new tools to solve problems. I stumbled upon this blog post from Rosabeth Moss Kante about innovation in health care, which I think is applicable to innovation in general and libraries specifically:

“Innovations always sound good in retrospect, after they’ve worked, and in isolation, when all the surrounding barriers to change don’t have to be taken into account. Arguably, the main roadblock to innovation in health care is not the limits of human imagination and creativity; it is how a complex system has grown up in which most players have incentives for keeping their piece intact while hoping to seize a piece from someone else. Health establishments fight against germs and also against germs of ideas. It’s a classic change management problem…

“…Complex systems of multiple actors and interest groups rarely change by fiat; they are more likely to change because of the accumulation of many positive deviations from tradition that prove themselves and gain support. Each small innovation pushes at some aspect of the system and ends up triggering greater change…” (Why Innovation Is So Hard in Health Care – and How to Do It Anyway by Rosabeth Moss Kante http://blogs.hbr.org/innovations-in-health-care/2011/02/why-innovation-is-so-hard-in-h.html)

When innovations take place, they do so because someone was willing to move beyond the roadblocks that exist. They were willing to break rules and operate in the underground economy of innovation.

In my research into the innovation and adaptation of blogs and Web 2.0 technologies, I have seen how the underground economy of ideas works. Single innovators can experiment, support, and diffuse ideas across organizations pushing the larger group in new directions.

It is not uncommon for pockets of innovations to exist that replicate all of the functions of an IT department offering trouble shooting support, implementation guidance, and even hardware maintenance. Of course, inefficiencies for the larger organization will start to arise as decentralized IT services pop up.

Organizational leaders have a delicate balancing act to perform as they seek to support both innovation and efficiency. Ideally, they should act to foster innovation, but also find ways to support it efficiently. At times, this is not an easy act to pull off. The currency for the underground economy of innovation is the informal recognition and satisfaction that comes with solving problems. Many courageous innovators thrive on stepping outside of the box and playing around. Administrators who do stamp out a new innovation because it is not officially supported risk doing far more damage to their organization than they may realize.

One thing that became clear to me in my research was that budget meetings were places where innovations went to die. The price tag is a significant factor in the diffusion of an idea. Since many Web 2.0 technologies are relatively cheap, they can easily fly below the radar as they move across organizations.

Troy A. Swanson is Teaching & Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College. You can follow him on Twitter at @t_swanson.

Social Media Counter

Michael — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:38:24 +0000

http://www.personalizemedia.com/garys-social-media-count/

Via Cheri Gogo, who was in LIS768 last semester.

What do these numbers mean for libraries?

Social Media, Libraries, and Web 2.0: New Survey Results

Michael — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:32:46 +0000

Social Media, Libraries, and Web 2.0: How American Libraries are Using New Tools for Public Relations and to Attract New Users – Third Survey November 2010

View more documents from Curtis Rogers.

Dr. Curtis Rogers shares a report of his most recent survey. This is useful, practical data to explore.

Embracing Services to Teens 2011: Revisiting Mishawaka’s Ban on Social Networking

Michael — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:17:34 +0000

A new anonymous comment went up on this post from 2008 about my hometown library’s ban of social media access because of issues with teens:

http://tametheweb.com/2008/03/18/no-myspace-facebook-at-mishawaka-library/

No email address or URL was shared, so I thought I’d share the comment here so the person might get some useful feedback – including ideas to welcome everyone into the library without “stricter patron codes of conduct.” I would especially like to hear from teen librarians.

I am currently employed at a library in Kentucky and I must say that I disagree with your assessment that the primary goal of the library should be to just let these actions go on without any moves to correct them. While I do agree that the steps taken are a bit extensive, the fact remains that the primary purpose of a library should be that of a center of learning that is open to anyone who is interested in learning something or attempting to discover something. A library is not an internet café nor is it a place for individuals to gather to place their personal feelings on a social networking website. As librarians, we are taught how to best help patrons discover, use, and understand the items we have on our stacks and we take great pains to offer our services in a kindly manner.

However, the teens, at least at my particular branch of employment, have become the biggest thorns in our side. Despite offering special teen spaces, unique teen programs, and various other opportunities the problems that we started with have remained. In the case of our particular branch the problem had to do with particular teen patrons. These ‘problem’ patrons are often the source of either mischief or, in some cases, harm to others. While there are adult ‘problem’ patrons are most vocal and most confrontational are our teen ‘problem’ patrons. I personally feel that the solution to the problems experienced at your particular library, namely the parking issue among others, are the cause of individual teens who should be removed and I do agree that eliminating it for all is a bit much. Having said that, I completely understand the Library Director’s reasoning on this matter. Furthermore, it is easy to sit outside of a library system and question the judgements from the comforts of a classroom or a home, but when you work for the public on a regular basis you soon find that there are some individuals who complain about just anything and it is extremely likely that your particular Director had some nasty phone calls from irate older patrons who were inconvenienced by teens. In an effort to appease these patrons the Director took an option to cut the snake off at the head.

At my particular branch, there are those patrons who often do complain about the slightest transgressions, be they real or imagined, and they demand immediate responses. In these cases it is difficult for us to act because our hands are tied by a management tactic that attempts to make all parties happy; this flawed way of viewing public relations has created situations where the end result is often a massive over-reaction. The library staff, often eager to find a way to calm down overzealous patrons are often forced to cut off access to certain things in an effort to appease these individuals. This policy of appeasement, much like its earlier 20th century political equivalent, is highly controversial and flawed as you have now seen. The correct solution, in my opinion, is to institute more business like procedures within a library setting and to enforce stricter patron codes of conduct in an effort to ensure that these kind of incidents never occur, thus allowing the teens to peacefully coexist with the other patrons.

Full TTW coverage of the Mishawaka ban is here: http://tametheweb.com/page/2/?s=Mishawaka The policy was reversed a year later. I would also love to hear from the Mishawaka librarians – how is it going these days?

The Transparent Library: Embracing Services to Teens

Integrating Staff Personal Social Media Presence into Library Web Site = Human Touch

Michael — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:36:17 +0000

I’m updating some slides and prepping for spring classes today. I was pleased to find this wonderful staff directory page for the Todd Library at Waubonsee Community College:

https://library.waubonsee.edu/staff/

Not only do I get a photo of the staff member, I also get access to their social media presence as well. Frankly, I’d like to see more libraries do this. Wouldn’t clicking through to a staff listing such as the one above paint a clearer picture of the PEOPLE running the library beyond just a name and email address? I understand if some individuals were not interested in participating, but I’d rather such a page be opt in for those who want to – with the understanding that their social media presence becomes part of the story the library is telling.

Speaking of marketing, isn’t this type of endeavor – that glimpse into the social presence of those folks who you might see behind a service desk or those ordering/processing materials – is a million times more real than the latest crafted message from the PR department? Kudos to the folks at Todd Library!

TTW readers – do you have other staff bio pages to share like this one? Can you do such a thing at your library?

Study: Comparing Tools of Social Media

Michael — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:32:20 +0000

Please consider participating!

http://www.unc.edu/~jvelasco/sm-survey2010/

A study by Javier Velasco-Martin

The Study

I’m interested in how we are incorporating Social Media into our communication toolset; this research study will compare different computer-based interpersonal communication media. I’m particularly interested in whom we relate with through different tools, what types of information we share on these, and how we feel about different types of information. Your participation involves responding to an online survey. This process should take you about 15 to 20 minutes, and should involve no risk or harm to yourself. With your help, we’ll be extending our knowledge in this field, where most research to date has focused on single tools. You may gain from the learning about how you use these tools, and adjust your use as appropriate. You can also be eligible for a drawing of one of two $100 gift cards (details below).

This study compares the some Internet communication tools; the type of use we’ll be discussing here is described below:

Email: The basic use of email, messages between two people.
IM: The basic use of IM, conversations between two people.
Blog: Posting as a blog author, and commenting on other’s blogs. In case you manage multiple blogs, we’ll be discussing your personal blog only.
Facebook: Posting status and comments on friends’ status and photos. Not including private messages, groups, or events.
Twitter: General tweets, replies and re-tweets, not direct messages. In case you manage multiple twitter accounts, we’ll be discussing your personal one.

This study has been funded by the 2009 Progress Grant from the Information Architecture Institute.

The Participants

I’m looking for people who’ve been using these tools long enough to have found a stable place for them in their daily communication toolset; establishing a (rather) definitive strategy for their use. I’m trying to focus on people for whom these tools are no longer “the new toy”. In practical terms, you should have at least six months of experience in either running a blog, or using a Facebook or Twitter account.

The Researcher

I’m a PhD student of Information Science at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I’m interested in how technology is allowing us to communicate with our people in new ways, and how that is changing the way we relate with others. I believe Social Media marks a point where the Web has come of age, developing its own tools that are no longer remixed versions of what we’ve had before. I think that now is a great time to be studying these kinds of problems. I’m excited to be doing this kind of research, and I’m very thankful for your help. I also hope the results of this study will be useful to yourself and many others.

The Gift…

Participants who complete the survey will get a chance at winning one of two Amazon.com gift cards for $100 each. In order to participate in this drawing, I will have to collect your name and email address, but this data will be kept separate from the survey data and it will not be possible to associate your name with your responses. You need to answer 80% of the questions to be eligible for this drawing.

TTW Mailbox: Do you use DELICIOUS? Please take survey

Michael — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:42:23 +0000

From an email:

I am a graduate student in the Dept. of Library & Information Science, National Taiwan University. I am writing to you because I read your article and thus understand that you had researched Delicious.com before. I’m currently doing my thesis research on Delicious users’ social relations and tagging behaviors. I am now on the stage of collecting data from Delicious user. Would you please fill out my questionnaire if you are currently using Delicious? It may take you approximately 20-30 minutes to complete the questionnaire. I would highly appreciate if you could also forward this questionnaire to anyone you know who also use Delicious. Thank you very much for your help.

Here is the link: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/344453/Delicious-User-Survey

Sincerely,

Yi-Fan Chen, Graduate Student
Dept. of Library & Information Science
National Taiwan University

Chi-Shiou Lin, Assistant Professor (Thesis Advisor)
Dept. of Library & Information Science
National Taiwan University

Anytown Public Library’s Social Media Policy

Michael — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:18:53 +0000

APL Social Media Policy

This policy governs the publication of and commentary on social media by employees of Anytown Public Library and its related companies (“APL”). For the purposes of this policy, social media means any facility for online publication and commentary, including without limitation blogs, wiki’s, social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. This policy is in addition to and complements any existing or future policies regarding the use of technology, computers, e-mail and the internet.

APL employees are free to publish or comment via social media in accordance with this policy. APL employees are subject to this policy to the extent they identify themselves as a APL employee (other than as an incidental mention of place of employment in a personal blog on topics unrelated to APL).

Publication and commentary on social media carries similar obligations to any other kind of publication or commentary.

All uses of social media must follow the same ethical standards that APL employees must otherwise follow.

Setting up Social Media

Assistance in setting up social media accounts and their settings can be obtained from APL’s Social Media Librarian.

Don’t Tell Secrets

It’s perfectly acceptable to talk about your work and have a dialog with the community, but it’s not okay to publish confidential information. Confidential information includes things such as unpublished details about our software, details of current projects, future product ship dates, financial information, research, and trade secrets. We must respect the wishes of our corporate customers regarding the confidentiality of current projects. We must also be mindful of the competitiveness of our industry.

Protect your own privacy

Privacy settings on social media platforms should be set to allow anyone to see profile information similar to what would be on the APL website. Other privacy settings that might allow others to post information or see information that is personal should be set to limit access. Be mindful of posting information that you would not want the public to see.

Be Honest

Do not blog anonymously, using pseudonyms or false screen names. We believe in transparency and honesty. Use your real name, be clear who you are, and identify that you work for APL. Nothing gains you notice in social media more than honesty – or dishonesty. Do not say anything that is dishonest, untrue, or misleading. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, point it out. But also be smart about protecting yourself and your privacy. What you publish will be around for a long time, so consider the content carefully and also be cautious about disclosing personal details.

Respect copyright laws

It is critical that you show proper respect for the laws governing copyright and fair use or fair dealing of copyrighted material owned by others, including APL own copyrights and brands. You should never quote more than short excerpts of someone else’s work, and always attribute such work to the original author/source. It is good general practice to link to others’ work rather than reproduce it.

Respect your audience, APL, and your coworkers

The public in general, and APL’s employees and customers, reflect a diverse set of customs, values and points of view. Don’t say anything contradictory or in conflict with the APL website. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, but do so respectfully. This includes not only the obvious (no ethnic slurs, offensive comments, defamatory comments, personal insults, obscenity, etc.) but also proper consideration of privacy and of topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory – such as politics and religion. Use your best judgment and be sure to make it clear that the views and opinions expressed are yours alone and do not represent the official views of APL.

Protect APL customers, business partners and suppliers

Customers, partners or suppliers should not be cited or obviously referenced without their approval. Never identify a customer, partner or supplier by name without permission and never discuss confidential details of a customer engagement. It is acceptable to discuss general details about kinds of projects and to use non-identifying pseudonyms for a customer (e.g., Customer 123) so long as the information provided does not violate any non-disclosure agreements that may be in place with the customer or make it easy for someone to identify the customer. Your blog is not the place to “conduct business” with a customer.

Controversial Issues

If you see misrepresentations made about APL in the media, you may point that out. Always do so with respect and with the facts. If you speak about others, make sure what you say is factual and that it does not disparage that party. Avoid arguments. Brawls may earn traffic, but nobody wins in the end. Don’t try to settle scores or goad competitors or others into inflammatory debates. Make sure what you are saying is factually correct.

Be the first to respond to your own mistakes

If you make an error, be up front about your mistake and correct it quickly. If you choose to modify an earlier post, make it clear that you have done so. If someone accuses you of posting something improper (such as their copyrighted material or a defamatory comment about them), deal with it quickly – better to remove it immediately to lessen the possibility of a legal action.

Think About Consequences

For example, consider what might happen if a APL employee is in a meeting with a customer or prospect, and someone on the customer’s side pulls out a print-out of your blog and says “This person at APL says that product sucks.”

Saying “Product X needs to have an easier learning curve for the first-time user” is fine; saying “Product X sucks” is risky, unsubtle and amateurish.

Once again, it’s all about judgment: using your blog to trash or embarrass APL, our customers, or your co-workers, is dangerous and ill-advised.

Disclaimers

Many social media users include a prominant disclaimer saying who they work for, but that they’re not speaking officially. This is good practice and is encouraged, but don’t count on it to avoid trouble – it may not have much legal effect.

Wherever practical, you must use a disclaimer saying that while you work for APL, anything you publish is your personal opinion, and not necessarily the opinions of APL.

Don’t forget your day job.

Make sure that blogging does not interfere with your job or commitments to customers.

Social Media Tips

The following tips are not mandatory, but will contribute to successful use of social media.

The best way to be interesting, stay out of trouble, and have fun is to write about what you know. There is a good chance of being embarrassed by a real expert, or of being boring if you write about topics you are not knowledgeable about.

Quality matters. Use a spell-checker. If you’re not design-oriented, ask someone who is whether your blog looks decent, and take their advice on how to improve it.

The speed of being able to publish your thoughts is both a great feature and a great downfall of social media. The time to edit or reflect must be self-imposed. If in doubt over a post, or if something does not feel right, either let it sit and look at it again before publishing it, or ask someone else to look at it first.

Enforcement

Policy violations will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination for cause.

Created at http://socialmedia.policytool.net This intrigues me. I have an assignment in LIS768 where my students write a sample guidelines statement for a library of their choosing. This online tool crafts the language quickly via a 12 question instrument. I’d be very interested to hear from others that have experimented with this tool for their libraries or institutions.

One More Slide Deck for Next Week: Social Media Talking Points

Michael — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:52:55 +0000

Social Media Talking Points

View more presentations from Michael Stephens.