Table of Contents
General Overview
Many companies are promoting the benefits of collaborating online as well as the portability and marketing opportunities of widgets, XML-based applications that allow for portability between applications such as iGoogle, Facebook, personal websites, and more! (We'll talk more about widgets in the afternoon.) For now... do you think social networking tools exhibit the wisdom of the crowds or anarchy of the masses? General benefits we are seeing with the use of social networking tools include the following:
- Aggregate, organize, share information and ideas
- Collaborate on projects in an easy-to-use online environment
- Build knowledge bank of ideas and/or resources
- Keep current with friends, family and colleagues
- Reduce email glut/management
- Cross-platform portability (more specifically with the social networks)
Let's take a look at some general perspectives before we begin to play:
Let's Play
We've selected four social networks to explore together.
Wiki application: Confluence wiki.sla.org
Learning More
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Playing in the Sand!
- Set up an account on SLA's wiki and review sites your colleagues have developed:
- See if your chapter or division has a wiki and start collaborating
- Add your photo to our meet your fellow colleague page
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Facebook is a social networking site that allows you to build a "friends" network, share stories, join groups, add applications, and more! Reasons for joining Facebook can be varied depending on your age and interests. Karen joined initially to keep an eye on her two mid- to late-teen nieces. Less than a year later, she has evolved to have nearly 80 friends, 22 applications, been hugged, poked, and given many green plants.
LinkedIn applies the six degrees of separation model. You connect to people you know and the application automatically calculates who you know in common OR the "separation factor" from people you may know in common. Many people are marketing themselves through LinkedIn. Recruiters are looking at these sites for possible candidates.
Learning More
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Playing in the Sand!
- Try out LinkedIn
- Update your profile
- Invite colleagues and friends to join your network
- Request recommendations from friends
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Reflections
- What were your key takeaways from this module?
- What are ways you could actively participate in one or more of these social networking applications?
- Consider how your library could use social networking tools for outreach, reference, products, and/or services.
- What potential do you see for these applications within your organization?
- What concerns do you have if these applications were used within your organization?
