First, I feel that the assignments in this course challenged my preconceptions about Library 2.0 and my work on the group project and my final paper opened my eyes to a demographic of library users (teens/young adults) that I have overlooked in previous my coursework.  Second, I feel that the content of the class fits well with the format/scheduling of course.  I really enjoyed immersing myself in L2.0 technologies with my fellow classmates and then have a few weeks to explore and discover for myself. I am grateful to my classmates and to our professor for their visibility on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking technologies. Their presence online helped ease the potential for “disconnectedness” during the weeks when we did not meet.  Third, I enjoyed the variety of reading over the course of the semester.  I particularly enjoyed the context book assignment as it got away from reading the standard LIS textbook. I agree with many of my classmates in that Tribes (at least sections of) Born Digital should be required reading and worked into class discussion and blogging.  Also, I really enjoyed blogging this semester.  As someone who is relatively new to blogging I enjoyed writing my own posts as much as I enjoyed reading my classmates’ posts.  Lastly, I feel that this course has provided me with training for the profession of library science, rather than just looking at the profession as just another“ job.” In particular, I think this class looks at the many aspects that make libraries great (the people, connections, and the sharing of ideas) and some areas were there is still much work to be done.

Group Members:  Joanna, Sarah, Lesile, and Kristy

Our project began on the dry erase board in Parmer 003 as the “social catalog.” Based on our class brainstorming session, the “social catalog” group was inspired by those library catalogs (Darien Library, Hennepin) that allow users to write and post reviews items as well as apply “tags” or natural language descriptors of an item’s content.  What drew me to this topic was the idea making an essential library tool, the library catalog, more participatory and open to patron content and control. 

After our groups were decided, my group members and I weren’t really sure in which direction to take the project, due to limited resources and an actual catalog to play with, we narrowed our pursuits to a particular type of library (public library),  a particular audience (teens), and a particular medium for delivery (a blog).   After our first meeting in January we decided to look at other library’s review blogs and other sites/blogs/wikis that allowed for user comments, ratings, and tags.  Between meetings we posted our favorite blogs and sites to our individual del.i.cious accounts, the feeds for which appeared our individual blogs.  During the first day of our second weekend, we shared what we liked and disliked about the models we looked at independently. The next day, we decided on a particular blog (through blogger.com), set up a gmail account for the group (teentribe@gmail.com), and created a collaborative Google Document with our original brainstorming ideas and notes about what we would each contribute during the coming weeks.  During our second day, we added various widgets to the sidebar of our blog that we felt had particular “teen” appeal. Our assignment for the coming weeks was to make our prototype look as “complete” as possible. In order to do so, we each posted between 5-6 posts of items (books, CDs, magazines, etc) for a teen audience.  Each post would contain an image, review, tags, and a link to the SWAN Library catalog. After about 3 weeks, we opened the blog up to our friends and classmates, inviting them to “follow” our blog or even e-mail reviews to be posted. During the last two weeks, we have been e-mailing heavily and communicating about the final presentation on Sunday and what each of us wanted to share with our classmates.

I echo Sarah and Lesile’s sentiments insofar as this has been an incredibly positive group experience, probably the most positive experience I’ve had thus far in this program.  I think that the use of technology made this project possible, the ease of sharing ideas and having conversations through gmail and google documents kept everyone updated and informed on what fellow members were thinking about.  Come to think of it, we didn’t even exchange phone numbers!  I enjoyed this project immensely, not only because of the content of our blog, but because of how my fellow group members came together and worked 100% in an online environment.  

Post Updated 3/28/09 – My contribution to the Teen Tribe blog included posting 6 reviews and adding the Meebo Widget and Poll Widget. Truthfully, I think this group did an excellent job dividing  up the work in terms of creating the prototype and deciding what to share with our classmates for the presentation. 

During the past few weeks I have spent a lot time experimenting and engaging with a lot of Web 2.0 and monitoring their applications, particularly in my brand monitoring report. But, I also spent some time thinking about the idea of participatory service in libraries.

In their book, Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service, Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk describe the participatory web as seeking “to harness the power of its users in order to enhance content” (59).  Taking the idea of the participatory web and applying it to libraries, Casey and Savastinuk argue, “Users and their knowledge have the ability to reshape library services, but libraries must first change the way they craft their services and tools so that users have a clear avenue on which to communicate and participate.”  In my reading of Born Digital by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser use the phrase “participatory culture” or “a culture in which people are encouraged to share their innovations and creativity” which has overtones of Casey and Savastinuk’s definition of participatory service.  In addition to this definition Palfrey and Gasser provide five keys points about participatory culture made by Henry Jenkins, codirector of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program, his points are as follows:

1. There are relatively low barriers to artistic expressions and civic engagement
2. There is strong support for creating and sharing what you create with others
3. There is some kind of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experiences gets passed along to newbies and novices
4. Members feel that their contributions matter
5. Members feel some degree of social connection with each other, at least to the degree to which they care about what other people think about what they have created.

While these ideas are not written specifically for creating participatory services for teens in libraries, Jenkins’ second point is most applicable to creating participatory cultures this unique group of digital natives.

In order for a participatory culture to flourish in libraries, there has to been as desire to create and share content, in both real time and the virtual world.   In terms of teens as content creators on the web, a November 2005 the Pew Internet & American Life Project report entitled “Teen Content Creators and Consumers,” which suggests, “some 57% of online teens create content for the internet…these content creators report having done one or more of the following activities: create a blog, create or work on a personal webpage; create of work on a webpage…share original content such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos online; or remix content found online into a new creation” (1).  We see that the desire is there and libraries are picking up on this trend and encouraging teens to be content creators and controllers of that content in the virtual world as well as in the library.  A November 2007 issue of American Libraries magazine featured “What It Means to Be Born Digital” in their “Tech News” column and highlighted Hennepin Public Library (Minnesota) MySpace page for teens. According to the article, the page has “1,000 friends that include YA authors, it features an events blog, 24/7 reference, a libray materials search engine, a library materials search engine, links to homework resources, and even an advice page…(28). In the same article, librarians from Evanston Public Library (Illinois) took advice about implementing chat reference after the teen advisory board suggested that they’d prefer to instant message a librarian, rather than call the reference desk (28).  These are just two examples of how libraries are giving teens control over their content and making them participants in their library services and culture. 

As I was thinking about these ideas a quote from an article stuck out in my mind, which states, “the virtual community can often work in concert with face-to-face interaction such as discussions or programs the library might provide. Being able to offer both, especially to people of a generation comfortable with finding their friends and development their likes and dislikes through a virtual community, is a great library service” (Czarnecki, Kelly. “The Real and the Virtual Intersecting Communities at the Library.” Multimedia & Internet@Schools 15, no. 3 (2008): 11-3).

I am not sure how these ideas will fit into my paper, but as my group project deadline approaches I wanted to share some of the ideas I had while working on my project and that might be applicable for paper. I will be thinking more about this quote and others in the coming weeks.

Articles/Books mentioned in this post:

Casey, Michael E. and Laura C. Savastinuk. Library 2.0: Guide to Participatory Library Service. Medford: Information Today, 2007.

Czarnecki, Kelly. “The Real and the Virtual Intersecting Communities at the Library.” Multimedia & Internet@Schools 15, no. 3 (2008): 11-3).

Palfrey, John and Urs Gassler. Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books, 2008.

“What It Means to Be Born Digital.” American Libraries 38, no. 10(2007): 28.

Since February 1, 2009, I have been monitoring images and conversations surrounding the Central Seattle Public Library in Seattle, Washington.  I decided to monitor the Central Seattle Public Library because I have heard so much about in my classes and from library colleagues that I wanted to explore a bit for myself.

In order to monitor the Seattle Public Library I ran seven searches in Flickr, Technorati, and Twitter, which displayed in my RSS aggregator.  Here are the search terms I used for each search.

Flickr – “seattle public library”

Twitter – “seattle central library”

Twitter – “seattle library”

Twitter – “seattle public library”

Technorati – “seattle central library”

Technorati – “seattle library”

Technorati – “seattle public library”

For the past month and a half, I have been getting new shots of the Central Seattle Public Library building via Flickr. I have viewed pictures of everything from the escalators and windows to story times and the library’s collections. The photo above is one of the most recent uploads and captures not only the library collection, but also the building’s unique architecture. What amazed me most about the images was the number of pictures individuals uploaded, some posting multiple pictures of the library, including families posting pictures from a trip to Seattle.  In some of my “google-ing” about SPL I came across a review of the library from Frommer’s (travel guide) online! In addition to providing basic information (library hours and location), Frommer’s also says “It isn’t often that the library is considered one of the coolest joints in town, but Seattle’s downtown library is such an architectural wonder that it is one of the city’s highlights.” Even a google image search for “Central Seattle Public Library” returns 698,000 results.

Additionally, many folks are “tweeting” about the Seattle Public Library, everything from their experiences inside the library, library programs, special events, or simply “tweeting” to let the world know where they are.  The comments made on Twitter were frequent, sometimes multiple “tweets” in one day.  The majority of the comments were positive, focusing on the unique architecture, using words like “cool,” “stunning,” and “inspiring.”

Some of my favorite tweets include:

-  thinks the downtown seattle public library is the best thing that ever happened to the state of washington.

by lenahuxley (lena)

- Did you know? The Seattle Public Library system has the highest percentage of library card-holders per capita in the country!  by CrownePlazaSEA (Crowne Plaza Seattle)

- Is there anything Seattle Central Library doesn’t do well? Don’t tell me, I want my illusions. by kxyst (Kurt Xyst)

- Has anyone been to the Seattle central library? It’s amazingly cool. I feel like I’m in a giant terrarium but with books instead of lizards.  by ashleywebster (Ashley Webster)

There were a few tweets that involve how services/programs could be improved. If SPL is monitoring this type of activity, they may find some patron suggestions helpful.

-  wish the seattle public library would put out an iPhone app for placing holds on books.

by boomps (Christopher Brown)

 - the seattle library opens at 12 on Sundays. not that good for early birds like me… by Luna_in_Seattle (Luna_in_Seattle)

Similar to the frequent “tweeting,” many people are blogging about SPL. When reading the posts I tired to focus on bloggers who mentioned an experience, service, or observation and weeded out the ones that just mentioned the library in passing. What I read were posts about the architecture of the library, the library’s increased circulation, and an open house to meet the new City Librarian. In addition, SPL maintains 2 blogs Shelf Talk and Push to Talk for teens. These blogs feature questions of the month, library events, and book reviews.

I liked this exercise because for a few reasons. First, it demonstrated the power of an RSS aggregator. Once I added my searches to the feed, the work was essentially done, all I had to do was and wait for the comments to roll in.  Second, the reviewing the comments and photos is a good way for librarians/library staff to get honest feedback at anytime.  If library staff follow “tweets” or comments made about their library they can get honest feedback and respond faster. Lastly, this exercise demonstrated that libraries are on people’s minds and they are discussing them in virtual communities.

The image above is taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhwilbur/3369542218/. Click on the image to link to the creator’s other photos of SPL.

This week I want to share some of my ideas about Seth Godin’s Tribes and how I could use his writing to argue for teens as emerging library leaders. More specifically, ways in which libraries can identify the unique abilities of these digital natives and harness their skills and energy to create the next generation of library leaders and create opportunities for participatory service.  Looking at my notes from reading Tribes, a section I highlighted seemed to fit this situation. On page 25, Godin offers us solutions to “help increase the effectiveness of the tribe and its members.” They are as follows:

• “Transforming the shared interest into a passionate goal and desire for change”
• “Providing tools to allow members to tighten their communications”
• “Leverage the tribe to allow it to grow and gain new members”

 While Godin’s statements are broad generalizations, they can be applied to this unique group of library users.  First, in order to “transform the shared interest into a…desire for change,” librarians/library staff need to start with the teens that are already coming into the library. Some libraries (I have specific examples for my paper) are instituting Teen Advisory Boards as a way to hear from teens about programming ideas, collection development suggestions, etc.

Second, in order to “provide the tools for communication,” we need to hone in on the tools teens want to use, not what adult librarians/library staff use. I found an interesting finding in the Pew/Internet study on Teens and Social Media (December 2007), which states that “despite the power that e-mail holds among adults as a major mode of personal and professional communication, it is not a particularly important part of the communication arsenal of today’s teens. Only 14% of all teens report sending e-mails to their friends everyday, making it the least popular form of daily social communication on the list we queried”(this list included landline phone conversation, cell phone conversation, spending time in person, instant messaging, text messaging, sending messages via social networking, and email).  This statistic is important for us, because it identifies one area where digital immigrants may need to get out of their email comfort zone and open up other mediums of communication that are more recognizable to today’s digital natives.

Lastly, Godin suggests that “leveraging the tribe to allow it to grow and gain new members” is the final way to increase effectiveness of the tribe.  This third step is the last phase for molding teens into library leaders. Once you’ve established an open dialogue, an agreed upon mode of communication, and a series of activities and programs, libraries can get other members of the library tribe on board by fostering and creating connections across demographic lines.

 A final thought. In the January/February 2008 edition of Public Libraries entitled “Teens – Perpetual Problem or Golden Opportunity” in which Nanci Milone Hill gathers essays from public librarians with ideas for serving teens in their communities.  One of the contributors, Nikki Ehlers, Director, Humboldt Public Library, Humboldt, Iowa made a statement that really hit home with me and I think echoes Godin’s thoughts about maximizing the effectiveness of one’s tribe. Ehler’s writes, “We welcome teens and we let them know they are valued. We give them a place to gather, a place to feel comfortable. We listen to them. We solict their ideas.  In return, they enhance out library with their vitality and energy” (p. 27).

 Articles/Books mentioned in this post:

 Godin, Seth. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. New York: Penguin, 2008.

 Hill, Nanci Milone. “Teens – Perpetual Problem of Golden Opportunity?” Public Libraries 47, no. 1 (2008): 24-32. http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.

 ”Teens and Social Media: The use of social media gains a greater foothold in teen life as they embrace the conversational nature of interactive online media” (Pew/Internet December 19, 2007) http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf 

To complete this week’s module I created a profile and library with LibraryThing.  LibraryThing is “…an online service to help people catalog their books easily. You can access your catalog from anywhere—even on your mobile phone. Because everyone catalogs together, LibraryThing also connects people with the same books, comes up with suggestions for what to read next, and so forth.” (Taken from the LibraryThing About Page)  For this exercise, I cataloged 8 random titles from my personal book collection, giving them starred ratings and tagging them in ways unique to each item’s genre, content, and appeal.  

While I found this process to be helpful for cataloging and organizing my personal items and reading reviews, for me LibraryThing did not have the same social network “feel” as Facebook, Twitter, or Shelfari. Despite the great features, I didn’t quite feel like I was part of a “network,” like I did when I first started on Facebook. Granted, I do not have any “friends” on LibraryThing yet, but I feel like something like LibraryThing is more of a personal tool, rather than a social networking channel. When it comes to sharing my reading tastes and getting suggestions for further reading, I look for recommendations based on a variety of titles I’ve read, rather than  relying on the titles I currently own.  As an individual who barrows more books than I buy, LibraryThing seems limiting, in terms of social networking because once I’ve cataloged my collection, I wouldn’t revisit the site until I’ve made another purchase. With Shelfari, I find myself constantly adding titles of books I see or read reviews about, that I would like to read later, just as I am habitually updating my status on Facebook or Twitter.  Shelfari helps me catalog and check track of everything I want to read, not just what I have read. Although my network on Shelfari is not quite as developed as my Facebook or Twitter networks, I feel a stronger network connection, because I am sharing all my past, current, and soon-to-be reads.

Regardless of my preference for Shelfari, Smith’s Building Blocks of Social Sites can be applied to social book/reading sites like Shelfari and LibraryThing.

Identity—a way of uniquely identifying people in the system 

·      Individuals can create profiles that highlight reading interests, favorite authors, and titles.

Presence—a way of knowing who is online, available, or otherwise nearby 

·      Although friends cannot “chat” or “tweet” like you can when using Facebook or Twitter, individuals can seek out friends or develop new relationships based on shared interest.

Relationships—a way of describing how two users in the system are related  

·      Users can see who their friends are, search for friends, or invite others to join the group. In Shelfari, users can search for readers who are reading the same books as a way to make connections. In LibraryThing, users can connect based on similar personal collections.

Conversations—a way of talking to other people through the system 

·      Users can communicate through books reviews or posting questions to readers about a particular book.

Groups—a way of forming communities of interest 

·      Users can join groups based on a particular book, series, or author.

Reputation—a way of knowing the status of other people in the system (Who’s a good citizen? Who can be trusted?) 

·      Users can see how many books fellow users have read, reviewed, or own. 

        Sharing—a way of sharing things that are meaningful to participants 

o     Users can share reviews, ideas, or make further reading suggestions

 Find Me Online!

LibraryThing Profile

LibraryThing Library

Shelfari Profile

Another good one, Librarian shows patron all the different ways she can access the same information, in this video a copy of The Wizard of Oz…

I think it’s very cool how libraries are using YouTube to share information about their collections, programming, and “how to” videos.

I wish I could find a picture of me looking a bit less angry, but I was enjoying myself when the picture was taken.  I like using sites like FDs Flickr Toys and ImageChef to customize images and create custom signs.  I think that exploring these technologies is a lot of fun and people of all ages get a kick of seeing their picture or images customized.  I think using these technologies all comes back to what we’ve been discussing all morning, all the user to create and control the content to maximize their experience.  Using an exercise like creating trading cards would be great for students (of all ages) to create trading cards as a way to get to know fellow classmates. In a library setting, staff members could create and distribute trading cards to users after a program or reference dialog, as a way to share contact information. Users could create trading cards to enable librarians to get to know them better.  Just a few ideas…back to playing with the Flickr toys…