The Home Stretch!

We're coming into the home stretch for Blue 2.0!

The Grand Prize drawing will take place during the big Staff Appreciation on April 16, 2008, 2pm-4pm, WTYL Auditorium.

We have many participants who are right on schedule - great job! For those of you who are maybe a module or two (or three or more....) behind, YOU CAN DO IT!

Confidentially - don't tell anyone - we are easy graders! And remember that if you need help, post a comment to the given module or to the Need Help post.

So let's get out there and do some Blue stuff!

Weeks 11 & 12: Social Networking

Introduction

Objectives: Explore the wonderful world of social networking. Get in deep with two of the most popular services (MySpace and Facebook) and touch on some of the others that are out there. Get a feel for the similarities and differences, and blog about what you think!

MySpace and Facebook are particularly popular with “Net Generation” users. An estimated 85% of students in high school and college have at least one profile in at least one of these sites. The central feature of this particular kind of social networking site is the ability to identify a group of friends whose profiles become linked to yours. Your group of friends becomes a network with unique communication privileges. Your friends can post comments that will appear on your site. You are able to broadcast announcements that go to your entire group of friends or your network in one stroke. The personal connection encouraged by these sites is both the strength and potential vulnerability of this type of social networking.

Social networking sites give libraries just another option to reach our clientele in new ways. As we utilize these new tools, it makes us realize that it is truly an exciting time to be in this profession!

Applications

We will all look at the first two. The remainder on the list are options for your own exploration. Choose one or sample several!

• MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/). “MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends.”



• Facebook (http://www.facebook.com//). “Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.”
  


• Ning (http://www.ning.com/). “Ning is the only online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds.”
  


• LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/)
  
  
• Orkut (http://www.orkut.com) "Social networking and discussion site operated by Google" Try it! You may be the first on the block, or at least the first in the UK Libraries.
  
  
• Classmates.com (http://www.classmates.com/)
  


• Friendster (http://www.friendster.com/)
  


• Find one on your own! See this wikipedia list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites. (Sort by number of users to find most popular services)
  

Activities

Activity 1: MySpace

MySpace is the most trafficked internet site in the US. A MySpace profile can be created by anyone with an email address. The ability to customize the “look” of your profile makes it popular with high school students and anyone looking to advertise to a young audience. Independent musicians create profiles to advertise their music directly to listeners. Movies geared toward teen audiences are also being promoted directly on MySpace. Libraries – particularly public libraries – have also begun to create MySpace profiles as another way to reach this set of their user population.

For this activity, you'll create your own MySpace account. Blog about your experience and include a link to your profile in your blog entry to get credit!

Suggested activities: Fill out the forms to include information about yourself in your profile (how "personal" you get is up to you!). Use the built-in editor or find layout sites (google “myspace layouts” to find some sites) to do some customization. Upload images, especially one to use as your profile default. Find friends, such as the UK Libraries, on MySpace and comment on their profile. Security: Read about the options for restricting access to your profile, reducing comment spam, etc. Choose whether to restrict access to your profile. (If you restrict, please friend at least one of the Blue 2.0 organizers so we can check your profile and give you credit so you’re in the prize drawing! ) Update your status, add some calendar events, try out the blog, add a video or music to your profile, join a group (there is a group for Libraries on MySpace, but you can join any group.)

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour+

Activity 2: Facebook

Facebook is particularly popular with college students. On a sprawling and unfamiliar campus, Facebook can serve as a lifeline to staying connected with old friends and can aid in meeting new people. Facebook users can easily connect with individuals from one’s high school, hometown, etc. Links within Facebook profiles make it simple to find others who share the same interests (favorite bands, movies, hobbies, etc.), live in the same dorm, participate in the same school activities, etc. Students can create groups based upon interests which can further help in connecting with others.

For this activity, you'll create your own Facebook account. Blog about your experience and include a link to your profile in your blog entry to get credit!

Suggested activities: If you use a UK email address, you will be added to the UK community (recommended). Fill in the text boxes to include information about yourself. Upload photos. Search for UK Libraries pages and profiles belonging to your library colleagues. Join the “Blue 2.0 at UK Libraries” group. Seek out other groups and join at least one, e.g. the UK Library group, other library organizations, interest groups, etc. Poke someone. :-) Add a Facebook app. (Be a ninja, add a library utility, link to your flickr account, chuck a book at someone.) Some utilities are just for fun, others enhance the functionality of Facebook in cool (or even library-relevant) ways. Play with several. You can always un-install a utility. Update your status.

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour+

Activity 3: Choose another social network site

Establish an account in at least one other social networking site. Play with your settings, explore any options that are similar to or different from MySpace or Facebook. Does the site offer anything not available in the other two? Anything missing now that you have experience with the Big Two? Blog it!

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour+

Examples and information (Note that you have to have established your own Facebook account to see other Facebook sites)

• UK Libraries on MySpace


• Blue 2.0 Facebook Group


• UK Libraries Facebook (find profiles from your colleagues there, too!)
  


• Hub Facebook


• UK Law Library Facebook


• Second Life Librarians, Ning Network

• Mitrano, Tracy. “Thoughts on Facebook.” Cornell University Office of Information Technologies Policy Office. April 2006, http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/memos/facebook.html.

• Abram, Stephen. “What Can MySpace Teach Us in Special Libraries.” Information Outlook. v. 10 no. 5 (May 2006): 34-5.
  

• The Technological Tortoise. http://technologicaltortoise.wordpress.com/
  

• Bedford, Anna and Dr. Jennifer Golbeck. “Facebook as a Pedalogical Tool?” Teaching & Learning News. 17.3 (2008) <http://www.cte.umd.edu/teaching/newsletter/2007-08/Feb_March_HTML/Facebook.htm> March 1, 2008.
  

• Mathews, Brian S. “Do You Facebook?” C&RL News. May 2006: 306-307

• Lipka, Sara. “For Professors, ‘Friending’ Can Be Fraught.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 7, 2007.

Help:

As always, Blue 2.0 is about helping each other! If you need help, IM a co-participant or post a question to the blog (as a comment on this post on the Need Help post). Contact any workgroup member if you’re really stuck. Beth is the primary contact for this topic, but we all have experience in social networking.

And the winner is....

We had our second prize drawing for Blue 2.0 (as if the fun and learning isn't prize enough!) on Tuesday. Prize 2.0 for Blue 2.0 was an iPod Shuffle. Our lucky winner was Ben Hall!

Thanks to Ben's colleague Crystal for her excellent photo editing skills! I hear that the current Blue module Photos, video and podcasting will also be put to good use in relation to Ben's good fortune. Be sure to watch Crystal's blog for more!

[Remember, even if you were not on schedule this week, you can catch up! Blue 2.0 ends (sniff!) the first week in April. Our grand prize drawing - for an iPod classic! - will be held April 16 (note the new date!) during Staff Appreciation. Plenty of time to make up lost modules.]

Congratulations, Ben! Happy iPoding!

Podcasting

Good Day 2.0ers
For those of you opting to do a podcast, here are a couple of places that offer free limited hosting.

http://www.podbean.com/

http://www.movedigital.com/

Party 2.0!

Don't forget! Our second party/support session/prize drawing/get-together is Tuesday, March 18, 10:00 am in the Gallery. The prize up for grabs this time around is an iPod Shuffle! You don't have to be present to win, but if you're not we might have some fun at your expense. You have to be current through Play Week to be included in the drawing. We'll check blogs at 5:00 pm Monday to get our list of names. Hope to see everyone there!

Blue 2.0 Happy Hour

We gathered at Pazzo's for another Happy Hour. The conversation and fellowship was enjoyed by all. Evidence

Photo and Podcasting

Weeks Nine and Ten Photos, Images, Podcasting, Video

Introduction

Congratulations!!! You have made to the end of Blue 2.0. (almost – there’s one module after this one!) This week you will create photos podcast, and videos. In addition you will learn how to share them with family friends, and most importantly patrons. Web 2.0 is an excellent way to spread or share more than words

Activities

Activity 1: Create Photos

Beg, barrow, or steal a digital camera. Film works but the front-end work is easier with digital. If you need a camera, the Library System has purchased one. Please go to the WTYL Circulation Desk

1. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site. Create an account. ( or use your Picasa Account if you already have one)
2. Upload some picture.
3. Have some Flickr fun and discover some other tools
1. Great Flickr Tools
2. Flickr Services
3. Mappr
4. Create a blog post about your experiences and point to your photos. Share them with your friends and colleagues. Describe what you like and don’t like about the process. Also describe any uses for the library system.

Resources:

Flickr Learn More Tour

Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials

Flickr Interesting-Last 7 Days

Now not every picture or image you take will be perfect. In fact some of them may need a bit of help. Try this software packages

For an inexpensive photo editor, try Picasa

Here is another package that offers the functionality of Photoshop and is free: Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program).

Also see some of the online image editors suggested during Play Week!

For help on how to take better photos and or editing them, refer to following sites.

Take Great Pictures

Better Digital Photography

Activity 2: Podcasting

Podcasting is an alternative to blogging. Instead of writing, you are recording and spreading the word. Podcasting works really well with complex ideas or music. It allows the patron to download the material on their mp3 player or listen to it on their computer at leisure.

In addition to a computer, you will need a microphone, a quiet place and some recording software. Audacity is nice free package, available for Windows; Apple or UNIX based machines that installs easily. This may be a time to take some fun work home.

However to complete this activity, you do need to create a Podcast.

1) Read How to Podcast or Podcasting News or How to Create Your Own Podcast.

2) Listen to few podcast to get a feel for the medium. You can locate some at Podcast Directory at NPR or at Podfeed. One of the more popular is Coverville, a podcast only about cover songs.

3) Plan your podcast and record it. The podcast does not need to be long. Your first try should be about 2 to 5 minutes. Some ideas for content include some explaining aspect of your job, a narration of an event, or even the current state of UK Basketball

4) Write a blog entry linking to your podcast or better yet record your entry as a podcast describing your experiences. If you are not happy with the results of your podcast or feel a little insecure about the broadcast quality of your voice, post a review of a podcast you like or dislike. Here is a handy link to remind you about to write a review

Activity 3:

The next natural extension of this media manipulation is video. We have moved from words to audio to a combination of both.

By now we are all familiar with YouTube and the infamous UK repelling video. YouTube is more than folks goofing on each other. It can be an effective means to spread your message. In fact the three remaining major party presidential candidates are YouTube. Here take a look: Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and John McCain. Politicians are not the only one using video. Many Libraries are using YouTube to push information to students about research or to make public relations spots.

So here is your assignment:

1) Conduct a search for “Libraries” in YouTube.

2) Pick your favorite video, write a review of it and post the results to you blog.

Optional Activity

1) Beg, borrow, or otherwise liberate a digital camcorder. If you don’t have one, no worries. The Libraries bought one for Blue 2.0. You can check out the video camera at the WTYL Circulation Desk. Note that the still camera can also capture short video clips.

2) Get a YouTube Account.

3) Create your masterpiece of video magic and upload it to YouTube

4) Post to you blog announcing to the world that you are the next George Lucas.

5) Post a follow-up blog post describing your experience with recommendations of what worked and what didn’t.

Creating a masterwork is sometimes easier said than done. The University has been a help. Editing your videos is as simple as you nearest Mac Lab. All Macs on campus are equipped with Apple’s IMovie. IMovie is fantastic and is easy to master. It can upload any format include the Libraries’ camera. Just plug the camera with the supplied USB cable and download the video directly to the computer. But to use the Mac, you need an account. Accounts are available via a Macintosh Consultant or via the myUK system

For help try these:

Webzone

YouTube Help

Happy Hour 2.0

If we keep practicing this Happy Hour thing, I'm sure we can get it right. So...

What: Happy hour 2.0 for Blue 2.0!

When: Monday, Mar 10, 5:00-7:00

Where: Pazzo's

Spread the word to your Blue 2 friends in case they are not reading the blog faithfully every day!