Saturday, January 10, 2009

Thing # 7 Wikis

Wikis;
Wiki's I had heard of before, and had a vague knowledge of use.
I thought that the way of sharing information was valid although am still ocnfused on how the accuracy is maintained when any can make changes. Could make it very interesting/confusing to use.

Wiki: Used as sharing of information:
1) ALA What I have learned & how I am doing with it
2) Library sites...such as Schaumburg's Learning Wiki
3) Project management...connecting everyone together to a common goal(could save time)

Schaumburg's Learning Wiki:
1) I did not like the wiki format at Schaumburg. Although it may work for them.
2) I perfer the way we have set up Roselle's playtime, doing is learning.

Wiki Format for Roselle:
1)For Staff...Use as a place to log in information about meetings attended to let other staff gain knowlege of what you learned.
2) For Department Heads...notes from the Head meetings instead of e-mail posts

"Follow the Yellow Brick Road..."

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Thing # 6 IM

1)My Experience
IM is a tool that I thought may be only for people who like to be constantly intrupted. Perhaps that is a misconception on my part. I believe that everyone today likes to stay connected and to be able to converse with a live person. Sometimes it is not so much the question as the conversation and the knowledge that someone cares? I had fun with the Meebo...and think that to talk to family would be fun in this manner.

2)Communication
This type of communication is fast, few words, back and forth, easy to use and basically a time saver. Compare to e-mail that I find tedious and unending, this is just fun. Would I use it? Possibly but not alot but never say never.

3)IM Reference
Pros...Get in touch with patrons in a new way. Learn especially what the youth of today know and how to reach them. (lingo such as LOL) Gives youth of today a way of communicating other than asking questions in person.(no fear of rejection or judgement)
Cons...Could be time consuming, who is going to reply or be online to field the questions. Will you be able to know your patron without this face to face communication. Would it be feasible to have one librarian to IM everyone or would every single librarian learn to IM?

I could totally see that if Grandparents were taught how to use this they might love to be cyber savy and IM their questions to the library.

"THERES NO PLACE LIKE HOME!"