LIBRARY LOUNGE

I prepare these each week for our staff and I thought I would share them here as I miss posting to my Blog but have been too busy!

Even my husband who is not an Internetweb2.0aholic like me thought this was hilarious!

“James Karl Buck helped free himself from an Egyptian jail with a one-word blog post from his cell phone. James Karl Buck sent a message using Twitter which helped get him out of an Egyptian jail. …a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested April 10. On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the micro-blogging site Twitter. The message only had one word. “Arrested.” Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt — the same ones who had taught him the tool only a week earlier — were alerted that he was being held. Twitter is a social-networking blog site that allows users to send status updates, or “tweets,” from cell phones, instant messaging services and Facebook in less than 140 characters.”

Mallory Simon, CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/index.html

WOW!

On Friday I was able to attend an Internet Safety Conference sponsored by the Boulder Valley School District and the Internet Safety Foundation. There were a lot of educators and law enforcement officials including representatives from the FBI and there were also a few public and school librarians.

Although there were plenty of participants who seemed to believe that filtering and censorship was the way to go, that was not the main focus of the conference - education and training was. The Daily Camera said, “The main message of the conference: The Internet, from educational sites for research to social networking sites such as MySpace.com, is an integral part of teen life. Instead of trying to block it or ignore it, parents and educators need strategies to keep children safe — and teach children how to keep themselves safe.”

I think this is an important role for - and a challenge - for librarians. We can and should step up to the plate here. I know that many libraries do offer training in this area.

A great starting point looks like the programs put together by a group called iCrew. iCrew was started by Monarch High School graduates Lynn Ersek and Kelsey Kreager. They created Internet safety lessons that they use to talk to Boulder Valley elementary, middle and high school students. As part of iCrew, they’re also making Internet safety podcasts for teens. Who better to talk to teens than other teens.

You can find the podcasts here. I am hoping to invite them to come to our libraries and do some programming for both staff and our community.

A new study from Grunwald Associates LLC conducted in cooperation with the National School Boards Association begins, “Online social networking is now so deeply embedded in the lifestyles of tweens and teens that it rivals television for their attention…”

Personally, I think this is really good news. Especially because the study also found that, “many students engage in highly creative activities on social networking sites…” and I can guarantee you they are doing nothing creative when they are watching TV.

The students (almost 60% of them) also reported that they talk about educational topics online and more than 50% of them talk specifically about schoolwork. They are also creating content online, not just sharing it! They are making music, videos, photographs, artwork and blogging their creative writing.

So what does this mean for our library? I am happy to say that as of today we no longer block social networking sites such as facebook and myspace. But the most important thing that we can do as libraries is to teach (or at least offer the opportunity to be taught), how to navigate and negotiate these sites safely. We can also introduce them to sites that may be more to their liking or needs and give them the tools to become active participants. We can teach classes in podcasting and Internet editing of photos, etc.

If you would like to read the full report the link is here.

Mindy

“The heart of Library 2.0 is user-centered change. It is a model for library service that encourages constant and purposeful change, inviting user participation in the creation of both the physical and the virtual services they want, supported by consistently evaluating services. ”

http://tametheweb.com/2006/09/finding_the_future_library_20.html
Patti Butcher, State Library Director

For those of you who are participating in the Social Networking Contest you are either familiar with (or will be) LibraryThing. This is an excellent article that describes many of the advantages and uses for LibraryThing. It has certainly inspired me to log back into my account and start adding some more books and socializing with others who enjoy reading what I do.

Click here for the New York Times Article on LibraryThing.

Mindy

We now have four employees who have completed the Social Networking Contest:
Ann Honchell
Emily Hisel
Penny Shiel
Kim Kucera

These employees all are winners because they have taken the time and effort to improve themselves. They are also winners because each one will receive an MP3 player!

Mindy