INF506 – Criteria for Library Websites Task

Activity:

1. Develop your own set of criteria with regard to effective library website design.

The criteria that I have developed are designed for secondary schools as that is the area in which I currently work.

Library websites should have the following features:

1. A modern design – they should not look old and outdated as students will be less inclined to use the site.

2. Regular updates – The library webpage should be updated regularly so students who visit it are met with something new and interesting when they visit (e.g. photos, events, new book releases, podcasts etc.)

3. Different links/pages for parents, teachers and students (Matthews, 2009) as the interests and vernacular of each group is different.

4. Search boxes (Matthews, 2009) – Important for users to be able to find the information they need quickly, otherwise students may turn to sites like Google for more efficient searching.

5. Mobile Friendly (Matthews, 2009) – As many users now access the internet via their phones/iPads etc. the site must be accessible using these devices.

6. Help – the library should have many ways of providing assistance to its users.

7. Clear instructions – At the school that I work at many students struggle to access the library services (e.g. encyclopaedia links, OPAC, logging in at home etc.) Therefore, clear instructions need to be provided stating how to access all the library has to offer – perhaps even a podcast/YouTube video to aid students who struggle to comprehend written instructions.

8. Social networking – the library needs to have a presence on social media to engage with its users. As McBurnie states ‘more than 70% of 16-24 year olds visited social networking sites’ (2007).

9. Student creation – As Web 2.0 is focused on user creation, perhaps having some student input would be an interesting way to engage users.

10. A sense of humour – Most students I speak to find the library a serious place. Showing an age-appropriate sense of humour may be another way to change attitudes and put a human face on the library.

Part two –

Evaluate the effectiveness of the selected library website based on your set of criteria, and identify aspects of the website that could be improved using Web 2.0 technologies.

My chosen website:

http://www.mariancollege.nsw.edu.au/new/library/

The website has a design that is beginning to look outdated (old graphics and fonts etc.) It is hard to tell when the page was last updated but it does not seem to have any ‘what’s new’ links. It does have a link to the student portal, which is excellent, however, an improvement may be adding teacher and parent links too. It does not contain a search box, contact information or a help function which does make it difficult for students should they need assistance. It does have some presence on social media with links to a Del.icio.us account.

While the library website has some good features, it needs to adopt a more interactive approach, it needs to be made more user-friendly and it needs to have many more ways of seeking assistance. 

References:

Matthews, B. (2009). Web design matters: Ten essentials for any library site. Library Journal, (15 February).

McBurnie, J. (2007). Your online identity: Key to marketing and being found. FUMSI, (October.)

 

INF506 A to Z of Social Networking for Libraries

Activity: Select advice from 5 letters of this A to Z list and consider how these may be applied to this library to help it embrace a library 2.0 ethos.

The school in which I currently work has been reluctant to embrace social media. It is thought that social media is fraught with dangers such as bullying and the fear that teachers may be considered unprofessional should students see their personal Facebook profiles. Therefore, the letters I have chosen are as follows:

A – Active. I believe that as a starting point, the library needs to become much more active in social networks (with both students and teachers). The library needs to promote the services they offer in a medium which students feel comfortable using.

D – direction. As a school that has not yet embraced social media on the whole, I feel that it is important that the library and the school itself work out a plan for what they hope to accomplish when using social networking.

F – Facebook. As the reading states ‘having a presence on Facebook with a fan page or a group is a must. Facebook is so popular now that it is expected’ (The Social Networking for Libraries Blog, 2010). The library needs to realise this and embrace this as almost every student at the school is a frequent Facebook user. The library needs to be more personable and demonstrate to students that it has kept up with modern innovations, otherwise the library will seem outdated and therefore irrelevant to students.

P – Podcasting. As students occasionally have to wait for the assistance of a teacher librarian (and many students are not happy with waiting) it would be helpful to provide tips for students via podcasting on how to utilise library services. Most students I know struggle to use the OPAC system and do not know how to navigate some elements of the library webpage – a simple podcast may help solve many of these issues and make the library more user-friendly.

T – Text messaging. This could have many uses within the library but one use I would propose would be notifying students of the arrival of new books by certain authors, or notifying students when items they have put on hold arrive back in the library. I teach many enthusiastic readers but even they get disheartened when they have to find time to go to the library each day to see if a book has come in. A simple text message would make this much more convenient and would ensure that enthusiastic library patrons don’t become disgruntled with the library’s services.

References:

The Social Networking for Libraries Blog. (2010). A to Z of social networking for libraries. Retrieved from http://internetworkmarketingwealth.com/archive/a-to-z-of-social-networking-for-libraries/

INF506 Activity – RSS Feeds

The activity posed: Find two additional examples of RSS in action and develop a 350 word post to your OLJ on how RSS can enhance a library or information service’s ability to meet the information needs of its users.

When completing this activity – I have chosen to discuss the use of RSS feeds in the context of the library. The two additional feeds I have found are below:

http://www.themillions.com/rss-feeds-of-new-releases-for-books-movies-music-and-more

and

https://www.dailylit.com

The above RSS feeds have been chosen as the school that I currently work in is trying to begin a wide reading program for year 7 and 8 students. The first site listed provides RSS feeds based on book genres (for example; literary fiction, biographies, graphic novels etc.) I thought this was an excellent site as it enables students to select which feeds to subscribe to based on their interests, it also has a feed for Kindle readers as well, which is the way many students now read novels of their choice.

The second site was chosen as students are able to read books via email or RSS feed. I chose this site as many students at the school I currently work at say that they dislike reading books in a traditional format. By utilising this feed they are able to access books in ways that they are more comfortable with (many students even being able to access it through portable technology such as iPhones) thus hopefully encouraging students to begin to read more.

I think that RSS feed can enhance a library’s ability to meet the information needs of its users in many ways. A library is able to provide useful links to RSS feeds on their website (links can be suggested by subject teachers and may even form part of a homework or assignment task.) Added to this, a school library may even be able to create its own RSS feed for its users. I think that this is important in a high school setting as students are often reluctant to visit the library in person and are also often completing work outside of school hours, therefore an RSS feed may assist them in their studies in various ways.

INF506 Folksonomies

The question posed: What value does a user-generated folksonomy offer in comparison with a taxonomy designed by information professionals?

I have only recently become familiar with the term folksonomy and I find it an interesting one. I feel that tagging is something that could be useful in the library (I would actually love to start a wide reading blog involving a class of students – they could then tag their blog posts, and readers of the blog would be able to find books that interest them through using the tags.)

What value does a user-generated folksonomy offer? I agree with Rosenfeld’s point when he states ‘…controlled vocabularies often miss out on input from content authors and become rigid, stale, and distant from the vernacular of users’ (2005). I believe this is especially true when looking at the concept of folksonomies within a high school context as the vocabulary of students compared to that of staff can be very different. If educators want students to find the tags useful and to be involved in the creation process, I believe that user-generated folksonomy offers some real advantages.

References:

Rosenfeld, L. (2005). Folksonomies? How about Metadata Ecologies? Retrieved from http://www.louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/000330.html

INF506 Podcasts

After reading the article ‘Podcasting 101 for K-12 Librarians’ (Eash, 2006). I have been inspired to use podcasts more regularly with students. I like the simple explanations of what podcasting is within the article and I really liked the various ideas the article provided. At the school that I work at, we always struggle to find student work samples that integrate technology, but the article has given me a wonderful idea – a podcast that takes the user on a tour around the school (Eash, 2006). I know many students would love to work creating this, and, as the article points out, podcasts are portable so doing things like school/library tours are entirely possible.

References:

Eash, E. K. (2006). Podcasting 101 for K-12 librarians. Computers in Libraries, 26(4). Retrieved from http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr06/Eash.shtml

 

INF506 Social Networking and the Social Life of Information

The question for consideration for this week: try to summarise in your own words what you think Web 2.0 is.

I had some initial ideas about Web 2.0 was prior to reading – to me it basically meant that the internet had become easier to use, that average people (as in people without high levels of technical training) could now create their own websites and blogs etc.

While the above is certainly part of the concept of Web 2.0 completing the readings has given me a more comprehensive view of what it entails. My definition – Web 2.0 is a new or rather newly evolving way of being able to participate (share, collaborate, create, view etc.) online. No longer does the internet consist of static pages largely used for viewing, the rise of Web 2.0 technologies means that the internet is now an interactive space for connecting, discussing, creating and sharing new media etc.

When completing the readings I also found some other points very interesting about Web 2.0: The O-Reilly reading made the point that ‘Web 2.0 doesn’t have a hard boundary, but rather, a gravitational core’ (2005). I found this  to be interesting as I had not thought of it in this way prior to researching the topic. Viewing the Youtube video ‘What is Web 2.0’ also helped to better define Web 2.0 technologies for me when Barnatt states (when speaking about interpersonal computing) that it is about ‘using online technology to connect people to each other’ (2008). To me this is a clear and simple way of helping to define Web 2.0 – no longer are users the passive receivers of information downloaded from websites, rather users have become part of a staggeringly large global network and are able to not only receive information but actively share it as well.

References:

Barnatt, C. (2008). Explaining web 2.0. Explaining Computers.com. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BAXvFdMBWw&feature=related

O’Reilly, T. (2005). What is web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. O’Reilly Media. Retrieved from http://oreilly.com.

 

INF506 Assessment Item 1

A)   Define what social networking is for you in your own words

Social networking is a concept that is ever expanding as new ways of communicating and sharing are created. It refers to the online sharing and connecting of people or groups of people. Social networking is used for a variety of reasons, for example; sharing common interests, ideas, backgrounds, hobbies, personal connections etc. It is a way to connect and communicate informally with people either locally or globally.

B)   List what social networking technologies and sites you already use (for personal, work and study purposes)

I currently use Facebook, Pinterest, WordPress and Twitter.

C)   Describe what you expect to learn from INF506

I hope to learn about a broad range of available social networking technologies, particularly those related to, or ones that can be used for educational purposes. I would like to learn how to critically evaluate social networking tools to assess what can be appropriately used in the classroom.

As a future teacher librarian I would like to learn about the various issues that exist around social networking and how to manage such issues and implement policies in this area. I realise this is particularly challenging as the area of social networking is not a static one and new technologies and ways of connecting continually arise, making it an exciting field to explore, while at the same time making it a difficult field to navigate as an educator.

I would also like to use the knowledge gained in this course to be able to educate other teachers in my school about how best to embrace social networking technologies in the classroom as there are many teachers reluctant to embrace technological change. I feel that social networking technologies can no longer be ignored and must be embraced in classroom settings in order to better prepare students to become digital citizens with a responsible digital footprint and I would really like to learn how best to help schools proceed in this area.

INF506 OCLC Report

The question posed: How do the concepts and findings in these sections of the OCLC report reflect your view of the socially networked world in 2013? 

I found the report to be very interesting. It is very clear to me that social networking is the way of the future, what is unclear (from my perspective), is how best to integrate social networking and social media into educational curriculums. I currently work in a school where, due to bullying issues and inappropriate content, almost all social networking sites have been blocked. I feel that such sites can’t be ignored but I feel it is unclear about how to embrace the technology from an educational perspective. 

The report reflected my perspective in some ways, namely that social networking and social media site usage is on the rise and is being used by varying age groups of people. It also confirmed that using the internet for commercial use is also on the rise – banking, shopping etc. (De Rosa, Cantrell, Havens, Hawk & Jenkins, 2007, p.11). 

What I found pleasantly surprising was that the reading of books online was also on the rise in many countries, this research finding was the opposite of what I was expecting (De Rosa et al., 2007, p.12). As a future teacher librarian I find this very pleasing but I also realise the need to provide books in electronic format as this is how reading material is increasingly accessed. 

As a current teacher, I found the sharing of personal information to be of some concern. I work in a secondary school where we are constantly having to deal with the consequences of students sharing too much personal information online (everything from phone numbers to addresses to inappropriate comments and photos). While I feel that technology needs to embraced, we do need to teach students to be responsible digital citizens. This also raises the question as to whose job this is – parents or educators? 

The report also confirmed that the searching of library websites has declined (De Rosa et al., 2007, p.12). While I did not find this surprising I feel it is a challenge for teacher librarians to attempt to increase the usage of their sites. I am not sure yet as to how to best address this challenge. 

References:

De Rosa, C., Cantrell, J., Havens, A., Hawk, J. & Jenkins, L. (2007). Sharing privacy and trust in our networked world: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC [ebook]. Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/sharing.pdf