INF506 - Module 5 - Social networking and information policy

OLJ activity - The challenge of finding authentic information in a socially networked world

The most urgent and important issue being raised at my school at the moment is the need for students to be able to evaluate the quality of information. So willingly the accept whatever is written on Wikipedia or other sources that aren’t necessarily presenting authentic information Lorenzo (2007) agrees that the level of misinformation on the internet is causing educators problems when students are reporting it as fact. Part of the problem, stated by Garfinkel (2008), is that whenever something is searched for on the internet, the Wikipedia entry on the topic is always one of the first search results that appears. As a result, students believe that this means it is the best source.

Lorenzo raises the interesting point that we make the assumption too often that since students seem technologically savvy in their everyday interactions and navigations online, that they are equivalently savvy when in comes to determining the validity of the information. While the skills of the students seems to be far outstripping their teachers, the skills that are needed in order to process all this information is not moving at the rate.

The possible answer to this problem is suggested by Wittenburg (2007), that the role of teacher librarian, as well as teacher needs to be redefined. This means responding to the needs of young students, rather than lecturing them for using Google as a source of information (Wittenburg 2007).

 

The modern day librarian now needs to be as technologically savvy as the students that he/she teaches. Rather than spouting the knowledge found solely in books in the library, the librarians role has to focus more on the search process through digital media.

Through my own work in the library the last 2 years it has become apparent that students become stuck on the first step of the information search process and do not properly define the purpose for their search. Due to this they are often flooded with information that is irrelevant or misleading for what they are actually looking for. The new role of a teacher librarian needs to be to step students through the ISP for digital resources.

 Reference List

Garfinkel, S. (2008). Wikipedia and the meaning of truth. Technology Review, 111(6), 84-86. Retrieved from www.technologyreview.com

Lorenzo, G. (2007). Catalysts for change: Information fluency, Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and the new education culture. (March). Retrieved from http://www.edpath.com/images/IFReport2.pdf

Wittenberg, K. (2007). Credibility of content and the future of research, learning, and publishing in the digital environment. The Journal of Electornic Publishing, 10(1). Available http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;cc=jep;rgn=main;view=text;idno=3336451.0010.101 

 

INF506 - Module 4 - Making web 2.0 work

This module has made me rethink what I thought this subject would provide. While I thought I would be exposed to a range of social networking tools to teach the students for them to use in the learning. However, it has provided the additional bonus of learning how to develop a strategy for using social media as a way to improve library services and promotion.

 

OLJ – Social networking to meet organisational needs

Bernoff (2010) recognised in his research that the majority of people fill the role on mere observer online rather than conversationalist which I would’ve assumed. Perhaps this study is already showing its age and if updated today would show a larger proportion of people engaging in online conversation through Facebook and Twitter. However, once reviewing an updated version of these statistics it shows very little change in the categories of conversationalist and observer. So while there may be more people using social networking technology, the roles that they are taking have not changed.  It cannot be ignored that apparently so many users act as only observers online and do not often contribute to the conversation. This means that when planning a social media strategy for the library, it needs to be taken into account that more people may observe action on a social network than participate and contribute.

These are important findings to take into consideration when planning a social media strategy for my own library. While there is a socially active parent community at our school, it is likely that their online social networking role adoption would reflect in some way the results of Bernoff. Therefore, while it would be beneficial that there is some level of conversation that is part of our social network presence, it is also necessary that sufficient information is provided or accessible for those that are simply going to access our service as observers.

This has larger implications for our school as a whole. As we are having communication issues due to parents not reading out fortnightly newsletter, it may serve us well to consider a web 2.0 solution, enabling our parent community to access our school news and event information in smaller parts but at more regular intervals.

Reference List 

Bernoff, J. (2010). Social Technographics: Conversationalists get onto the ladder [January 19]. Retrieved from: http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html

 

Bernoff, J. (2012). The Global Social Takeover [January 4]. Retrieved from: http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2012/01/the-global-social-takeover.html

 Brown, AL. (2009). Developing an Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy [July 30]. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com

INF506 - Module 3 - Library 2.0 OLJ activity

OLJ - A-Z of social networked library

The following five points are considerations of how social networking needs to be embraced by our school library. These have been taken from Anna Laura Brown's A-Z of social networking for libraries, http://socialnetworkinglibrarian.com/2010/01/22/a-to-z-of-social-networking-for-libraries/

 A – Active

Inactivity could be seen as a sign of disinterest. By being active on the social networking elements of the library site, it shows that information is current and not stale. If you are not active and constantly updating your social media status then users will believe that you are not serious about your social network presence.

B – Blog

Maintaining a blog is a great and easy way to keep users up to date with information on the library. A blog would be the main element in my library’s social networking strategy as they are a great way to connect with students and encourage them to participate and contribute to discussions and ideas.

G – Good reads

The way that I get users through the doors of my primary school library is by providing high quality children’s literature that they want to read and explore. I share new acquisitions and encourage students to explore beyond their safety zone and implore them to recommend their favourite to others. Our OPAC users the review function so that users can write reviews and recommend books to each other. Using a blog or other web 2.0 feature would be a great way to inform students of new and exciting books/magazines/graphics that are available and would continue to foster the strength of our collection.

M – Mobile

The majority of our upper primary (year 5 & 6) students have access to a mobile device that accesses the internet (often at school). With the capability of phone and ipods to access the internet now a large amount of a students web access is happening on a mobile device. Therefore it is vital that our social network is accessible from such a device. It is also a goal to have out OPAC accessible from a mobile device.

R – Reference

With the increasing reliance on the internet as a source of information, it has raised the issue of effective referencing and education about copyright and plagiarism. Therefore, up to date and easy to follow information about referencing is necessary to be accessible for students.