Anna-Marie Potter

ILS 599

Final Project

June 26, 2008

Professor Okobi

R. Hadreen

Technical high school library media center

Student Population: 650

Faculty: 75

Staff: 30

Holdings-

Approximately 10,000 books

Serials-60

Databases-2

Circulation-675 (2007-2008 school year)

The library media center is underutilized as an information center.

Web 2.0 technologies will foster communication, collaboration and resource sharing. Using wikis, Ning and e-mail notification provide the means for instructors and faculty to work collaboratively, share information and feedback.

Wiki may be thought of as a collaborative web page. Information may be posted or modified by users who have been invited to join the wiki. It is a collaborative effort usually based on one subject such as a class wiki or education resource sharing

Ning-Social Networking site allows members to share information and media through which the staff and faculty will post questions, comments and feedback concerning information on wiki or any issues related to the educational process. A social network is groups based on a common interest. Social networks may be based on hobbies for example. A compnent of social networking is blogs. A blog is the thoughts, experiences or ideas of an individual written in diary form usually. Comments by readers of the blog are often asked for.

E-mail alerts will be sent to faculty and staff when new information has been added to Ning or the wiki.

Combining these technologies provides a single space containing the information as well as automatic notification of new postings sent to desktop.

Wiki Objectives-

Provide information of libraries holdings, policies and procedures.

Increase usage of LMC through information sharing in library wiki.

Provide place for instructors to share resources related to school curriculum.

Each department will have access to curriculum of all departments that will allow collaboration.

Benefits-

Promotes collaboration among faculty and staff

List of useful resources related to curriculum

Central location for information sharing

Uses-

List of print and electronic resources available in library media center

Library tutorials such as explanations of Dewey Decimal Classification System

Borrowing procedures

Post library hours

Make suggestions for materials to add to collection

Notification of arrival of new materials

OPAC tutorials

Ning, will be used for feedback, comments and questions about information and resources on the wiki

Using Ning eliminates the need to navigate away form the wiki, go into e-mail to ask questions or post feedback. Answers will be posted in Ning. Notification of new postings will be sent via e-mail. The wiki and blog require passwords to access and are not available to the public.

Cost;

Training- Time required-2 hours maximum

Minimum time requirement to invite and add users

Ad free wiki @pbwiki.com-$0.

Social Networking-Ning $0

Benefits;

Notification sent to wiki member’s e-mail in box of new postings, save time

Eventually each subject will have an individual wiki page encourages collaboration among departments as well as across the curriculum

Foster relevant, current and rapid resource and information sharing

The wiki would provide a place for the librarian to do this as well as an access point for the staff and faculty. Open to all faculty and staff members. The cost for the Web 2.0 technologies is $0. The training time is approximately two hours and may be accomplished during a professional development workshop dedicated to this. The librarian will need to add people to the wiki and blog as they accept invitations to join. This is simple procedure and would take a couple of minutes at the most.  The librarian is the administrator of the accounts and as such is responsible for monitoring and approving content as well as maintenance and issues with the operations of the wiki and blog. Wiki with Ning provides single location to access and respond to postings. Notification to desktop saves faculty and staff from searching e-mail. Wiki, Ning and e-mail notification provide opportunities for faculty and staff to collaborate, share information and resources. Access to Ning through wiki eliminates need to navigate to different sites to locate As it is the librarian’s duty to collect, organize and provide access to and respond to listings. . Using these technologies will provide useful education resources, reduce time to access information and ultimately enhance the education experience of the students.

For a preview of the proposed technologies please visit:

http://hcheneylmc.pbwiki.com/

Anticipated completion date; August 1, 2008

I thought the meeting was a good idea and went well. I think knowledge of Web 2.0 is essential for librarians today. The biggest plus aside form the usefulness, given today’s economy is the low or no cost of the technology. Many are really interesting and cool too! The two hours we were there flew by. Two or three meetings on campus for the online course would be useful. I had the feeling we could have continued talking for two more hours at least. It was great to meet some new people and see some familiar faces. I would like to see another class on this subject offered. I learned a lot and learned there is a lot more to learn. This class provided a great foundation and I will continue to learn all I am able to about Web 2.0

Well I finally got it all figured out with some help and was able to IM a library. It was the University of San Francisco library. I logged on and sent the first message at 6:37. There was no immediate response and turned my attention to other matters. In the meantime the librarian responded and thought no one was there! So she ended the communication. I was not giving up that easily so I sent another message and told her who I was and asked her if she had a minute to answer some questions. She did. Then there was several moments of no communication, when she came back she told me she was helping a student. I asked her what the library’s IM was used for and how much. She told me I was the sixth person to IM the library. he also told me the IM waas used strcitly for outside questions. The staff did not use it for intercommunications. I thanked her and we ended the session. The next time I have reference questions I will use IM.

I attempt to follow a simple rule if in doubt don’t use it.   I agree with Rebecca that we should set examples in our libraries.  To do this I should be familiar with the law.  I know the law may be a bit fuzzy at times hence my motto-If in doubt don’t use it.  That being said, I realize because most of the material I use is for educational purposes there is some leeway in its use.  I try to use my own materials. Another way I ensure I am not violating copyright laws is to credit the source of the material.  I realize this may not be sufficient some sources want the request to be in writing so when I am not sure I find another source. I realize there are avenues to secure permission to use copyrighted materials but I have never had to do this.  I think this is especially necessary when posting materials to a wiki because it is a very collaborative effort and many people may be contributing material.  It is also relatively simple and quick to post materials to wiki.  In this cut and paste environment copyright laws may be overlooked.  In a book- marking site it may be difficult to determine who owns material uploaded to the site.  If I cannot determine who owns the material so I can credit the owner I would not use it. I came across this article which I found interesting.  One of the issues addressed in it is ISP responsibility to uphold copyright laws.  I have not heard much about this aspect of copyright (or given it much thought).  Educators have some protection through fair use of “materials for instructional purposes”.  Of course fair use has limitations such as an entire workbook cannot be copied. Copyright laws have a lot of gray areas. 

  The following article answers many of the faqs concerning copyright laws.   http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/copyright-2002/copyright-faqs.html

THE CHAT ROOM

I have not been in a chat room for a while.  As I said in my blog about IM I was having trouble getting in and through IM Rebecca was able to give me some ideas to try and it worked.  We chatted for a bit about Meebo and what it is.  I understand it but I still have questions.  For example if I am signed on to Yahoo Messenger how do I use Meebo?  I am not sure how to get into the chat room using my IM or is it possible?

I do think chat rooms would be a great addition to an online class.  It is a great place to conduct a class discussion.   One issue may be that the conversations may be difficult to follow when there is many people chatting.  I have used the chat feature on Vista.  One class we scheduled chat sessions when we all were in the chat room.  Of course there was some difficulty determining a time that was convenient for everyone   Other times I have joined in conversations with others from my class who were there.  I appreciate the connection while chatting with classmates that is not present in the discussion postings.  Both are useful tools when used together provide a richer online class experience.

IM

Until now I have thought of IM as mainly an intrusion.  I am always busy doing something when the message pops up on the screen so I have not been signed on with messenger for a great while. I do see the problems one might encounter using IM in a library and the aforementioned is one.  IM can be intrusive.  However there are applications that I think would be very useful.  Instant necessary communication between staff is one example.  Instead of e-mailing and waiting for a response which may be needed immediately or having to leave your area to go speak to someone face to face the IM is the perfect solution.  Sending IM when materials placed on hold are available or when an item is due back. 

Another drawback to IM is the other person must be online.  In order to be effective, all parties must be available most of the time.  Both instances when I have attempted to IM someone they were offline.  I left messages.

The consequences of not using the IM feature is I do not remember any information to sign on.  I have attempted to use my Yahoo messenger but was unsuccessful and do not know how to correct the problem.  Very frustrating!

I have been giving the wiki vs blog discussion a lot of thought.  I definetly feel more comfortable with the wiki and I think I know why.  A wiki is simlar in design to web pages I use.  I find it easy (usually) to navigate through the links and find what I need.   BLogs are another matter.  Blogs may appear similar to web pages and operate in the same manner.  And I have seen web pages that were disorganized and difficult to use.  You can link to information from a blog as with a web pages or wiki.  Blogs may be somewhat interactive as wikis are.  The major difference is wikis are user friendly.  That is the organization seems more logical to me than the set-up of most blogs.  The tags used in blogs may be used on more than once.  I find myself rereading information because it has been tagged in different ways.  If I am in a hurry or don’t want to waste time this is not helpful to me.  So for now I have to say in the blog vs wiki debate I am saying wikis yay, blogs nay!

I forgot how convenient IM is. It is nice to get immediate responses. I was having difficulty getting into the chat room and Rebecca sent me the information immediately. Sometimes it can be frustrating when I have questions about something and have to wait for someone to get my e-mail and then respond. I am not saying I always need or expect instant responses but it is nice to sometimes not to have to wait.

There are many uses of IM and chat rooms in a library. The most obvious of course is reference service. People expect access to the library 24/7 and this is a means to provide it. Im and chat rooms are tools for inter-library communication. Employees could remain in their areas or at the desks and communicate with other employees. Immediate answers and feedback is possible when using these tools. Im could be used as notification tools when requested material is available or when materials are due. Im could be used to notify library users of upcoming programs and events of interest to them.

Of course there are potential problem associated with Im and chat rooms. The first is the possibility of miscommunication because there is no face-to-face contact. Body language and facial expressions are important components of communication so messages sent and received could be misunderstood. The potential exists for misuse of these tools. Monitoring is necessary. The quick response time may lead to expectations of every inquiry receiving an immediate answer. From both library users and employees. Im e can be intrusive if messages repeatedly interrupt one’s work.

Tp avoid potential problems training in proper use of these tools is necessary.

I have spent some time exploring the meebo site and this is amazing.  It would be possible to IM with anyone who has an IM account and access to a computer.Tthe chat room feature would allow the library to set up its own chat room. The possibilities are limitless. Librarians could remain at the circ or reference desk and chat with patrons requiring assistance. Library employees could use the chat room to communicate with each other in real time instead of getting up to go to another area or sending an e-mail and then waiting for the reply. These are a few of the ideas that I thought of when I first looked at the Meebo site. I’m sure there will be more.

A blog may be the posts of one person or more than one. The posts are listed beginning with the most recent one. A wiki is a web page that allows the content to be altered by the community it serves. In an ILS class I took last semester we used a class wiki and it was great. the professor continually updated assignments and added resources to it as did the students. The students also added information about topics and dates for presentations we were required to do for class. I find blogs a bit confusing especially when there is a lot of information there. The home page (i am not sure if that is the correct term) of the wiki was uncluttered and therefore easy to find needed information. On this wiki we were sent notification via e-mail if someone had changed or updated the wiki. I think a wiki would be the more practical chioce in the library. It this class it was an information resources as well as a information tool.