This post is Part 2 of the INF 506 Final Assignment.
2) Reflective
statement
During this course
I was exposed to a wide range of new technologies and I gained a lot of new
experience with various social networking tools. The course was also a big
challenge to my career life because I realized that my knowledge in the use of
Web 2.0 tools professionally was very limited.
I had a Facebook
page but seldom to use before joining INF506 group. I created a Twitter account
to experience what Twitter is but I don’t like it, as I don’t like the news attack.
The tool that I find really very useful is “Delicious” and I introduced it to
my colleagues and friends. I like “tag” feature in Delicious. Users can view
different resources under the same “tag” and “tags” can be browsed and searched
(King & Brown 2009).
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Source: Rarker to address Texas Library
Association on Social Media
From: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10646268.htm |
I know how to use
Flickr, and also how to use Instagram for photo sharing but I don’t have
account. I often watch YouTube and I also subscribed some channels.
I was not a blogger before studying INF506. I just followed blogs on my interest i.e. yoga and travel but now I am following some Librarian’s blogs with RSS feeds after studying this course.
Through this
course I learned that becoming “Librarian 2.0” means that I should equip myself
with skills, knowledge & attributes related to using various Web 2.0
technology and that also some personal traits like risk taking, openness to
challenges and accepting mistakes are important (Partidge & Munro, 2010).
Another thing that I learned is the importance of the social media policy. Employee should know what these polices allow s/he to do. Polices may possibly protect them and companies, also to maintain productivity during work hours.
Content should be unacceptable:
Ø Posting confidential information
Ø Bad mouthing clients
Ø Disrespecting employer
Ø Inappropriate photos
Social media policy may
help to educate children and youths how to become responsible digital citizens
and how to protect their privacy in virtual world. It is always sad to learn
from news about young people’s suicide because of cyber-bullying. “Think twice
before you decide to upload photo or text on web”. There is no secret on web.
It is important to empower users to use social media, but also to educate young
people how to use them properly and also ensure that parents are well-informed
about online safety as well (Conversation
on 14 August 2013)
Impact of social media on library
The rapid
development of the Internet has made a huge impact on modern life. The
overwhelming success of the information and communication technologies (ICT),
library and information centres have been transformed to library 2.0 which is a
user-centered virtual community (Maness, 2006). Unfortunately, our library only
adopts Facebook page to connect with users, and it is not enough to cater for
the Library 2.0 and to fulfill the users’ needs. Further to my study, our
library may apply various Web 2.0 tools to enhance our service, improve
internal function, and help library staffs to organize library materials
(Tripathi & Kumar, 2010.). Infographic “Social media activities for
libraries” displays Web 2.0 tools i.e. wiki, blog, RSS, Instant Messaging (IM),
podcast, photo sharing and social bookmarking tools that can be implemented in
our library in order to engage our communities and attract potential users.
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Source: Social media activities – by Phil Bradley
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Blog – this tool is commonly used in library for the
communication with our communities and promoting the library services. Blogs
are the best information communication channels for extracting latent feedback information
from the users to enhance the library services as stated by Harinarayana &
Raju (2010). Blog should be accessed by all, however, comments may be added by
authorized uses and need to be previewed before posting.
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Source: Personal professional blogging – what I’ve
learned
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Wiki –Wikis are interesting and major applications of Web
2.0. Wiki is defined as “ a collaborative web site which can be directly edited
by anyone with access to it” by Wikipedia.org. For example, University of Hong
Kong Library (HKUL) created a Wiki@HKUL
for users to share their knowledge and to explore the libraries. HKUL adopted
wiki to support collaborative activities. I found that Wiki is one of the most
interactive Web 2.0 tools. Our library can adopt it to support collaborative
activities among library staffs, staff and users, and among users (Bejune,
2013).
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RSS - Users
may subscribe RSS feeds to cater for their needs while library provides news
feed on RSS to inform them about the new content i.e. library
activities/events. The important role of RSS feeds is in keeping users updated
on latest information, changing content and about the websites of interest,
without accessing individual websites (King & Brown 2009). 
Instant message (IM) - allows
online chat in real time. It sounds as very good tools for interactivity and
connection with users, however, our library has insufficient manpower to
support this service. I will consider this tool some time later. 
Podcast It is
not only used to exchange and share audio clips among users over the internet,
but also can be used to share pictures, events, and instructions (King &
Brown, 2009). Library orientation or lectures and demonstrations can be
provided on podcast, so that users who missed the class may watch it at their
convenience. However, in using audio/video clips we may consider the speed of
the Internet connection. About this issue we need to consult our I.T. people.
There are other
Web 2.0 tools like Flickr/Instagram ~ photo sharing,
Delicious/Pinterest ~ social
bookmarking tools that can be applied in our library
to make our services more attractive and interesting, I’ll implement them progressively by seeking the support from management.
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Conclusion
Traditional libraries were places to visit and collect information, but
now with the implementation of Web 2.0 tools, some of our services have
transformed our library into a library with a remote access. Web 2.0 tools
bring the change of relationship between users and libraries, and it is the
trend for the library and information centre development.
References:
Bejune, M. (2013). Wikis in libraries. Information
Technology and Libraries, 26(3), 26-38.
Retrieved from: http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/3273
Harinarayana, N. S.,
& Raju, N. V. (2010). Web 2.0 features in university library web sites. Electronic
Library, The, 28(1), 69-88. DOI: 10.1108/02640471011023388
King, D.L. & Brown, S.W.
(2009) Emerging trends, 2.0, and libraries, The
Serials Librarian, 56(1-4), 32-43 DOI: 10.1080/06315260802672452
Maness, J.M., (2006). Library
2.0 theory: Web 2.0 and its implications for libraries. Webology, 3(2) Retrieved from: http://www.webology.org/2006/v3n2/a25.html
Partridge, H., Lee, J., &
Munro, C. (2010). Becoming" Librarian 2.0": The skills, knowledge,
and attributes required by library and information science professionals in a
Web 2.0 world (and beyond). Library Trends, 59(1), 315-335. Retrieved from:
Tripathi, M., & Kumar, S.
(2010). Use of Web 2.0 tools in academic libraries: a reconnaissance of the
international landscape. The International Information & Library Review,
42(3), 195-207.
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