Sunday, March 8, 2009

How did You Jump into Library 2.0?

I am trying to remember how and why I started embracing the 2.0 technologies.

I think LibraryThing (I am bwoodreader) was my first real adventure into social networking, but I really didn't end up using it in a social way. I suppose you could call it my gateway drug. Now I use it more to keep track of what I have read, with tags to remind me about the content. I should write reviews, but I rarely do. I also have a school account on it to help publicize the new books.

After that, I started paying attention to new integrated library systems. I wanted my catalog to be as interactive as LibraryThing. Alas, InfoCentre is incompatible with LibraryThing, but we are planning on getting a new ILS in the next year or two. We are part of a consortium which shares a catalog, so we have to make the big change all together - it will take time.

By then I was hooked on the idea of 2.0 - I wanted more interaction. I started using Delicious (I am eabarban), then Google Reader (well, really all things Google), Facebook (for home and work - FB just changed their format for Pages, so I am still working on this one), Twitter (I am eabarbanel), LibGuides, and finally, Storytlr (I am just starting with this - here is my story). Now my kids ask me why I my computer tweets so much (I use TweetDeck, which makes a sound when a new tweet comes in). I really ought to shut the laptop!

Here is the important part: all of the tools I am attracted to seem to make my small independent school library world bigger. I have more contact with more librarians around the world, and that is really exciting to me. I learn about what other librarians care about, read, make, teach. I try to bring some of that to my library. I know there are more tools just waiting for me to jump on board (but frankly I don't know if I can add another just yet!).

I do want to teach my students more 2.0 skills, but right now it isn't really a part of the library curriculum. They use LibGuides, sure, and I do teach Delicious to the seniors, but I don't teach blogging or wikis - it isn't what the teachers want right now. Or, if they do, they use Moodle for the wikis, and it has little to do with the library. In this case the teachers are doing it in the classroom - and isn't that one of the goals? We also have education technologists working with the classes on simulation games that use blogs and web pages. In the library we teach research and evaluation skills but not creative collaboration skills in the library...yet.
  • How have you jumped into 2.0?
  • What tools do you recommend for the novice?
  • Which tools do you use for yourself, and which for your students?
  • Have you integrated your 2.0 life into your curriculum?
I'd love to read your journey!

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