Posted by Vicki in continuing education.
Tags: continuing education, digital skills divide, Facebook, LinkedIn, social networking
After Facebook, we were to join LinkedIn, the professional social networking site. We also were to make some connections. The first thing I discovered is that other employees that I know in my own company are already members. So I tried to connect with them. So far, I haven’t received a response. Since I’m not sure how they’re notified of the contact invitation, I don’t know how long it takes.
I can see the professional potential for LinkedIn in both the job market and the sales contacts market. I also see its potential for networking within your own field. But again, because of the type of library I have, I don’t think it’s going to benefit the work done in my department.
From what I see, the social networking sites expand the community groups such as the Rotary Club, church youth group, or Jaycees to a wider range. The face to face contact is lost, which is important. Yet the larger audience can be beneficial.
Yesterday The Krafty Librarian had a blog about the Digital Skills Divide that is important here. These types of online tools help widen the divide. People who don’t get linked in can easily fall behind even if they are now digitally savvy and can use the computer and Internet. While this probably won’t affect the professionals who use my library, it a factor to consider when I have the occasional opportunity to work with people in different arenas. Introducing them to tools like Facebook may seem like fun to them, but can also help them improve skills they can use in life.
Posted by Vicki in continuing education.
Tags: continuing education, Facebook, wikis
The MLA Social Networking class this week has us joining Facebook. I’ve done that, and can see how it can be fun. My daughter has a Facebook account, so I’ve made her my friend and left her a birthday message. I also added the PubMed Search and WorldCat applications. I was supposed to add the UAB library catalog application, but was still learning. I made myself a fan, but didn’t add the application to my profile. Since I won’t use that catalog again, I decided not to add the application.
Like with the wiki class last week, I don’t see a good application of the Facebook or social networking capability at my work. Perhaps I have tunnel vision, but I don’t think so.
I realized this week one reason is because our writers have a writing program that covers some of what we need in a shared setting. More than one person can write a section, but only one at a time (similar to a wiki). It’s not done on a web page like a wiki, but has to be checked out and checked in. They can also use this software to communicate like in Facebook.
It’s interesting to have the Facebook account for now, but I don’t know if I’ll maintain it after our class is finished or not. In the meantime, I’ll learn a little more about it and keep it in mind when different needs come up at work. Perhaps it will have a future function.
