Social Networking

I signed up for a Facebook account. To access my profile follow this link: Kathy Davis’s Facebook.

I went to a Facebook page called The Librarians and Facebook Discussions. Their discussion board had some very interesting information. I found information on how to maintain access to your public computers. I also found posts seeking advice on how to increase usage of their mutlicultural resource center and what applications should they use on the library facebook page.

I think that individuals and libraries can benefit from using social networking services by sharing information and resources. I found an OCLC or PubMed application you can use on your library facebook page. Keeping in touch with other librarians will help you keep abreast of all the new developments. We all have worked with people that have moved to different parts of the United States and the world. Social networking services is an easy and inexpensive way to keep in touch with posts and pictures. Their library may be implementing a new product or service that may be applicable to ours. Having someone else “test” the product for us may come in handy. They can tell us what worked for them or didn’t work for them. Social networking provides a  great way to learn about a host of different library applications.

My Podcast

I decided to get my creative juices flowing and create a podcast. I created instructions on how to access the databases off campus. I really had fun doing this. You can access my podcast through the following link:

http://www.uamont.edu/library/newSite/audio/davis.mp3

Podcasts

I think podcasts for libraries are a great idea. I found a podcast called Library Geeks at

http://geeks.onebiglibrary.net/feed.xml.  They talk about different topics such as next-generation link resolvers, social networks, Library Thing and a lot more. You could  create mini instruction workshops on using indexes or accessing the databases off campus.  Another use for podcasts  are to give reviews of new reference books added to our collection.

Browser Tools and Online Applications

I already have Firefox installed on my computer and I love it. I think  it is faster and  more user-friendly than Internet Explorer. I downloaded the Colorful Tabs add-on. It makes every tab you open a different color so you can easily distiguish between them. It helps me to keep track of all the different pages I have open. I took a video tour of the Jing Project and thought it would be an interesting tool to use. It could be useful in answering a reference question about how to search in a particular database. I could create a Jing Project that shows how to create a query and email it to the patron. A lot of students understand better when they can see the steps themselves.

Using Twitter in Libraries

I think twitter would be a good tool to use with ongoing projects in the library. For example, the periodical titles project that was just completed would have been a good candidate.

Wikis

I thought wikis were pretty cool and I love the idea of A Thyme to Cook. I will definetly try out some recipes. The reason I think that librarians do not recommend Wikipedia is that anyone could edit information on the site. I think if the patron knew how to evaluate resources, Wikipedia would be a good tool to use. You could use it as a starting point to find other more “credible” resources to use in your research.

Twitter

Check out my twitter at:

http://twitter.com/Number1BookRead

New Flickr Photostream

I have uploaded a new photostream that contains five pictures of the UAM Campus. Enjoy!

http://flickr.com/photos/30922015@N08/sets/72157607609447835/show/

My Flickr Photos

I have uploaded the photos of the UAM Campus I took just the other day. I also uploaded the photos I took when the apartment complex where I live flooded from the rains of Hurricane Gustav. I really like looking the all the photos that are available on Flickr. I am not comfortable with sharing my personal photographs though. I think it would be great to use Flickr to promote things that are happening in the library. Maybe showing photos of a conference held at your library or show off a new collection of materials that just arrived.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30922015@N08/sets/72157607609456009/show/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30922015@N08/sets/72157607609447835/show/

Flickr

I thought these were great pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zone5photos/sets/72157603878491942/show/