Part 2 B : Evaluative Report - Social networker ,Information professional

B) A reflective statement on my development as a social networker as a result of studying
INF 506 and the implications for my development as an information professional.
My first OLJ post describes social networking as the practice of using online software tools for social or professional interaction and sharing of contributions between participants. Participants’ join an online network of users, create their own personal profile and make contributions that will be published on the site. Social networking enables connectivity to an online local or global community and collaboration.
This subject has increased my familiarity with social networking tools of Twitter, Linkedin, Flickr, Delicious and Secondlife. I had not previously used these tools, however I have had more experience using Facebook and blogger. These immersive experiences have made me more aware of the immediacy of these mediums and the need to keep abreast of current professional news and events. Using Facebook for study purposes , and Twitter feeds from Mashable, heyjudeonline and lyn_hay Daily,and judithway gave me a greater sense of being connected and up to date with new technological developments. In addition, I had set up regular RRS feeds via outlook to a number of blogs, such as Bright ideas, MG Library Blog and Librarian in Black. To be honest, I found the task of trying to regularly use six social networking tools, to be overwhelming and very time consuming.
In 2010, Loudon and Hall’s conducted an investigation into the deployment of Twitter amongst librarians for the purposes information services and for collaboration with professional colleagues. Their investigation found that the respondents who were new users commented on the volume of irrelevant material that needed to be consumed in the course of identifying news and information of genuine value. Some thought that it was a distraction from other work. More experienced respondents commented that it is quick, current and easily disseminates information to users, which makes it ideal for use in library services. They note that respondents learning from the practice of others by strategic ‘follow relationships’ will have more ideas to contribute for enhanced services provision, in future. I rate myself in this less experienced category. I used Facebook more extensively for this subject, but I was reluctant to participate in online discussions on professional matters without checking my references to writings or blogs were correct.
As my OLJ reflections on the social bookmarking tool of Delicious indicate, this software is great for storing web links with annotations, which has significant potential for use by secondary school libraries. I intend to use it regularly in my library work in future. I created my professional profile on Linkedin and engaged with a professional colleague online. I found this software frustrating to use, I did not like the limit of three attributes and the rating system for them, so I had to delete them. I created my Avatar in Secondlife, but I must admit I was not inspired to spend much time there. I would prefer to refine my skill in the use of social media forms that school libraries are more likely to use such as blogs, wikis, Delicious and Flickr. According to Nielsen, in most communities 90% of participants don’t contribute, though they find value in what they read and observe. The next 9% add to existing discussions, with 1% creating most commentary and giving the community food for thought. During the course of this subject, I have reluctantly moved from the 90% to the 9% and I will aim to be more participative in future.
I am proud of my achievements, the creation of video uploaded to Slideshare and the collection of screenshots from school library websites. These experiences have given me insight into the potential value of ‘participatory library services’ through the use of social media tools to enrich user experiences. In 2006, Casey & Savastinuk, defined Library 2.0 as any service, physical or virtual, that successfully reaches users, is evaluated frequently, and makes use of customer input. Although this statement was written five years ago, my comparative study of current secondary school library web spaces, provided little evidence of student contributions, despite their use of social networking tools. For this reason, I think teacher librarians need to be mindful that the use of social networking, should provide opportunities for patrons to genuinely participate and collaborate, rather than just providing tools because they are popular. Their use needs to be monitored and modifications should be developed iteratively to meet patrons needs (Brookover, 2007, Li, 2009).
Sue Myburgh, (2010) wrote that today's graduates need to be fluent in information systems and technologies of all kinds. “In particular, they need to be aware that such technologies are not a surrogate for professional activities, but support and expand them.” At this point, I am conscious that the evolving technological landscape means that we will need to be lifelong learners, who work collaboratively within our professional networks to remain effective in the field of information management. These immersive experiences, with social networking tools, have given me the confidence, knowledge and skills that I will be able to apply to manage technological software applications in my future professional work.