Sharing on the Net

by Alexa Goldstein Orr and Yesha NaikOctober 15, 2009

GSLIS 756

Image courtesy of www.lumaxart.com/

Q. How do we define "sharing websites"? A. They all involve some form of social networking.

 "What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks." (from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html)

   

Types of Sharing Sites   • Social

• Professional• Web content• Photo• Music• Video• Books • How-to • Mashups

 

"Social" Social NetworkingPurpose: Socializing.Features: make new friends, keep in touch with existing friends, get back in touch with old friends, share the latest news, both personal and from the larger world.• Friendster • Facebook (ex: - Sacramento Public)• MySpace (ex: BPL URLibrary)• Orkut• Hi5• Twitter (ex: - Kansas City Public)• Bebo• Lunch• Ning (ex: LIS Students Ning)• 43Things (ex: lifegoal - be a librarian)

  (these are just the tip of the iceberg)

Timeline of Launch Dates of Major Social Network(ing) Websites (from Dana Boyd and Nicole Ellison's report at http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html)

Some examples of how libraries are using Twitter:• For library announcements • To post news such as special events, holiday hours, exhibits, new book arrivals • Updated resources or reminders of important resources, instruction sessions and new reference services • Another communication tool with patrons/clients • As a reference service • As a way to keep in touch with librarian friends and colleagues as well as a way to collaborate on projects • As a way to stay on top of the latest technologies • For customer service • To send alerts about requested materials • As a short newsletter • As a public relations/marketing tool • As a way to get and share information about conferences and other professional development opportunities (i.e.,

registration deadlines, speakers, accommodation information, webinars) • Cataloging and tagging • Internal updates • For networking with other librarians, libraries, and library-affiliated organizations

(from http://lis5313.ci.fsu.edu/wiki/index.php/Twittering_Libraries#Libraries_Using_Twitter)

Purpose: Share information found on websites, blogs.Features: find out about web trends, news (keeping your finger on the pulse of what's new and interesting, or even 'old' and interesting).  • Digg • Stumbleupon - ex: Friends of Library group• reddit• Delicious• Technorati - ex: Library blogs featured •  • AddThis

          also, http://www.addthis.com/services 

 

Web Content Sharing Sites

File SharingPurpose: Foster collaboration and sharing of work and ideas.Features: Share docs, files, folders, presentations, lists...   • Google Docs (this was used for this presentation!)

        Ex: School Librarians - requesting a novel• Backpack• PBWorks (used to be PBWiki) - • Box• SlideShare - ex: BPL's World Savvy program• Best Online File Sharing Websites (List from lifehacker.org) 

  

Music SharingPurpose: To share your musical interests with others.Features: Discover new music, facilitate e-commerce, listen to music online (legally), discover others with similar music interests.  • Last.fm

 • Pandora

 • Twones

Book Sharing

Virtual • Goodreads • LibraryThing • Goodreads vs. LibraryThing• Shelfari • example - LT• example - GR

 

Actual • Paperback Swap• BookMooch• BookCrossing

 

Purpose: Share reading interests.Features: keep track of books read, share reviews, facilitate e-commerce, find new books to read, recycle books, receive and send actual books (by mail.) 

Photo Sharing

Purpose: to post and publish digital photos online to share with others. Features: Slideshows, geotagging, tagging (folksonomies), galleries,captioning, and multiple views (thumbnails, slideshows), online storage, and licensing.

• Flickr o ex: nypl

• Fotonomy • Photobucket• Picasa Web Albums

Video Sharing

Purpose: to post and publish video footage online to share with others. Features: server storage (hosted video clips can be stored on server), sharing with others, "mash ups" (see Mashups sites), comments, critiques, meeting others.

• Vimeo• Yahoo Video • Youtube

o ex: nypl

"Professional" Social Networking

Purpose: maintain a list of contacts of people in your professional field that you and trust.Features: online rolodex, link to people you currently work with (called "direct contacts"), meet new people in your field, reconnect with people you've worked with before, recommend people for jobs, seek career advice, post your own resume, job-hunting, companies can find candidates. • LinkedIn

o example • Plaxo• Ryze• XING

How-to Sharing

Purpose: online knowledge base of how-to information on many, many topics.Features: User-generated content by professionals and amateurs, multimedia (text,images, and/or video), option to make money, messaging, groups.• eHow• Howcast

o example • Videojug• wikiHow

Other interesting sharing sites that we stumbled upon that do not fit our general categories...

• Weardrobe  http://weardrobe.com (clothes) • Flixster http://www.flixster.com/ (movies)

 • COLOURlovers :: Color Trends + Palettes           

     (colors for design (both on and offline)) • Yelp  (reviews of restaurants and other venues)• New --- • Posterous

"in the space between Twitter and a full blown blog"   http://posterous.com/

 

 

Mashups- often fun, usually useful!

 • FlickrSudoku• HousingMaps • Trendsmap  • Spell With Flickr • TimeTube • Twitter Answers• GolfBonk

    

What does this mean for librarians?

• Patrons of all ages love social networking sites. • Social networking sites are virtual meeting sites for sharing

information. • Librarians strive to be information experts. 

    

How can librarians leverage these sites to their advantage?

Social Networking Literacy Competencies

• Understanding and articulating social networking sites and  their roles

•  Creating content•  Evaluating information•  Applying information ethically and legally•  Searching and navigating•  Interacting•  Teaching•  Providing services•  Flexibility

 Taken from “Social Networking Literacy Competencies for Librarians: Exploring Considerations and Engaging Participation” Contributed Paper, ACRL 14th National Conference, Pushing the Edge: Explore, Engage, Extend  - March 14, 2009.

Some of the many things you can do as a librarian:

• Libraries can use these sites to post jobs and promote themselves as places to work (see LinkedIn example)

• Librarians/libraries  can use these sites to publicize their collections (see Flickr example)

• Librarians/libraries  can use these sites to highlight their public services (see Howcast example)

• Librarians/libraries can use these sites to broadcast workshops and events to a larger audience (see Youtube example)

• Librarians/libraries can use these sites for Readers’ Advisory services (see LibraryThing example) 

Other suggestions?

The End

Alexa Goldstein Orr and Yesha Naik