Social Software and The Day School Librarian

A Brief introductionto Blogs, Wikis, RSS and other web 2.0 stuff

Karen Ulric, School Media Specialistkulric@ssdseu.org

Bernard J. Meislin Memorial LibrarySolomon Schechter Day School of Essex & Union, Upper SchoolWest Orange, NJ2007

What is this web2.0 anyway? Web 2.0 is a concept, not a defined set of

applications The read/write web User-focused and user-driven What web 2.0 promises is interaction and

engagement New ways of communicating

professionally and personally

Why bother with Web 2.0?

Creative writing assignments

Student ownership Wider audience than

the classroom Meet students in their

world to engage them

Professional enrichment – reading and contributing to relevant blogs and wikis

Jewish Day Schools have unique needs – these tools can help us fill them!

The “Millennial Generation” are DIGITAL NATIVES

We are DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS

Lee Rainie, Pew Internet & American Life Project

Some of the most popular Web 2.0 applications Blogs/RSS Wikis Audio/visual sharing Social networks (myspace, facebook,etc.) Social bookmarking

Blogs (Write One!) Create a blog!

Library news, Book Reviews – add a link from your library webpage, or use a blog as the library webpage

Popular blog hosts: General:

www.blogger.com (now part of Google) www.typepad.com www.wordpress.com

Educational: Designed for Schools BlogMeister ePals (more than blogs – classroom to classroom sharing, etc.) Gaggle (secure email, blogs) imbee for Teachers and Schools (secure Social network , email, blogs)

Examples of library blogs Nothfield Mount Herman Library Blog/ Library of Congress Blog Gargoyles Loose in the Library

Blogs can incorporate audio (podcasts) and video The Book of Life

Blogs (Read them!)Read blogs! Great for professional development!

Blog Readers let you keep up with multiple blogs in one place

Blog Readers use RSS (real simple syndication) to create a “feed” that you can subscribe to

Popular Blog Readers Bloglines www.bloglines.com Google Reader http://www.google.com/reader/

What I Read - My BlogrollEducation technology

Link to Ed-Tech Blogroll

2 Cents Worth Alice in InfoLand blogwithoutalibrary.net Blue Skunk Blog eHub Free Range Librarian From the Trenches of Public Ed. Giveaway of the Day Joyce Valenza's

NeverEndingSearch Information Wants To Be Free Jewish School Libraries learning.now learning.now comments LibrarianInBlack Library Stuff Mark's edtechblog NYT > Technology Search Engine Watch Talking Out Loud Techcrunch Tools for the TEKS Updates Ubiquitous Thoughts Weblogg-ed The Websearch Blog

LibraryLink to Library Blogroll

•AssortedStuff•Gargoyles loose in the library•Google Librarian Central•Google Librarian Newsletter Google Group•HigherEd BlogCon•Infosearcher•Killin' time being lazy•Librarians' Internet Index: New This Week•Library Garden•Library of Congress Blog•Library of Congress: News•Library Stuff•The Liminal Librarian•The Plagiarism Blog•The Shifted Librarian

LiteratureLink to Literature Blogroll

•A Fuse #8 Production•Brave & Brass Book Blog•Brooklyn Arden•educating alice•Hennepin County Library - Bookspace Blog•The Longstockings•Muller In the Middle•NPR Topics: Books•NYT Book Review•wayfarers all•Ypulse

ReligionLink to Religion Blogroll

•Mayim Rabim•Rabbi without a cause•Renegade Rebbetzin

Wikis

Community driven websites where multiple people can edit the information in real time

Wikis can be open to the public or limited as the creator desires.

Uses include: Pathfinder & subject guides Industry/ Career specific collections of information

and/or best practices Group projects

Wiki Examples Pathfinder/Subject Guides

SSDS Holocaust Research Guide SJCPL Subject Guides

Industry/Career SpecificJewish School Libraries Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki

Wiki Examples cont.

Group Projectshttp://ssdstechcommittee.pbwiki.com/

Google Documents is a very simple way to do a group document.

www.docs.google.com

Eventshttp://ajl2007.pbwiki.com/http://cil2007.pbwiki.com/

Social Networking

Purely social sites, i.e. myspace, are often not appropriate for schools, although many libraries are creating pages Brooklyn College Library Myspace page

But many social sites for sharing information can be useful – the focus is a community of sharers Tags/folksonomy vital to many of these sites

www.flickr.com (photos) www.youtube.com (video) search “schechtervision” LibraryThing (social personal library catalog) del.icio.us (social online bookmarking)

In Conclusion!

The tools are cool, but they are not an end in themselves

It is most important to determine what you want to accomplish – and then decide if these tools are appropriate

Effective use of technology requires major pedagogical shifts

Have fun – the more you know the better you can lead your library, your school, and your community!

Interesting articles, blogposts & resources Wesley Fryer: Moving at the Speed of Creativity. Let’s ask teachers to rethink assessments Web 2.0 Meets Information literacy! Teacher Librarian Ning: a community for teacher-librarians and other educators Which Wiki is right for you? Shonda Briscoe, SLJ 5/1/2007 Microsoft Digital Literacy Partnership for 21st Century Skills

21st Century Skills for Strengthening your school library program. Pam Berger, Infosearcher

The question IS the answer: Creating research projects for an age of information. James Mckenzie

RSS Tutorial Coming of Age: an introduction to the NEW world wide web. Terry Freedman (ed.) TRAILS: Tools for real-time assessment of information literacy skills Using Blogs as a Novel Approach to Engage Students. Learning Now - Andy Carvin, Pew Quiz: What’s Your Technology Temperature? Part of the

Pew Internet & American Life Project Schools, Children, and Digital Technology:Building Better Relationships for a Better Tomorrow by

Mark van 't Hooft Innovate May/June2007 RSS in Plain English (video)