Thanks for Following!

I have already writen my reflection.  But after a few more blog posts, I feel like my class work for this blog is finally complete.

I don’t really want to say good-bye just because the class is over. As I mentioned myself and a co-worker want to continue blogging about public library related issues.

So I just want to say, best of luck to all my classmates and a temporary good-bye as I enjoy the month of August! Hope you do too.

Free Culture

“Free Culture: The Future of Creativity, Collaboration, and Knowledge”

Lecture by Elizabeth Stark

                I started undergraduate school in 1998. The same year that Napster started. It did not take long before I was shown all the “free” music that Napster had to offer. I do not think too many of us were concerned about copyright at the time. We thought it was just a great invention. It is amazing all the copyright issues that have come from that software. But this was just the beginning.

                I remember it took FOREVER, by today’s standards, to download a song. It would have to be selected and then off to class! Hopefully, when you returned to your dorm, the download was complete. (Of course, it was just a friend of a friend downloading, and certainly not me! Haha) Now file sharing is done in a matter of seconds. Stark mentioned, that even with DRM software, someone could purchase one copy of a song, and within 180 seconds it would be uploaded and able to be shared with those that did not purchase it. I am not the least bit artistic, so I can really understand artist’s frustration with this.

                On the other hand, I was surprised about how much trouble documentary film makers, etcetera might have when using thing that are considered fair use. It is unfortunate that a filmmaker has the legal right to use something in his film, but a big company can take him to court even though they know it is fair use. It just seems so unfair, knowing that most people cannot afford the legal costs to prove fair use.

Facebook in Academics

“Academic libraries, Facebook and Myspace, and student outreach: A survey of student opinion” by Ruth Sara Connell

This study asks a simple question. Do students in academic setting want librarians contacting them on Facebook?

I have to say, requesting a lot of students as friends unsolicited seems like a bad idea to me. Robert Chan, from the University of Central Florida believes that even if students deny the request, at least they may be looking at the academic library’s site. I think that might be too optimistic. I find random friend requests from a stranger a nuisance and we do not want students to view the library that way. I do think some kind of outreach might be the best bet. Students are not going to friend libraries if they don’t even know they are on Facebook. Perhaps at student orientations, a representative from the library can come in and discuss the different services that the library provides as well as the benefits to “friending” the library’s Facebook page. The idea of posters and other advertising seems better to me. But, according to the study finding over half of the students said they would accept a request from the library, but they would not request the library as a friend. This survey yielded some very positive and some very negative comments. Perhaps more literature on the subject is needed. Until then I think that academic librarians will have to evaluate what approach might work best for their particular audience.

“Use of Facebook in academic health science libraries” by Dean Hendrix, Daborah Chiarella, Linda Hasman, Sharon Murphy, and Michelle L. Zafron

            The study did have some results showing that students would use Facebook in Academic Health Science Libraries. Of 441 reference question, 126 were collected via Facebook. So, it seems like just making the page available and known about as a way for help with reference questions will be the challenge. And once students are aware of the service and have “friended” the library they will use it.

           

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Class Divisions

“Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace” by danah boyd

                According to boyd, “MySpace and Facebook are new representations of the class divide in American youth”.  Although her ideas are interesting, I think that is a bold statement and this is the first article that I really do not agree with. I was Sociology major, and the topics of MySpace and Facebook as socioeconomic classes were not around when I studied. SNS are changing all kinds of areas of study that is for sure!

Personally, I preferred MySpace better because I could put up a pretty green floral background and add the more personal touches!?!! I would not really consider that the “bling” that boyd mentions in her article. I’m a 31 year old white woman and I left MySpace and now exclusively have an active Facebook page. The reason?  Because everyone else was doing it. Slowly all my friends were leaving MySpace and so I followed. I don’t know why they left MySpace. I know of many people that left just because less of their friends were on the site. This is a social site and for whatever reason, it happened. When Facebook went public, I did not want to join, because I did not want to be associated with college kids, much like they did not want high school students on the site.

In saying that, I am not American youth and I cannot begin to know what they are thinking!

                Again, this article is a couple of years old and a lot has happened in that time in terms of social networking.  I’m not sure but I think that just as many teens have heard of Facebook today as they have of MySpace. On a daily basis, students come in after school to use the computers at the library to log onto their Facebook accounts. They may be of a lower socioeconomic class and do not have internet access outside of school, but they are certainly on Facebook!

Ethical and Information Policy Issues

                In introducing all these new, great 2.0 technologies to libraries, a whole new set of concerns about ethics and user privacy are also introduced. According to Peter Fernandez, libraries should carefully weigh the potential for outreach when using sites such as Facebook against the potential loss of privacy of their users. As of 2007, only a small percent of librarians (19) worried about privacy when starting a Facebook page. This is a small number, when privacy is supposed to be one of the most important parts of being a librarian. I would be surprised that if in the last four years that number hasn’t grown a lot. I think when Facebook first came out a lot of people, especially the students the site was designed for, just jumped in head first without considering any consequences. I think Fernandez’s articles are cautionary. Do not be lured into creating any type of social networking site for your library without first carefully considering all potential issues including privacy.

                Libraries and social networking sites certainly put a different value on privacy. Fernandez discusses how libraries can still keep their own privacy values while using social networking sites. I would not say that generation Y does not care about privacy at all, but I do agree that the privacy level has been diminished over generations. I do not know anyone in the younger generation that has an unlisted phone number. I like to keep my cell phone number rather private and only give it to a few family and friends, yet many people post theirs on their SNS along with their e-mail address.

                On another note, “students spent a median of sixteen hours a week online, with many spending even more time.” At first I was surprised by that number, but realistically I probably spend the close to that amount to that online as well. We found a way to get students away from the television I guess!

Library Law Blog   http://blog.librarylaw.com/

                When a library purchases an e-book they are held to the same copyright rules as if they had purchased a paper book. I think that is much more tempting for people to make digital copies of items because it is easier. Perhaps you just bought the new Drake CD and your friend wants you to burn them a copy. It would be so easy to do and you might think who would know? This is an ethical issue. The same holds true for libraries with very tight budgets. Hopefully, any type of copyright infringement is not even considered at your library. I still believe that libraries are viewed by most people in a highly positive light and we should never do anything to tarnish that image. Just about every class I have taken so far towards my MLIS degree has mentioned ethics and the ALA Code of Ethics. I really think that if a librarian does not value these ethics, they might be in the wrong profession.

Games in Libraries?

“The Case for Video Games in Libraries” by Suellen Adams

            Many games have the stigma of being violent and disruptive are thought to be a waste of time for teens. Professor Adams suggests that some video games have both educational and entertainment value and should be including in library programming. Libraries are a social space and certainly do more than promote reading. According to Adams, “…librarians can, through the use of video game programs provide and support education, promote community interaction not only among young people, but among a broader spectrum of patrons, and even level the playing field between haves and have-nots”. I believe that the key to having a good video game program at a library is the careful selection. Much like other parts of collection development and community programming is decided on the needs of the community, the video game program must be designed with the same careful considerations to the audience. A video game/book club is a great idea for linking common interest in video games to reading.

IL Games

“Percolating the Power of Play” by Sarah Faye Cohen, Timothy Miner, and Laurent Niskikawa

            I wish I read this article before I completed my literature review! I had trouble finding a lot of literature on teaching IL using 2.0 technologies. I found some literature documenting how blogs and Flickr were used successfully to teach IL. But games, what a great idea! Like Suellen wrote, games may not be considered a useful or educational tool. I guess on some level I did not consider it an education tool either. I searched using terms such as, IL, Blogs, 2.0, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I did not even consider games for teaching IL and I’m a bit disappointed in myself. This article was an eye opener for me for sure!

Video of Howard Rheingold of Stanford University about Second Life

            I know that everyone learns differently, and using second life to visualize things might help some people. When I watched the video though, I kept thinking, “Yeah, sure, that’s cool. But can’t he just post a page with the links on them. I guess I like my information more compartmentalized and not so bells and whistles. It seemed so scattered. But that’s just me!

            The library I work at does not have any video games in the library for circulation. Nor do they offer programs for teens to game in the library. We do have some interactive learning games on the computers in the children’s room. I strongly believe we should have games in our own collection. We process interlibrary loans daily for patrons that end up requesting games from other libraries. Other libraries lend both games and full gaming consoles to our patrons. I think it is a waste of interlibrary loan resources to not supply our patrons with gaming options at their home library.

Reflections

This class has made me proud of myself so many times! After the first few days of class, I set up a blog, something I never thought I would do. I think that I was just intimidated with some of the 2.0 technologies that I have never used before. I showed most of the circulation department at my job the first day it was up! I made a You Tube video! It was honesty a little frustrating at the time, but I learned how to use Movie Maker and post the video. Next time, I don’t think it will be so difficult now that I know how it is done.

What is coming next? Most importantly, I am not going to be so intimated by new technologies that come out. Basically, if I take the time to look through settings, etc. I can figure some of this stuff out. I gained a confidence with this class. I also want to continue with my blog. It will be library related, but not class related. I have already spoken to a co-worker about writing a blog together! I look forward to that. The library I work at now already uses a lot of library 2.0 technology, but I look forward to using my new information throughout my library career!