Here is the thrilling conclusion of my afternoon immersed in Web 2.0. This session was entitled “Sneaking the Social Web Into Your Library and Going Beyond 23 Things”. The first part of the session was presented by Lori Reed, of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Despite the fact that I grew up in Charlotte and now work in a public library, I was unaware of the 23 Things model that the PLCMC used to educate their staff on technology. I blame the fact that I worked in a very small academic library for 8 years previous to my current job. If you are as ignorant as I was, you can find out more here: plcmclearning.blogspot.com. Basically, the program taught staff to use Web 2.0 tools by using them: staff created Facebook accounts, set up RSS feeds, etc. The library also offered prizes for completion. Lori discussed what the PLCMC is doing now that the 23 things initiative has been completed. Due to budget cutbacks, there are no prizes and subsequently less participation for their Learning 2.1 program (where guest bloggers post on various topics). However, Lori did recommend how a library could create learning plan for staff. The steps are: 1) Identify a need. 2) Research the need. 3) Identify an audience. 4) Identify objectives. 5) Create a message. 6) Find the right platform/tools. 7) Implement Evaluate.
The second part of the session focused on the sneaking aspect of getting one’s library staff to use Web 2.0 tools. The first speaker was Bobbi Newman of the Chatahoochee Valley Libraries. She advocated taking the focus off the technology/tools and placing it onto the patrons. Another strategy is to make it as easy as possible for people to use (i.e. don’t start with something complicated). 3) Reward people for doing what you want them to do. These rewards can be prizes, but with no budget, you can also make people feel good about themselves (e.g.giving statistics showing how patron service has been improved due to their work.) Erin Downey-Howerton of the Johnson County Libraries in Kansas continued this theme, of illustrating how she had used Web 2.0 to meet needs. For example, children’s librarians who wanted to add links to educational materials to the library website needed to contact IT. Erin instituted the use of delicious.com, which allowed them to add the links themselves. Another example was collecting stats on the use of homework centers using googledocs, rather than compiling stats at the end of the month or sending individual e-mails, which had been leading to confusion and missed deadlines. A third example was using wetpaint.com as a wiki for a library committee, in order to provide one place for all documents to be shared. Previously, the documents had been saved in three different places on a common drive. The last example was that librarians had been sending each other e-mails to recommend books. Erin created an account for the library on goodreads. com so that there was a central place with an RSS feed for people to get one notice once a week of books recommended by their colleagues.
I found this session incredibly helpful. Our library is in the midst of a major website redesign and are unable to get IT to set up a wiki until that project is complete. Learning about wetpaint.com showed me a way that I can use wiki technology before that happens. Also, the emphasis on both patron focus and on meeting needs (particularly in making things simpler and easier) gives me necessary information on how to overcome some of the resistance to technology I meet among my staff.