Devika Ramsingh, Librarian, at the Republic Bank Library, and Kumaree Ramtahal, Librarian II, of the, of the Main Library, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, will present this poster session.
The concept of social networking has been used in libraries and universities for many years; however the term is relatively new and popular due to the emerging technology. In order to keep abreast with meeting the needs of patrons, libraries are challenged to adopt the popular elements of the digital age.
The world’s top three social networking environments, MySpace, You Tube and Facebook attracted more than 350 million users according to comScore in June 2007.1 The length of stay online ranged from one hour to four hours. These statistics clearly highlight the fact that the new communication tools of email, instant messenger and social networking are fading the line between the online and offline world as more and more users are daily attracted to social networking environments.
Social networking and Web 2.0 technologies provide the opportunity for an interactive Web community, thus enabling an environment for knowledge sharing and learning. Also, these tools facilitate the breakdown of communication barriers created by distance and cost.
The phenomenon of social networking will one day, no doubt, become as common and widely used as email is today. Because of its current popularity however, social networking presents itself as a viable option for libraries and librarians to join the Web 2.0 movement and build interactive web communities.
This poster session seeks to introduce the concept of Social Networking and highlight some of the popular technologies that are being used in this Web 2.0 era. It will also present some of the websites that have been developed, using these tools, by Caribbean and international librarians. Moreover, it will explore how the information contained in these websites can benefit libraries, librarians and researchers in keeping abreast with current issues in librarianship and new technologies.
February 2008
Notes
Libraries and social Networking: the thoughts of nine experts about our increasingly online lives, NextSpace the OCLC Newsletter No. 7, September 2007 (Available online at http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/007/1.htm - accessed on 13/02/08)
For more information, kindly contact: d.ramsingh@gsb.tt or devikaramsingh@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Internet, Social Networking and Information Literacy: Issues and Challenges for Caribbean libraries
Fay Durrant, Professor; Mark-Shane Scale, Librarian; Barbara Gordon, Lecturer; Dr Cherrell Shelley-Robinson, Senior Lecturer and Head of Department, Department of Library and Information Studies, of the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, will present this panel discussion on Monday, June 2, 200, at Room 1, Rose-Hall Resort, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The abstract of each presentation follows:
Online Social Networking and Libraries, by Prof. Fay Durrant
Online social networking sites have made significant advances in the development of virtual communities. With their origins in listservs, egroups, blogs, chat rooms and instant messaging, social networking sites provide opportunities for users to construct public or semi-public profiles, to link to “friends” across the globe and to create content.
The presentation will examine participation of Jamaican and Caribbean people in some social networking sites, conditions under which information is created and shared, factors influencing membership and participation, issues of privacy and protection, and applications being used by libraries.
Libraries, Facebook and the Information Age, by Mark-Shane Scale
Facebook is one of these most successful online social networking sites. It is reported to have over 61 million active users. If these statistics are valid, then Facebook should have many lessons to provide for libraries and media houses in expanding and retaining a large client base. This discussion will trace how Facebook developed, examine the philosophy of its founder, and some of the factors underlying its successes. The discussion will also focus on how Facebook attracts users, the content the site provides and some lessons from this information venture that are useful for libraries.
Within Facebook’s success and development, there are underlying assumptions as to what information scientists and professionals can expect of people’s information needs. It is hoped that this discussion will unearth some of these assumptions to inform the profession’s development of interactive services.
Managing Internet Access in Jamaican School Libraries, by Barbara A. Gordon
School libraries offering Internet access services help to lessen the “Digital Divide” both within and between countries and make a significant contribution to the acquisition of information technology skills by citizens. Access to the Internet and to social networking sites is increasingly available in Jamaican school libraries and some important considerations for delivering effective services include managing access to information content on the web, staff and user training and policy development. Suggestions for developing quality-based services include: user education; clearly articulated acceptable use policies developed in consultation with stakeholders; and partnership between school libraries and IT departments in order to maximise scarce resources.
Information Literacy in the Information Age, by Dr. Cherrell Shelley Robinson
The panel presentation will conclude with a presentation on Information literacy, and what it means to the information literate in a social networking environment. Creation of content and social capital, the interaction among “friends” and the posting of personal information require a greater capacity in information literacy than has been the case in the print only world, or in the world of Web 1.0.
Online Social Networking and Libraries, by Prof. Fay Durrant
Online social networking sites have made significant advances in the development of virtual communities. With their origins in listservs, egroups, blogs, chat rooms and instant messaging, social networking sites provide opportunities for users to construct public or semi-public profiles, to link to “friends” across the globe and to create content.
The presentation will examine participation of Jamaican and Caribbean people in some social networking sites, conditions under which information is created and shared, factors influencing membership and participation, issues of privacy and protection, and applications being used by libraries.
Libraries, Facebook and the Information Age, by Mark-Shane Scale
Facebook is one of these most successful online social networking sites. It is reported to have over 61 million active users. If these statistics are valid, then Facebook should have many lessons to provide for libraries and media houses in expanding and retaining a large client base. This discussion will trace how Facebook developed, examine the philosophy of its founder, and some of the factors underlying its successes. The discussion will also focus on how Facebook attracts users, the content the site provides and some lessons from this information venture that are useful for libraries.
Within Facebook’s success and development, there are underlying assumptions as to what information scientists and professionals can expect of people’s information needs. It is hoped that this discussion will unearth some of these assumptions to inform the profession’s development of interactive services.
Managing Internet Access in Jamaican School Libraries, by Barbara A. Gordon
School libraries offering Internet access services help to lessen the “Digital Divide” both within and between countries and make a significant contribution to the acquisition of information technology skills by citizens. Access to the Internet and to social networking sites is increasingly available in Jamaican school libraries and some important considerations for delivering effective services include managing access to information content on the web, staff and user training and policy development. Suggestions for developing quality-based services include: user education; clearly articulated acceptable use policies developed in consultation with stakeholders; and partnership between school libraries and IT departments in order to maximise scarce resources.
Information Literacy in the Information Age, by Dr. Cherrell Shelley Robinson
The panel presentation will conclude with a presentation on Information literacy, and what it means to the information literate in a social networking environment. Creation of content and social capital, the interaction among “friends” and the posting of personal information require a greater capacity in information literacy than has been the case in the print only world, or in the world of Web 1.0.
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