The beginning of the end...of the first 13 things

This post was lost in virtual space and has only just re-appeared (Sunday 15th May).

Since signing up to LibraryThing I have decided to set myself a summer project and catalogue all of my books at home. I have added a few books already and actually written a couple of reviews, which I have never done before so they may not be very good! I have set up links to both Facebook and Twitter as well, nothing too complicated all in all. I'm sure I have more than 200 books at home, which is the limit for free access, but at $25 for life, it doesn't seem that expensive.
I'm sure there is a way to add DVD's and CD's as well, but trying that out is for a rainy day!

Library Anywhere looks great, but will it work with Talis Prism? LibraryThing also openly publish their Library Anywhere prices which is highly unusual in the library world!

Twitter





Setting up my Twitter account was easy and I had a quick scout around it, on a personal level I don't think it is something I will get into on a regular basis. I added a couple of names to follow, Charlie Sheen seems to be the man of the moment, and William Shatner (because I'm a closet Trekkie!!).



You can click on my link on the right of the page. My account is private for the moment so you will have to be confirmed as a follower before you can access my account and check out my Twitterings!!!

There are lots of free 'follow me' buttons to choose from, just add a new HTML page element to your blog - copy and paste the code and away you go. I tried to use this cute image, but it was too big and I couldn't find the code for it to make it smaller.

Again, I think the potential  is here to do good things for the library; some libraries take the queries from Twitter and Facebook and add them to a reference page on their Wikis, this then enables all users to find quick accurate solutions to their questions. 'Banking' queries in this way gives all staff, especially evening staff that may not have access to staff email another avenue to locate new or changed library information.

I also found an updated list of Libraries that use Twitter that may be of interest, unfortunately they are all American, but at least they will give us some ideas on how we might utilise this application.

Week 5 in the BBL

Wow! Week 5 and Social Networking already.

So, on to Facebook and Twitter.

I have a Facebook account already, I keep it strictly to family only. I am absolutely sure that I do not use Facebook to its full potential and for now that's the way I like it! I find the instant messaging very handy, but you can IM in gmail and other applications as well. We mainly share family photos, videos and events through Facebook, uploading and sharing is uncomplicated and you can download, save and print the pics you like. I find the ads extremely irritating but there seems to be no way to eliminate them from a personal account, I know you can hide ads that you don't like, but then you go into a whole new realm of Facebook trying to find out why you don't like the ad, so it is easier just to ignore them!!

Facebook is very touchy about obviously false names so it took a while to find an abbreviation of the Anonymous Librarian that it would accept, so please welcome Ann Lib to the world of Facebook!

I like the Glucksman Library (UL) Facebook, and their Twitter, their posts are concise, with regular updates giving clear information.

Personally I think Facebook would be a great way to market the library, to highlight the services we offer, and to advertise up and coming events and exhibitions, the key is to get the balance right between what we want to say and how we say it.