Rudaí23 thing#5: Getting to grips with social media

The librarian online or: how i learned to stop worrying and love Twitter

Thing#5 is all about how we interact online. Although there are lots and lots of social media options out there (either on a personal level or professionally) there is a huge dominance at the moment by the two big players, Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook

 

I signed up to Facebook sometime around 2009. After an initial flurry of interaction, I quickly became one of those dormant users (or ‘lurkers’, if you want to use a less appealing term). The Rudaí23 post introduced a lot of options for expanding my interaction on Facebook, particularly the use of Groups. Apparently there are a huge number of very specific library-related groups on Facebook. I was aware of Facebook Groups before today, but would always have been hesitant about joining them because I would have been concerned that my posts would inundate my friends' feeds. This article suggest that this isn't the case, and also has a lot more information about how to really utilise the Groups option. The whole thing is kind of making Facebook appealing again. What a scary thought.

Twitter 

Twitter, however, is different. I joined Twitter late, after some prodding from a friend on the MLIS course. I had always been sceptical about the appeal (and the near cult-like status it was gaining) and the arbitrary character limit seemed gimmicky, but I eventually capitulated. And then did nothing with it for a long time. I didn’t have a smartphone at the time, and I think this seriously hampered my interaction with the site. When I did log on, I was confronted with a torrent of information that felt overwhelming. 

I am now a relatively frequent user of Twitter, primarily for keeping up to date with developments in the library world, but also with regards to current affairs, music, literature, and friends. So what changed? Well, firstly, I got a smartphone. This meant that I could check Twitter more regularly and the information wasn’t so overwhelming. I think the best piece of advice I received about Twitter was to view it as a stream of information that you can dip your toe in when you feel like it. If you haven't been able to log on for a while, then don't feel like you're missing out or that you have to 'catch up'.

Another way of stemming that overwhelmed feeling is to create lists. I have a few lists, but definitely need to update them in order to get them working for me again. Siobhan’s post on Rudaí23 also suggested numerous lists that I could follow, which is very helpful, as well as a whole lot of librarians I didn’t know were online, so I will be updating those I follow as soon as possible.

As always with the Rudaí23 project, I started off doing some research on a topic that I assumed I knew everything there was to know, but found some interesting tips to increase my knowledge. I have some updating of my Twitter lists and people that I follow to do today and I will have a look at those Groups on Facebook. Who knows, maybe it will make me turn back to an active user again.

Rudaí23, thing #4: Befriending Google

The Case For Google

There's nothing like a twee image to excite the hearts and minds of librarians. Even more so when it attempts to counteract some 'obvious' falsehoods regarding our jobs and technological innovation. I'm sure most of us have faced that inevitable moment with a relative at a family Sunday dinner or an acquaintance on a night out when you are asked about the viability of being a librarian now that Google has made the role redundant.

There's a false 'either/or' understanding of this situation. I have been using Gmail on a daily basis for nearly ten years now, and I also utilise certain other integral parts of Google on a near-daily basis (the Search function, their mapping service, and YouTube, which I still don't see as a Google function) and other functions less frequently (Google Drive which can be hugely helpful, but at times incredibly frustrating).  As is the case with a lot of the Rudaí23 tasks, I find that I am looking at things online that I assumed I had a deep knowledge of, only to find new and exciting elements that can really help my presence online and my job.

Google as a social tool

I tend to associate Google as an individual resource: I contact people through email, I use Google Maps to find where I'm going, and I watch YouTube if I see an interesting link online or am reminded of some early 90s song from Seattle that I haven't heard since I was 15. But there is a social element to Google as well. I signed up to Google+ when it first came out, and was initially taken with its sleek design as well as with the 'invite only' setup they had at the beginning. It felt like you could really be yourself without worrying whether that person you 'friended' on Facebook that you don't really know would be reading all about the intricacies of your life. However, as time went by, I realised that even after they did away with the invites, nobody else seemed to be using it on a regular basis. I wasn't aware that Google have been threatening to close it down so, to be honest, this would put me off trying to connect with it again.

Google Hangouts

Rudaí23 mentions Hangouts, and it is a nice little touch. I was unaware that I had been using Hangouts sporadically since I had started using Gmail, but I didn't know about the videophone options and the potential to hold conferences online. I used Hangouts to talk to a friend who was online, and it did not seem to be any better or worse than similar services that are freely available. So, while I can see its potential, I would be hesitant to use it over other services such as Skype or Whatsapp as you are essentially limited to friends or contacts that have a Google account. Having said that, if Hangouts doesn't capture the world's imagination soon, I can see Google simply buying a successful company that does something similar. We'll all have Google accounts soon (whether you like it or not).

Google's lesser known functions

The Rudaí23 post alerted me to some functions of Google that I never knew about before. There is a Code link that I'm intending to check out in more detail when I have some spare time, and there is also a Survey one that may come in handy in the library where I work and, of course, Google Scholar. In an academic context, Google Scholar already holds a well-respected place in the mind of most dedicated students, and it's easy to see why. The referencing and citation links are incredibly useful, and if a student is already used to the Google interface, searching Scholar is incredibly intuitive. 

Google in your workplace

I have been involved in some user-testing where I work and it is very interesting to see (and hear) how students interact with their library website (and the internet in general). If a student is looking for something through Google and can't find what he or she is looking for, there is a worryingly high chance that they may assume that what they are looking for simply doesn't exist. For some students, Google represents all that is available, and that is a cause for concern when libraries have so many paid-for articles, ebooks, and other essential resources for the 21st century student that are not available on Google. And that's why I believe it's wrong to see Google as a threat to libraries and librarians. Knowing how to use Google, and all the little functions that most people don't know about, will help you to be a better librarian and help your users to get what they want.

Rudaí23, thing #3: The Branded Librarian

Getting started on branding

The task for Rudaí23 (and, of course, the topic of this post) is your online brand. How visible am I online and am I happy with what is available? I followed Rudai23's helpful guide to viewing yourself 'incognito' online (it sounds more sleuthy than it is) and was happy enough with the photo of myself and how it ranked on Google Images (it is my LinkedIn photo - the same as the one for this blog - and it came up second, behind my namesake who is an MBA candidate in the University of Oxford) but there is little in terms of actual web presence. There is a LinkedIn option where if you follow the click, you will be presented with all the people on the site that share my name. This is not ideal, so I am currently looking at Rudai23's other suggestions (specifically aboutme, which I had never heard of before).

LinkedIn: more than just your online CV

The suggestions regarding LinkedIn were the most revealing. I am generally ambivalent regarding LinkedIn: I occasionally tidy up my page (usually when I see a profile of somebody else that is particularly well done) but as I'm not actively seeking a job at the moment, it's low down on my list of priorities. Rudai23 reminded me that LinkedIn isn't (just) a place for you to have your CV available to potential employers, but (yet another) place where you can interact with your peers in the library world. And if you're interacting with your peers, you should probably have an up-to-date CV with all the relevant information and details. Two points which really struck home with me: I need to have a summary and a headline (interestingly, this article suggests that your summary is the most important part of your LinkedIn profile). That's what I'm going to be doing for the next hour or so on a Saturday afternoon (although I do have Radio 6 to keep me company). For the future, I aim to connect in a more substantial way on LinkedIn.

Discovering my brand

So, what's my brand? Bar my photo, I don't really have one. While that may be seen as a negative, I guess you could look at it in a more positive light, in that it could be seen as a blank slate. I have been told by a certain person that I need to find my 'niche' in the library world, and it might just be that my niche and my brand might be the same thing. One of my interests in my professional life is how libraries reach out to users and how users interact with their library. I guess my niche will be to get experience in this, and my brand will be to market this as something that is associated with me.

Rudaí23, thing #2: On becoming a librarian*

The non-direct route to becoming a librarian

Why did I become a librarian? I would love to be able to say that I had a lifelong interest in books, that I visited libraries whenever I could, and that there was a librarian in my local library that was a huge influence in my formative years, but none of that would be true. I spent most of my teens and early twenties with no clear idea of what I wanted to do with my life. By the time I thought that becoming a librarian was something that I wanted to do, I had already done a Masters (not a good idea if you are still unsure of your career path), was working in a bookshop and couldn't afford to do the second Masters that I would need to gain the qualifications to become a librarian.

Fortune (in the form of misfortune) allowed me to complete the MLIS in UCD. But why libraries? I know people say that if books is your only interest, then it's not a good reason to become a librarian, and while they're probably right, it was a start for me. Libraries represented an opportunity to focus on the elements of bookselling that I loved (the power of information, interacting with the public, and helping people to find whatever it was that they were looking for) within an industry that I saw as vibrant and one that was preparing to meet the challenges of the future. 

That all-important qualification

A qualification was absolutely necessary, and there were two options open to me. I could study for the MLIS in UCD, a pretty intensive course or do a long distance option in one of the universities in the UK. I chose the UCD course because it had the courses that I believed would be of use to me in my future possible career, and within an environment that would suit the way I studied (I don't think long distance learning would be my thing). The MLIS in UCD offered courses on social media, teaching librarianship, web design, digital libraries as well as more traditional choices like cataloguing and information services.

And what is it exactly that you do?

I am currently working as a library assistant in a relatively small college library in Dublin (not the one pictured above, which would require a time machine). The day-to-day activities include everything you would think a librarian does: checking in books, helping students find whatever they're looking for, but I've also managed to get some experience doing more specific tasks including looking after different aspects of journal management as well as dipping my toe into user testing.

Am I happy with my choice? Absolutely! It has been a tough few years, and there were times when I wondered whether I had made the right choice, but I genuinely love working in a library. There is a fantastic network of librarians in Ireland and there are so many opportunities to get involved in interesting areas of the library world. There are also some fascinating developments happening in the industry, whether your 'thing' is tech, information literacy, cataloguing, or non-traditional roles. And what's even better is that there are so many people working in the industry willing to help or get involved in discussions. 

*Librarian/library assistant. It's all a work-in-progress.