Had a look at quite a few of the libraries who Twitter- most were interesting, a couple....weren't so much. So the first lesson is that it can depend on who is writing the tweets- even for a very short message of only a sentence or so. I liked the ones who aimed their resources to specific library users- resources for teachers, parents with pre-schoolers etc, instead of just a generic "we have this resource in our library". A few used their Twitter to alert their patrons to when their catalogue would be offline, library closures etc. Some gave info and photos of new or renovated branches in the area, and events the library was hosting.
A library-related tweet? Hmm, this is harder than I thought but here goes *deep breath*:
"Enjoyed watching 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'? Then read 'The Undomestic Goddess'- def. Sophie Kinsella's best book!"
Friday, November 27, 2009
Searching on Twitter
I started off by doing a search for 'Hull' (a city in England) using Twitter's basic search option. I found out that the city is biding to become one of the host cities for the 2018 Football World Cup. Only about a third of the tweets on the page were relevant to the city, though.
I repeated my search using 'ChirpCity'. I had to scroll through about a dozen tweets before I found a relevant one, and again they mentioned Hull's bid for the world cup. ChirpCity seems to be an American site, because all the cities on the homepage are in America! I thought they would at least have the main cities around the world as well- London, Paris, etc. For my search, I don't think ChirpCity was the right search engine to use.
Though I was familiar with Twitter before this exercise, I hadn't used the search options before. I didn't have much success with my searches for this topic, but I did get some great search results for topics I practised with, so I'll definitely be using Twitter search options in the future.
I repeated my search using 'ChirpCity'. I had to scroll through about a dozen tweets before I found a relevant one, and again they mentioned Hull's bid for the world cup. ChirpCity seems to be an American site, because all the cities on the homepage are in America! I thought they would at least have the main cities around the world as well- London, Paris, etc. For my search, I don't think ChirpCity was the right search engine to use.
Though I was familiar with Twitter before this exercise, I hadn't used the search options before. I didn't have much success with my searches for this topic, but I did get some great search results for topics I practised with, so I'll definitely be using Twitter search options in the future.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Before I start I must confess to already being a fan of Twitter....perhaps it's because I'm a nosey parker! I don't have my own account yet, but I regularly follow various actors, athletes and TV shows on Twitter. They seem to Twitter for promotional purposes and to connect with their fans. It's good for links to magazine or television interviews they have done, exclusive photos from filming, and hearing small tidbits of what they are doing in their day. One feature I do like on Twitter is the 'verified account' badge. It is too easy these days to find many people pretending to be famous people on the web, so it's good that you know it is the actual person themselves tweeting.... or not.
I have been a fan of Meg Cabot's books for a few years now so I visited her Twitter account. She seems to use her Twitter to provide fans links of updates on her website, and she also posts about news articles that she finds interesting. I liked the personal style of her tweets, I found it friendly.
I also visited GrammarGirl's (is that gramatically correct?!) Twitter account. She uses her Twitter to promote reviews and events for her work and also comments on news articles that interest her. Her Twitter seems to be really just for marketing and she doesn't really include any personal details- like what she has been doing that day, funny anecdotes etc. Which is fine but most of the Twitter accounts I follow do so I found the account a little less welcoming....and interesting.
I have been a fan of Meg Cabot's books for a few years now so I visited her Twitter account. She seems to use her Twitter to provide fans links of updates on her website, and she also posts about news articles that she finds interesting. I liked the personal style of her tweets, I found it friendly.
I also visited GrammarGirl's (is that gramatically correct?!) Twitter account. She uses her Twitter to promote reviews and events for her work and also comments on news articles that interest her. Her Twitter seems to be really just for marketing and she doesn't really include any personal details- like what she has been doing that day, funny anecdotes etc. Which is fine but most of the Twitter accounts I follow do so I found the account a little less welcoming....and interesting.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Creative Commons
Eeek! Only three more weeks maximum to complete this programme, better get my skates on!
So, Creative Commons. Seems like a good idea to protect your work online.
For the 'Get With It!' website, the Creative Commons licence states that the you can 'share and remix' the work, as long as you give credit for the work and it is not taken for a commercial purpose. Exceptions can be made if permission is asked from the owner, and other rights are also protected:
"Other Rights — In no way are any of the following rights affected by the license:
Your fair dealing or fair use rights;
The author's moral rights;
Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.
Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page. "
On Flickr, I did a search for 'gymnastics', and the details on the licence state that the image can be 'shared and remixed' as long as credit is given to the owner, though the rights can be waived if you get permission from the owner. Also protected:
"Public Domain — Where the work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
Other Rights — In no way are any of the following rights affected by the license:
Your fair dealing or fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations;
The author's moral rights;
Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.
Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page. "
So, Creative Commons. Seems like a good idea to protect your work online.
For the 'Get With It!' website, the Creative Commons licence states that the you can 'share and remix' the work, as long as you give credit for the work and it is not taken for a commercial purpose. Exceptions can be made if permission is asked from the owner, and other rights are also protected:
"Other Rights — In no way are any of the following rights affected by the license:
Your fair dealing or fair use rights;
The author's moral rights;
Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.
Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page. "
On Flickr, I did a search for 'gymnastics', and the details on the licence state that the image can be 'shared and remixed' as long as credit is given to the owner, though the rights can be waived if you get permission from the owner. Also protected:
"Public Domain — Where the work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
Other Rights — In no way are any of the following rights affected by the license:
Your fair dealing or fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations;
The author's moral rights;
Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.
Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page. "
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
OpenID
I do like the idea of OpenID, because let's face it, if you don't regularly visit a site it can be easy to forget the username and/or password that you signed up with- or even the answer to the "secret question" you so cleverly came up with so no-one could crack it- even you!! Yes, I would use OpenID for websites, I think it would be great for sites like Bloglines, del.icio.us, YouTube, Flickr, etc if I only had one login for the lot. The only downside I could think of is that you could only use OpenID for sites you were signing up to in the future- not retrospectively. For example, on YouTube it tells me I can sign in with my Yahoo! account. Great, expect I've already been a member of YouTube for 2+ years, so if I started signing in with my Yahoo! account I'd lose all my subscriptions, favourite vids, friends etc and have to start again. That's the same for a lot of similar sites too that I have already been using.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Back to the beginning again
Well here I am at the beginning of the second Web 2.0 programme, and it's time for me to "get with it!!". And better late than never, right?! In typical Miss Frazzled fashion I'm already behind, but with four weeks to go I am confident I will be able to finish, and hopefully be not too "frazzled" by the time I finish!
So, module one, topic one: Online Privacy and Security. I found the resources provided in the topic useful and I would pass them on to others. I wasn't so fond of the video, (I found the narrator's voice hard to understand [and not because of the accent!] and the writing was hard to read) but I especially found that McAfee's brochure had great tips and advice.
Advice I think that would be useful to give to patrons is to create a password that is hard for others to crack- a password that has a combination of upper and lower case letters, contains both letters, numbers and symbols, and one that they don't use for other accounts. If another user accesses a patrons Pharos account they could use their credit for copying/printing, and if they access their 'My Info' account they can see their full name, address, telephone and cellphone numbers and e-mail address/s. I think it is important to also teach patrons to log out of their accounts when they have finished using library equipment- whether it be public Internet terminals, MFDs, self-issue machine or OPACs.
So, module one, topic one: Online Privacy and Security. I found the resources provided in the topic useful and I would pass them on to others. I wasn't so fond of the video, (I found the narrator's voice hard to understand [and not because of the accent!] and the writing was hard to read) but I especially found that McAfee's brochure had great tips and advice.
Advice I think that would be useful to give to patrons is to create a password that is hard for others to crack- a password that has a combination of upper and lower case letters, contains both letters, numbers and symbols, and one that they don't use for other accounts. If another user accesses a patrons Pharos account they could use their credit for copying/printing, and if they access their 'My Info' account they can see their full name, address, telephone and cellphone numbers and e-mail address/s. I think it is important to also teach patrons to log out of their accounts when they have finished using library equipment- whether it be public Internet terminals, MFDs, self-issue machine or OPACs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
