Social Networking: the explosive communication forum.
I made some comments in the Thing 2 entry about Facebook still having a strong tendency toward the personal. I came from a small, prominent, Massachusetts undergraduate program that was not one of the earliest connective nodes on the Facebook network, but was right behind on Wave Two. I have been on Facebook for over seven years (eeek... normally, here, I would tell myself to get a life, except for that that is the purpose of social networking, is it not?), and know the site pretty well. Although, since its change from the .edu connection to the international juggernaut of social networking, much has changed. Information that once seemed unlikely to leak out now much be carefully weighed, guarded, and tagged for public, private, or semi-private viewing.
For me, Facebook still has those collegiate undertones, and I intend to keep my Facebok account personal. In light of this, I have been working on establishing a profile on LinkedIn, which, if you are unfamiliar, is a popular professional networking site. Also in light of my wanting to keep my Facebook account for personal connections, I investigated some of the other social networking options presented by Kathryn Otto in Thing 6. I took a hop over to Gather, which advertises itself as "Social Networking with Substance". Despite its claims, however, I was greeted at the homepage by a news article entitled "US Airways Lets Man in Women's Underwear Fly". Yes...very substantive, Gather. I thought three things: 1) Oh, the irony--this coming from the "Substantive" Social Network, 2) Would not this be more of a story if US Airways prohibited this gentleman from flying? 3) I must get out of here before I get sucked into actually reading this. So, friends, my startling experience on the Gather homepage frightened me away enough to consider sticking with LinkedIn for professional development.
I am but a person, however. What of a library or archives? It makes sense to have a Facebook page for visibility, but, also, to not expect a lot from it. Personally, I am hesitant to "Like" things on Facebook, because sometimes it can end up exposing your interests and making you an advertising target. Identifiable personal information is usually kept private, but I can see how the thought tracking bots might make some uncomfortable. But, then again, bots are tracking Google searches, and visited sites, and cookies, downloads, and everything else. So, there that is. If I were marketing a facility or institution, I might opt to make a personal profile for the institution, as opposed to a page (or at least in addition to a page). There is likely to be much more interaction this way. Friends > Likes, I say.
I bopped around Big Tent for a bit. It seems like a worthwhile service, for sure. However, on the connectivity scale, there is likely to be little advantage gained from opting for BigTent at this time, due to its comparitive size. In a couple of years, it could explode. Who knows. You can connect Big Tent to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, though, which definitely gives this site some real growth and usability potential. It seems like a useful tool for connecting people within a group (forums, calendars, file sharing, alert/notification options). I wonder what potential it has for pulling in (new) outside users or connecting users across different groups.
I am interested in creating a Facebook presence for the small historical society at which I work part-time, but I need some approval before this occurs. I may seek it next week. Until then, I'm a one-woman show on Facebook and one of two administrators behind a rugby team's social networking presence.
The question of the line between personal and professional in social networking is a challenging one. In fact, there is a discussion currently occurring within the ALA group on LinkedIn about keeping these genres separated. It seems to be the general consensus that an account should be used for professional or personal use, not both. This can be tricky when your professional organization goes up on Facebook, for example. Then-- refer back to my hesitation about "Liking" things on Facebook--you might find folks that like your organization in real life, and don't like it ("Like" it) on Facebook because they want their Facebook accounts kept personal.
One last point: whatever the medium for your social networking escapades, be sure to check the privacy policies, and adjust the settings to suit your preferences. Facebook, notoriously, changed the defaults on privacy settings without notifying users a couple of years ago. It created an angry mob of folks, sitting quietly in their respective computer chairs. That was a joke. But seriously, you can end up with a Google search-able profile, openly available, with all of your content exposed, if you don't pay attention. There are even settings for programs that your "Friends" use accessing your information, unless you reset them! No one with a Facebook account for personal use wants that. So just be careful! After we create new accounts, let's make sure to check the privacy settings. Facebook's explanation of theirs is here .
Happy networking!
Bee
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Thing 5: SlideShare & Online Presentation Sharing
Hello everyone!
Thing 5 is about online presentation sharing. Cool! I have never used Slideshare before; actually, I was unaware of its existence. Normally, when sharing presentations, I go with the Google Docs, to which you can upload files to the cloud ::ooooh, the cloud::: and send/share accordingly. This is equally excellent, though different, and much more share-friendly.
While I was bopping around on Slideshare, I found a wonderful presentation on Web 2.0 use in archives. Really great. It's by Arian Ravanbakhsh and Kate Theimer (who a mentor and the content writer for 23 Things!), and it has all sorts of links to examples of real use of the technologies addressed. This presentation discusses ArchivesBlogs, which I actually touched on in my Thing 4 entry, and it also has the same video about Web 2.0 that is included in 23 Things for Archivists' Thing 3 (also written by Kate Theimer). That was fun. I feel like I just unwrapped a little archivists puzzle. I looked at 4 or 5 presentations though-- this was far, far, better than the others. For real.
So in my quest for SlideShare comprehension, I wondered if Slideshare was compatible with Prezi. I hate to say it, but I think PowerPoint might be dying. It's still very popular, and definitely a solid presentation format, but how many ::yawn yawn:: text-filled PowerPoint presentations have we all sat through? To get the most out of PowerPoint, you really have to start using a lot of features. They're there for sure, but, for the love of all things stimulating, please let's get away from the 20 bullet-point-only slides. Has anyone ever used Prezi? It's a great tool that is as quick and simple to use as PowerPoint, but far more visually stimulating. Below is a copy of a Prezi about gaming in libraries, created in 2010 by me, Andrea Cronin, Rebecca Thompson, and Molly Bruce. Check it out-- and see if you think it's more interesting than a PP, despite that the content is largely similar to what we could have placed in a Powerpoint.
Gaming in Libraries
That was a long caveat. Backtracking-- I was trying to upload this presentation to my new Slideshare account, because it's one of my favorites, but it wouldn't convert the Prezi. The conversion program just took out all the pictures we used and made them into their own slides. I found this hysterical yet educational, after my little rant about the PowerPoint decline. The moral of the story, kids, is that this site isn't yet equipped to jump past PowerPoint, really. It will upload videos, though! But, it cannot handle the in-betweens of a dynamic presentation of static materials.
I am going back in search of a PowerPoint. I have been using Prezi for some time but I know there must be a PP in my recent scholastic past, and I shalt track it down, so that I, too, can become a contributing member of Slideshare. There may be a Tangent 5.1 in the future.
I really hope that the Prezi actually embeds when I hit "Publish Post". Otherwise I'm just going to link out to it. That's almost as boring as a bulleted PowerPoint slide. Sigh.
...Nope, it didn't. I wonder if it's possible to embed something into one entry, without embedding it into my entire blog framework for the rest of its existence. That's something to investigate for the future.
Okay, that's it! Happy presenting, friends and archivists!
Bee
Thing 5 is about online presentation sharing. Cool! I have never used Slideshare before; actually, I was unaware of its existence. Normally, when sharing presentations, I go with the Google Docs, to which you can upload files to the cloud ::ooooh, the cloud::: and send/share accordingly. This is equally excellent, though different, and much more share-friendly.
While I was bopping around on Slideshare, I found a wonderful presentation on Web 2.0 use in archives. Really great. It's by Arian Ravanbakhsh and Kate Theimer (who a mentor and the content writer for 23 Things!), and it has all sorts of links to examples of real use of the technologies addressed. This presentation discusses ArchivesBlogs, which I actually touched on in my Thing 4 entry, and it also has the same video about Web 2.0 that is included in 23 Things for Archivists' Thing 3 (also written by Kate Theimer). That was fun. I feel like I just unwrapped a little archivists puzzle. I looked at 4 or 5 presentations though-- this was far, far, better than the others. For real.
So in my quest for SlideShare comprehension, I wondered if Slideshare was compatible with Prezi. I hate to say it, but I think PowerPoint might be dying. It's still very popular, and definitely a solid presentation format, but how many ::yawn yawn:: text-filled PowerPoint presentations have we all sat through? To get the most out of PowerPoint, you really have to start using a lot of features. They're there for sure, but, for the love of all things stimulating, please let's get away from the 20 bullet-point-only slides. Has anyone ever used Prezi? It's a great tool that is as quick and simple to use as PowerPoint, but far more visually stimulating. Below is a copy of a Prezi about gaming in libraries, created in 2010 by me, Andrea Cronin, Rebecca Thompson, and Molly Bruce. Check it out-- and see if you think it's more interesting than a PP, despite that the content is largely similar to what we could have placed in a Powerpoint.
Gaming in Libraries
That was a long caveat. Backtracking-- I was trying to upload this presentation to my new Slideshare account, because it's one of my favorites, but it wouldn't convert the Prezi. The conversion program just took out all the pictures we used and made them into their own slides. I found this hysterical yet educational, after my little rant about the PowerPoint decline. The moral of the story, kids, is that this site isn't yet equipped to jump past PowerPoint, really. It will upload videos, though! But, it cannot handle the in-betweens of a dynamic presentation of static materials.
I am going back in search of a PowerPoint. I have been using Prezi for some time but I know there must be a PP in my recent scholastic past, and I shalt track it down, so that I, too, can become a contributing member of Slideshare. There may be a Tangent 5.1 in the future.
I really hope that the Prezi actually embeds when I hit "Publish Post". Otherwise I'm just going to link out to it. That's almost as boring as a bulleted PowerPoint slide. Sigh.
...Nope, it didn't. I wonder if it's possible to embed something into one entry, without embedding it into my entire blog framework for the rest of its existence. That's something to investigate for the future.
Okay, that's it! Happy presenting, friends and archivists!
Bee
Thing 4: Really Simple Syndication, or, the electronic Mob connection.
Hi everyone!
Thing 4 is about installing RSS feeds, which are extremely useful streamlining tools. A reader (either the person or the electronic apparatus) can import entries from other blogs or web pages to a single space, or, can subscribe to said information and have it stored to a single account page. Since I'm a Google/Gmail/Blogger user, I went with the Google Reader. I have never used Yahoo! Pipes, but they also sound like a worthwhile option. Personally, I didn't need to set up a 5th email account (wow, I need an RSS for my email), so I stuck with Google. For fun, I also added an RSS feed to this blog, in case anyone was interested.
I have a few subscriptions, but they are of a personal nature-- friends, travel blogs, and the blog of one Charles River Women's Rugby-- but I actually write that one so it's a little silly to subscribe to. My apologies, world. It's all a facade of popularity.
Anyway, setting up feed readers is super easy: all that is required is a URL and an account of some sort (blog, email, Google Reader, Yahoo! Pipes, etc.). In fact, Facebook also allows you to import one blog, so that blog entries import automatically as Notes to the linked Facebook account. If your archives/library has a Facebook account and a blog, you can import the blog so that the entries come up automatically. I don't have an archives website of my own to work with (yet!), but this is something that we do with the rugby blog as well, because Facebook receives far more attention than the blog as a stand-alone. Instructions for importing a blog into Facebook can be found here (you'll need to sign in). I have seen RSS feeds incorporated into job search blogs before; this is certainly a helpful way to streamline an otherwise overwhelming collection of sites and entries. Simmons College GSLIS has a great Jobs & Opportunities blog. I'd link to it, but it requires a password validation. There is also a Google Reader App for Android-- so if you're a Droider, you can get all this information sent right to your mobile, which is also super convenient but in tiny, tiny, print. Here's an entry about that in the Google Reader Blog. Yes, Google Reader has its own blog, meaning you can subscribe to a blog about subscribing to blogs. So...there's that.
I'm sure everyone and there mother went searching for archives blogs on the cue from 23 Things, and this is the first thing to pop up on everyone's favorite ubiquitous quick-search tool: Archivesblogs.com. It's about archives, and using readers to pull together from many different blogs. The list is very long. It's a good example of RSS in action. This is a Mob of archives blogs.
Happy syndicating, everyone!
Bee
Thing 4 is about installing RSS feeds, which are extremely useful streamlining tools. A reader (either the person or the electronic apparatus) can import entries from other blogs or web pages to a single space, or, can subscribe to said information and have it stored to a single account page. Since I'm a Google/Gmail/Blogger user, I went with the Google Reader. I have never used Yahoo! Pipes, but they also sound like a worthwhile option. Personally, I didn't need to set up a 5th email account (wow, I need an RSS for my email), so I stuck with Google. For fun, I also added an RSS feed to this blog, in case anyone was interested.
I have a few subscriptions, but they are of a personal nature-- friends, travel blogs, and the blog of one Charles River Women's Rugby-- but I actually write that one so it's a little silly to subscribe to. My apologies, world. It's all a facade of popularity.
Anyway, setting up feed readers is super easy: all that is required is a URL and an account of some sort (blog, email, Google Reader, Yahoo! Pipes, etc.). In fact, Facebook also allows you to import one blog, so that blog entries import automatically as Notes to the linked Facebook account. If your archives/library has a Facebook account and a blog, you can import the blog so that the entries come up automatically. I don't have an archives website of my own to work with (yet!), but this is something that we do with the rugby blog as well, because Facebook receives far more attention than the blog as a stand-alone. Instructions for importing a blog into Facebook can be found here (you'll need to sign in). I have seen RSS feeds incorporated into job search blogs before; this is certainly a helpful way to streamline an otherwise overwhelming collection of sites and entries. Simmons College GSLIS has a great Jobs & Opportunities blog. I'd link to it, but it requires a password validation. There is also a Google Reader App for Android-- so if you're a Droider, you can get all this information sent right to your mobile, which is also super convenient but in tiny, tiny, print. Here's an entry about that in the Google Reader Blog. Yes, Google Reader has its own blog, meaning you can subscribe to a blog about subscribing to blogs. So...there's that.
I'm sure everyone and there mother went searching for archives blogs on the cue from 23 Things, and this is the first thing to pop up on everyone's favorite ubiquitous quick-search tool: Archivesblogs.com. It's about archives, and using readers to pull together from many different blogs. The list is very long. It's a good example of RSS in action. This is a Mob of archives blogs.
Happy syndicating, everyone!
Bee
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tangent 3.1
THIS JUST IN!
Before finishing writing up my Thing 3 entry, I learned about the first Wikipedia in Higher Education Summit, which will be held at Simmons College this July 6-8! This is a timely coincidence given today's investigation into Web 2.0 initiatives in archives, and the aforementioned see-saw of advantages and disadvantages resulting from 2.0 implementation! Check out the Wikimedia Foundation Report Public Policy Initiative or the Outreach Page for more information.
Here, also, is an interesting opinion article on embracing Wikipedia in higher education, in which Professor Mark A. Wilson (Geology, College of Wooster) advocates for academics to become active, registered editors on Wikpedia. ...For you to take or leave. He does claim (re: advent of Wikpedia) that "librarians were right: the world has not been the same since". Of course we were. Boom.
Before finishing writing up my Thing 3 entry, I learned about the first Wikipedia in Higher Education Summit, which will be held at Simmons College this July 6-8! This is a timely coincidence given today's investigation into Web 2.0 initiatives in archives, and the aforementioned see-saw of advantages and disadvantages resulting from 2.0 implementation! Check out the Wikimedia Foundation Report Public Policy Initiative or the Outreach Page for more information.
Here, also, is an interesting opinion article on embracing Wikipedia in higher education, in which Professor Mark A. Wilson (Geology, College of Wooster) advocates for academics to become active, registered editors on Wikpedia. ...For you to take or leave. He does claim (re: advent of Wikpedia) that "librarians were right: the world has not been the same since". Of course we were. Boom.
Thing 3.0: Web 2.0
Hi all!
Thing 3 of 23 Things for Archivists is an introduction, or, re-introduction, really, to Web 2.0. At this juncture, it seems challenging to even remember the Web as it was, the World Wide Web, the baby of Tim Berners-Lee. That Web is still kicking, but now it's got fancy, fancy, customizable shoes on. The Interactive Archivist (posted by 23 Things), calls Web 2.0 an "interactive environment where users have the ability to create content as easily as they consume it. Web 2.0 is often referred to as the read/write Web or the living Web". As Archivists, we should all understand and value these changes to user-centric venues of communication. We, after all, specialize in users, and in communication.
So, there might be a downside to the We the People of Internet technology [insert Wikipedia horror stories--and that site is heavily monitored, even]. Sometimes, as we know, the quality of that information can lose the luster of Archivist-controlled accuracy and specificity. Is less more? Or is more more? These are the questions. Youtube, Facebook, Mobiles in the library/archives: friend or foe? Like most anything, the answer lies in purposing the tools and information. These technologies give archivists the opportunity to share collections, and to facilitate user interaction in an otherwise practically-impenetrable locale. It can lessen that intimidation factor. IM tools are arguably leading to the rapid degeneration of the English language. However, they're also leading to connectivity, to visibility, to, presumably, a little public lovin' for your hidden-away gem in the non-climate-controlled basement of the historic home of Admiral Important Guy. Imagine a virtual tour of your archives up on Youtube, for example. Or a tutorial about your regulations, your collections, and/or archives in general, to which you can refer patrons before they come in. Look, even Thing 3 was a video! This is 2.0-- my blog, your blog, the Meebo box--and it is giving us the power to communicate. It isn't a lecture; it's a discussion.
The Interactive Archivist discusses "Wikinomics", which is composed of openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally. Considering that the virtual world is blipping right on into Web 3.0, archivists better start passing the ketchup. And imagine all the interactivity and collaborations we could have between institutions and related collections! Yippee!
Also, love this Interactive Archivist posting of case studies in Web 2.0. ...Except maybe the tough love on a Facebook fail for SAA (wohhh wohhhh). We'll get 'em next time.
Happy Webbing!
Bee
Thing 3 of 23 Things for Archivists is an introduction, or, re-introduction, really, to Web 2.0. At this juncture, it seems challenging to even remember the Web as it was, the World Wide Web, the baby of Tim Berners-Lee. That Web is still kicking, but now it's got fancy, fancy, customizable shoes on. The Interactive Archivist (posted by 23 Things), calls Web 2.0 an "interactive environment where users have the ability to create content as easily as they consume it. Web 2.0 is often referred to as the read/write Web or the living Web". As Archivists, we should all understand and value these changes to user-centric venues of communication. We, after all, specialize in users, and in communication.
So, there might be a downside to the We the People of Internet technology [insert Wikipedia horror stories--and that site is heavily monitored, even]. Sometimes, as we know, the quality of that information can lose the luster of Archivist-controlled accuracy and specificity. Is less more? Or is more more? These are the questions. Youtube, Facebook, Mobiles in the library/archives: friend or foe? Like most anything, the answer lies in purposing the tools and information. These technologies give archivists the opportunity to share collections, and to facilitate user interaction in an otherwise practically-impenetrable locale. It can lessen that intimidation factor. IM tools are arguably leading to the rapid degeneration of the English language. However, they're also leading to connectivity, to visibility, to, presumably, a little public lovin' for your hidden-away gem in the non-climate-controlled basement of the historic home of Admiral Important Guy. Imagine a virtual tour of your archives up on Youtube, for example. Or a tutorial about your regulations, your collections, and/or archives in general, to which you can refer patrons before they come in. Look, even Thing 3 was a video! This is 2.0-- my blog, your blog, the Meebo box--and it is giving us the power to communicate. It isn't a lecture; it's a discussion.
The Interactive Archivist discusses "Wikinomics", which is composed of openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally. Considering that the virtual world is blipping right on into Web 3.0, archivists better start passing the ketchup. And imagine all the interactivity and collaborations we could have between institutions and related collections! Yippee!
Also, love this Interactive Archivist posting of case studies in Web 2.0. ...Except maybe the tough love on a Facebook fail for SAA (wohhh wohhhh). We'll get 'em next time.
Happy Webbing!
Bee
Monday, June 13, 2011
Thing 2: Architalk the MeeboMe
Adventures in Meebo!
It took me a few tries to get the widget going in Blogger, but there she is. -----> [sidebar]
This Meebo Widget (called "MeeboMe") can be embedded here in my Blog, somewhere else in your Blog, or on a web page. There is also a mobile edition! Pretty neat. I have a lot of IM experience but have never used Meebo. It's a pretty amazing tool-- especially for an institution (historical society, library, company) with multiple chat IDs on different platforms. From this one program, administrators can link a Facebook chat, a Google Talk, an AIM, a Yahoo!, a Windows Live, A Myspace, an ICQ, A Jabber, a Fixster, and about 40 more platforms that I have never even heard of. BAM! This is a great way to be able to connect to most users across all the most popular platforms that they might be running. I made a joke about archives-on-archives in my last entry-- similarly, this is a MEGACHAT.
Placement/location of this chat box for an archives might be a wee bit tricky. I probably would not place it on a Facebook page, because fewer patrons use Facebook than the World Wide Web when visiting institutions online, still. What do you do when you want to find information on a place? Most likely, you go to Google, and find the institutions website indirectly though a Google search (or one from another engine). In some cases, you might know the URL already, and could go directly to the site. Social Networking is up and coming as Socio-Business-Education networking, agreed, but there are still the residual Warehouse-of-Pictures-From-College-That-I-Don't-Want-My-Mom-to-See roots, which are, essentially, how Facebook got its start. It might be helpful to have a chat box on your institution's Facebook page, but maybe not the sole venue for IM. Additionally, a Facebook account can be pulled into Meebo anyways, right? This means your users chouls be able to contact you from Facebook even if someone is not actively navigating the page.
I like the idea of placing the chat box in the online catalog, which is probably the resource that remote users are most seeking from a library/institution website. This requires, of course, that there be an online catalog. The web page also seems to me to be a good spot. Can all three be done? If you've got the capability for Apps, the Mobile access is where it's at now and in the immediate foreseeable future. Go, Mobile Meebo!
Happy chatting, everyone!
Bee
It took me a few tries to get the widget going in Blogger, but there she is. -----> [sidebar]
This Meebo Widget (called "MeeboMe") can be embedded here in my Blog, somewhere else in your Blog, or on a web page. There is also a mobile edition! Pretty neat. I have a lot of IM experience but have never used Meebo. It's a pretty amazing tool-- especially for an institution (historical society, library, company) with multiple chat IDs on different platforms. From this one program, administrators can link a Facebook chat, a Google Talk, an AIM, a Yahoo!, a Windows Live, A Myspace, an ICQ, A Jabber, a Fixster, and about 40 more platforms that I have never even heard of. BAM! This is a great way to be able to connect to most users across all the most popular platforms that they might be running. I made a joke about archives-on-archives in my last entry-- similarly, this is a MEGACHAT.
Placement/location of this chat box for an archives might be a wee bit tricky. I probably would not place it on a Facebook page, because fewer patrons use Facebook than the World Wide Web when visiting institutions online, still. What do you do when you want to find information on a place? Most likely, you go to Google, and find the institutions website indirectly though a Google search (or one from another engine). In some cases, you might know the URL already, and could go directly to the site. Social Networking is up and coming as Socio-Business-Education networking, agreed, but there are still the residual Warehouse-of-Pictures-From-College-That-I-Don't-Want-My-Mom-to-See roots, which are, essentially, how Facebook got its start. It might be helpful to have a chat box on your institution's Facebook page, but maybe not the sole venue for IM. Additionally, a Facebook account can be pulled into Meebo anyways, right? This means your users chouls be able to contact you from Facebook even if someone is not actively navigating the page.
I like the idea of placing the chat box in the online catalog, which is probably the resource that remote users are most seeking from a library/institution website. This requires, of course, that there be an online catalog. The web page also seems to me to be a good spot. Can all three be done? If you've got the capability for Apps, the Mobile access is where it's at now and in the immediate foreseeable future. Go, Mobile Meebo!
Happy chatting, everyone!
Bee
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Thing 1: This thing.
Greetings, friends and fellow archivists, information specialists, and librarians, library students, lions and tigers, and bears, oh my!
This Blog represents Thing #1 of 23 Things for Archivists 2011, an online self-paced education program from the Society of American Archivists Reference, Access, and Outreach Section.
::cue inspirational music::
Together, we will be embarking upon a journey of web tool investigation, attempting to make ourselves better aligned with the future of our profession, yippee! I'm excited.
Thing #1: create blog, i.e., This Thing. I have spent many a loquacious hour on Blogger. I love this tool. It's simple, aesthetically pleasing (or not, if you want to go all navy blue & black on your readers), and is part of an enormous network of Blogs covering every possible topic, genre, disposition, and level of professionalism. And, since Google purchased Blogger, you can now run everything from your regular old Gmail address, and feel way more productive than when you're using it to sneak onto GChat secretly at work. The tool will automatically archive all your posts, making this a potential archive of archives, or metaarchive. ::Nerd Alert:: Writers and readers alike can connect on all pithy points of interest, inter-link, include pictures, videos, sound clips, export to social media sites, import other blogs or web material automatically-- and all without having to stop and scream into an empty Hollinger box in frustration. I wrote a paper in 2010 about the essentiality of archiving Blog content, because I handily believe that Blogs are the diaries of the contemporary world. But, as this project reveals, they are, too, tools of the modern archival profession.
About me.
Since my actual Blogger "About Me" (previously created) is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the dictionary definition of "me":
My name is Sarah. I am a graduate student at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science of Boston, Massachusetts. I have an Archives Management Concentration, which brings me here. When I'm not in class, I work at a medium-sized branch of giant international corporation, volunteer on a Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners grant project in Lexington, and do some contract work at the up-and-coming Wellesley Historical Society. I also write for Charles River Rugby. And, like all of you, I'm sure, I love to read and love to learn.
Here's to an enriching, educational archival enterprise.
Best wishes, everyone!
Sarah
They call me "Bee".
This Blog represents Thing #1 of 23 Things for Archivists 2011, an online self-paced education program from the Society of American Archivists Reference, Access, and Outreach Section.
::cue inspirational music::
Together, we will be embarking upon a journey of web tool investigation, attempting to make ourselves better aligned with the future of our profession, yippee! I'm excited.
Thing #1: create blog, i.e., This Thing. I have spent many a loquacious hour on Blogger. I love this tool. It's simple, aesthetically pleasing (or not, if you want to go all navy blue & black on your readers), and is part of an enormous network of Blogs covering every possible topic, genre, disposition, and level of professionalism. And, since Google purchased Blogger, you can now run everything from your regular old Gmail address, and feel way more productive than when you're using it to sneak onto GChat secretly at work. The tool will automatically archive all your posts, making this a potential archive of archives, or metaarchive. ::Nerd Alert:: Writers and readers alike can connect on all pithy points of interest, inter-link, include pictures, videos, sound clips, export to social media sites, import other blogs or web material automatically-- and all without having to stop and scream into an empty Hollinger box in frustration. I wrote a paper in 2010 about the essentiality of archiving Blog content, because I handily believe that Blogs are the diaries of the contemporary world. But, as this project reveals, they are, too, tools of the modern archival profession.
About me.
Since my actual Blogger "About Me" (previously created) is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the dictionary definition of "me":
My name is Sarah. I am a graduate student at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science of Boston, Massachusetts. I have an Archives Management Concentration, which brings me here. When I'm not in class, I work at a medium-sized branch of giant international corporation, volunteer on a Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners grant project in Lexington, and do some contract work at the up-and-coming Wellesley Historical Society. I also write for Charles River Rugby. And, like all of you, I'm sure, I love to read and love to learn.
Here's to an enriching, educational archival enterprise.
Best wishes, everyone!
Sarah
They call me "Bee".
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