Hi everyone!
Woohoo, widgets! Widgets are spectacularly useful. They're sort like the kid from the popular group that you invite to your party for status. With a widget, you can take information from one site (like your Twitter account, Facebook account, chat, or something else random), and place it in a different site. We actually already did this when we looked at Meebo, and I embedded the MeeboMe widget on the blog. [--->]
I've also got a counter on here, and a link to follow me on Twitter @Archivisitation.
From Twitter, you can install a widget that will display your most recent Tweets. This can be added to a site or to Facebook. It's a great way to get more of your repository's networking directly accessible from a single location (your site, Facebook page, etc.). Also from Twitter, you can add a widget that will search Tweets, one that will display your favorite Tweets, or one that will display your favorite followers. Any of these would be helpful for engaging folks into the online community of the repository. From Facebook, you can add a Profile Badge or a Page Badge to your site, and this will let people know that you have a presence on Facebook. It's definitely more noticeable than a link. If your repository is on LibraryThing, or your repository is part of a library that is, you can add a LibraryThing account widget that will display your favorite books, or a particular collection, or books with reviews. This widget would be a great way to get those staff recommendations out of the stacks and into your online community. The LibraryThing widget is also customizable. This 3jam widget allows users to send a message to a mobile account, without exposing the phone number. It could be helpful if your repository does text/SMS reference. This widget from del.icio.us allows you to display your new links-- which could connect users with related collections, other repositories, information about your or other archives, etc. Google has all sorts of widgets/"web elements" that can be tacked onto a site. The Maps widget could be helpful for pointing out the origination of a collection or document. ...And there are many more widget suggestions on Stan Shroeder's article, recommended by 23 Things.
These are another way to engage users and to make the archives visible. An invisible archives falls quickly by the wayside, and this technology is usually free, except for the cost of labor and upkeep. If your repository has the time and means (or, okay, realistically, can make the time or means), then networking can reap real, tangible benefits for your repository, staff, and patrons.
Showing posts with label Professional Networking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Professional Networking. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Thing 7: Professional Networking
Oops. Looks like I jumped the gun on discussing LinkedIn on the last Thing. So HERE we are with professional networking. Different from social networking. I was actually trying to address the separation of personal and professional in the last Thing, and I ended up conflating discussion into one entry. I find this often happens in the world of online networking anyway, however, so we will let this one slide. Some overlap is inherent and inevitable, especially if a user is extremely active through both (or multiple) networks.
I am excited about this task, because, as I mentioned in Thing 6, I was actively working on my LinkedIn profile already. I just sent out an inquiry to someone who once offered to review resumes. While my employment status is currently active, I have had many changes in the past year-- pursuit of a Master's, internships, volunteer work, contractual employment in a historical society, additional professional memberships, etc., etc. In order to make a complete profile, I have been recently engaged in updating my resume as well-- a tall task in itself. This Thing, LinkedIn, is one to be carefully crafted and thoughtfully tended. Especially for those of us transitioning, or soon to be in transition, professional networking is an absolute must.
I have kicked off the account, but also have taken a lot of extra time crafting. The picture, surprisingly, was a bit of a project. I ended up taking one with my laptop at home and uploading it. In unrelated news, LinkedIn has an import option, which extracts data from an uploaded resume. I tried this also, but found that I really had to do more tweaking than it was worth to just hand-type. You know, formatting woes across platforms, always and forever.
LinkedIn wonderfully provides a venue for professional connectivity. However, as I am sure is the case with most everyone else as well, my friends started seeking me out for connections as soon as I created a profile. This melding of the personal and the professional leads to an interesting question: where do we draw that line? In an expose (accent on the "e"), of immaculate timing, there is, currently, a conversation going on through the ALA LinkedIn group on this exact topic. It's called, not shockingly, Personal/Professional Networking; is there a line between?, and it was started by user "Leif". You have to be a member to view it I believe, but why not join. We're all in the libraryish field, are we not? The group is open to join as long as you are able to state your purpose to the admin.
Most responses on this chain agree that accounts should be kept separate. It can be a challenge, though, especially when one ends up creating 14 accounts so that he or she can enjoy the connectivity of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SlideShare, and others, for both personal and professional networking. I was recently invited by a colleague to join "Google Plus" too, and to be perfectly honest, I have not even looked at what it is yet. I suppose I have to decide the nature of these accounts first, no? It seems overwhelming though, and it's definitely a bit of a philosophical battle as well-- be left behind, or be overwhelmed? Invisibility is death for a business, or library, or an archives, and perhaps it is so for a person as well (socially and professionally?). But, then, of course, time and resources must necessarily be expended to maintain all of the information sharing. I, for one, am going to take a deep breath and continue the expedition. If anyone has any Information Overload repellent packed in his Blog, do share.
Happy hunting, archivists!
I am excited about this task, because, as I mentioned in Thing 6, I was actively working on my LinkedIn profile already. I just sent out an inquiry to someone who once offered to review resumes. While my employment status is currently active, I have had many changes in the past year-- pursuit of a Master's, internships, volunteer work, contractual employment in a historical society, additional professional memberships, etc., etc. In order to make a complete profile, I have been recently engaged in updating my resume as well-- a tall task in itself. This Thing, LinkedIn, is one to be carefully crafted and thoughtfully tended. Especially for those of us transitioning, or soon to be in transition, professional networking is an absolute must.
I have kicked off the account, but also have taken a lot of extra time crafting. The picture, surprisingly, was a bit of a project. I ended up taking one with my laptop at home and uploading it. In unrelated news, LinkedIn has an import option, which extracts data from an uploaded resume. I tried this also, but found that I really had to do more tweaking than it was worth to just hand-type. You know, formatting woes across platforms, always and forever.
LinkedIn wonderfully provides a venue for professional connectivity. However, as I am sure is the case with most everyone else as well, my friends started seeking me out for connections as soon as I created a profile. This melding of the personal and the professional leads to an interesting question: where do we draw that line? In an expose (accent on the "e"), of immaculate timing, there is, currently, a conversation going on through the ALA LinkedIn group on this exact topic. It's called, not shockingly, Personal/Professional Networking; is there a line between?, and it was started by user "Leif". You have to be a member to view it I believe, but why not join. We're all in the libraryish field, are we not? The group is open to join as long as you are able to state your purpose to the admin.
Most responses on this chain agree that accounts should be kept separate. It can be a challenge, though, especially when one ends up creating 14 accounts so that he or she can enjoy the connectivity of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SlideShare, and others, for both personal and professional networking. I was recently invited by a colleague to join "Google Plus" too, and to be perfectly honest, I have not even looked at what it is yet. I suppose I have to decide the nature of these accounts first, no? It seems overwhelming though, and it's definitely a bit of a philosophical battle as well-- be left behind, or be overwhelmed? Invisibility is death for a business, or library, or an archives, and perhaps it is so for a person as well (socially and professionally?). But, then, of course, time and resources must necessarily be expended to maintain all of the information sharing. I, for one, am going to take a deep breath and continue the expedition. If anyone has any Information Overload repellent packed in his Blog, do share.
Happy hunting, archivists!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)