Week 12: Wrap up; social networks and catch up

Welcome to week 12 – this is the last week of lessons in our Learning 2.0 program. We’ve been on quite a journey together and we hope that you have found it rewarding.




Discover: So what is social networking?
You have probably heard of Facebook and MySpace, they are just two examples of social networking services. There is a quick videoclip from the Commoncraft show which introduces the idea of social networking online.
See this map from LeMonde which shows the popularity of different services around the world.

Explore: How can libraries use social networking services?
Seb Chan at the Powerhouse Museum spotted an article that considers how social networking services can be used for research, marketing, sales, support and development applications and makes the link to the sorts of services we provide in the museum and library world.





There are some interesting examples of social networking in action for you to consider:

• Some interesting work in the UK is developing 'Communities of Practice' for local government which “are an attempt, according to their creators, to harness the power of social networking to share problems, ideas and expertise.”
• East Renfrewshire Council in Scotland using Facebook to boost its libraries and sports centres.
• The ALIA symposium Beyond the Hype: web 2.0 used ning to build a community for the event
• This article from NewsGrist discusses the rationale behind museums social networking
• The British Library is in Facebook
• Rotorua Public Library is on Bebo
• Coshocton Public Library uses MySpace to promote their Animanga Club
• The American Library Association’s MySpace page includes a Meebo widget to contact them, embedded videos of recent events, more than 4,000 friends and highlights from their blogs.
  
  

But what about libraries in Second Life?
Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. It is inhabited by avatars and yes, there are libraries and even library islands! You can find out much more from the Second Life Library Project.

Consider in your blog possibilities for your library using social networking for client interaction, marketing and networking opportunities.

Feedback:
This week’s adventure is spending a few minutes giving us your feedback about the program via: completing the feedback survey
Please complete this form to let us know you have completed this program. (added 29 May)

Congratulations on successfully completing your mission of discovery.

Where to now?
You can continue with learning 2.1