Technology has become a large part of our world. Librarians know that if they want to stay in business, they must embrace this change by keeping up with the latest technological advances and offering those opportunities to their clients. A few ways librarians are embracing technology are by using Web 2.0, blogging and micro blogging, and, for the younger crowd, by incorporating digital storytelling.
Web 2.0 allows users to change information found on websites. Examples are Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and various wikis and blogs. Mariela's Life with 2.0 is a blog that shows a librarian's experience offering these features to her library clients: middle and high school students.
Blogging and micro blogging is huge on the Internet, and a librarian from Veteran Park Academy offers her clients, 4th - 8th graders, a website were they can ask questions, view the librarian's Twitter feed, check out what's going on in the library, and subscribe for updates via email.
Digital storytelling can be used for reading, connecting with distant schools, creating interest in books, expanding on other texts, showcasing images and videos or creating animations.
For more information on the importance of integrating technology into the library, see Library 2.0 at Your Library by Dr. Bishop (Region IV).
Library2.0 for Region IV June 2007
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Technology has become a large part of our world. Librarians know that if they want to stay in business, they must embrace this change by keeping up with the latest technological advances and offering those opportunities to their clients. A few of the ways librarians are embracing technology are by using Web 2.0, blogging and micro blogging, and, for the younger crowd, by incorporating digital storytelling.
ReplyDeleteWeb 2.0 is a phenomenon that is taking over the Internet. The term Web 2.0 refers to any website that allows users to interact with websites rather just passively thumb through and read them. Web 2.0 allows users to change the information on a website. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, video-sharing sites like YouTube, and wikis and blogs are just a few examples sweeping the Internet. “Mariela’s life with 2.0” is a blog that shows a librarian’s experience offering these features to her library clients, middle and high school students. Mariela discusses a new “Teen Scene website” created by the youth librarian. The website has “flashy colors, bright pictures, and short bolded phrases” in order to appeal to a younger crown. The librarian has given students the ability to “link to pictures.” There’s also a Facebook page where students can become fans ("Mariela's life with 2.0," 2009).
Blogging and micro blogging is huge on the Internet, and a librarian at Veteran Park Academy offers her clients, 4th – 8th graders, a website where they can ask questions of the librarian from a distance, view the library’s Twitter feed, check out what’s going on in the library, and subscribe for updates via email. The most unique feature of this website is the “Ask Ur Librarian” feature. Students are able to see if the librarian is online or not and can ask a question for immediate feedback if she’s there or ask a question for her to answer when she returns if she’s not there. This librarian gives booktalks via her blog which allows students to read and comment on the booktalk at their leisure (Hanson, 2008). This is good for several reasons. Some students don’t want to sit through an entire booktalk, some are just not interested in the books the librarian is pushing, and some may miss the talk all together because of another engagement. Blogging the talk allows students that are interested in the subject matter of the book to read the talk when they are ready to and also comment as they feel necessary. Commenting on a blog is much less stressful than doing so in person. Many students feel shy or nervous in public and will not respond when asked a question. However, on a blog, the child feels much less pressure because no one is there judging what the child is saying.
Digital Storytelling “allows [the librarian] to teach information literacy skills, reading, writing, and a whole host of subject-related skills in the process” using the format students are most comfortable with – technology ("Digital storytelling," 2010). Digital storytelling can be used for reading, connecting with distant schools, creating interest in books, expand on other texts, showcase images and videos, or create animations ("Digital storytelling," 2010). There are several resources available for creating a digital story. There are image, audio, machinima, and much more. This seems like an awesome resource for librarians and students alike. Librarians can use it to involve students in reading while students can use it to show off what they’ve read.
Because this technology has become available, librarians must embrace these opportunities to keep clients interested in coming to the library by making it a fun place with the latest technological advances. Web 2.0, blogging and micro blogging, and digital storytelling are just a few of the ways to make the library the place to be.
Jennifer noted:Librarians know that if they want to stay in business, they must embrace this change by keeping up with the latest technological advances and offering those opportunities to their clients. I concur with Jennifers statement. The key to technology working globally for everyone is to make sure that the latest in technology is available to those who want to use it. Libraies offer so much in the form of books that one day there may not be room to accommodate all the books and here again technology can step in and save the day. E-books is fast becoming a great way for readers to enjoy their favorite books without have to lug around heavy books, several universities are also offering e-books for classroom usage rather than investing all that money in hard cover books. I find your article helpful, infomative and interesing- great job!!
ReplyDeleteHave you read "Brave New World?" What will happen when all the books are digitized and their contents can be changed by pressing a button? Chances are that history will be rewritten on a daily basis to please whoever might be in charge of a government. It is a possible "unintended consequence" of technology innovation.
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