Thanks for Spreading the Word – Twitter & Raising Funds for LFPL

Image via CrunchBase

For those who don’t understand how things like Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed and blogs can help you get your message (be it an individual or a company/organization) let me give you a perfect example from yesterday.

Steve Lawson posted a blog entry on See Also trying to raise money to help the Louisville Free Public Library.  Folks who subscribe to his RSS feed I’m sure saw this post, as well as those who searched and stumbled upon it that way but I love how we all jumped on this and spread the news.

My original Tweet:

mlibrarianusLet’s Flood Them With Cash: I know the economic times pull on everyone’s purse strings.  What I̵.. http://bit.ly/yFnHq

Then my followers retweeted (thanks to them all for helping to spread the word):

eclasperRT @AtYourLibrary: RT @mlibrarianus: Louisville Free Public Lib is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today http://twurl.nl/uumkmn

thesheckRT @mlibrarianus: Louisville Free Public Lib is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can http://twurl.nl/uumkmn #libraries

AtYourLibraryRT @mlibrarianus: Louisville Free Public Lib is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can http://twurl.nl/uumkmn

prattlibraryRT @mlibrarianus Louisville Free PL in desperate need – is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can: http://twurl.nl/uumkm

Grants_PrattRT @mlibrarianus Louisville Free PL in desperate need – is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can: http://twurl.nl/uumkm

JobCenter_PrattRT @mlibrarianus Louisville Free PL in desperate need – is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can: http://twurl.nl/uumkmn

calimaeLouisville Free Public Library is under more than 3 ft of water – donate today if you can http://twurl.nl/uumkmn (via @mlibrarianus)

TuphlosRT @TaraLSF RT @mlibrarianus Support Your Library – keep Louisville Free Public Library in mind. They are under water – need your help

TaraLSFRT @mlibrarianus Support Your Library – keep Louisville Free Public Library in mind. They are under water – need your help to recover h …

My followers added their own original Tweets or retweeted other to spread the word:

gregschwartz http://twitpic.com/cujvz – Today’s first pic

TaraLSFRT @amandamcneil How to donate to the Louisville Library ($1mil in damages): http://bit.ly/yrkVm

TaraLSFRT @yo_bj RT: @TheRepoRat: Help Louisville Free Public Library, devastated by flash flooding: http://bit.ly/tJea7

mlibrarianus#fb New blog post Let’s Flood Them With Cash: I know the economic times pull on everyone&.. http://bit.ly/yFnHq

cjburnsRT @czamm: Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH – LSW raising funds

librarianbydayLouisville Free Public Library Needs Your Help http://bit.ly/tJea7

mir_bRT @gregschwartz Watching the h2o being poured out of our servers. Depressing. and http://twitpic.com/cujvz – Today’s first pic #lfplflood

mir_bRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH (LSW fundraiser) #lfplflood

cindiRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH

ellbeeceeRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH (LSW fundraiser)

mir_bLouisville Free Public Library, hang in there. #lfplflood

gregschwartzWatching the h2o being poured out of our servers. Depressing.

joshuamneffRT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH

TaraLSFRT @Jill_HW Flood devastation at Louisville (KY) Free Public Library from @gregschwartz http://twitpic.com/cujvz

Jill_HWFlood devastation at Louisville (KY) Free Public Library from @gregschwartz http://twitpic.com/cujvz

libraryfutureRT @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

laurabottsHelp the flooded Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8

beccalovesbooksReading about the Louisville Free Public Library and their damage from the rain. I wish there were something I could physically do to help!

jambinaRT @cpellegr: The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

lisacarlucciRT @libraryfuture @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word!

BillDrew4RT @cjburns: RT @czamm: Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH – LSW raising funds

millerlibrarianRT @libraryfuture RT @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

kenleyneufeldFwd: Let’s raise $5k for Louisville Public Library in the name of the LSW – http://bit.ly/DTj2K (via… [pic] http://ff.im/-6cMjG

kenleyneufeldFor you non-librarian types, the Louisville PL was flooded yesterday. Help out with a small/large donation at http://bit.ly/DTj2K

cclibrarian#Librarian Feeds reading:Louisville: Can A Plague of Locusts Be Far Behind? http://bit.ly/DkyU7

baldgeekinmdRT @cpellegr The LSW is helping out the Louisville Free Public Library: http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8 Spread the word.

HoCo_Library Help out! Louisville Public Library hit hard by rain and flood. To read more and to donate http://bit.ly/3kb2NN

Jill_HWLet’s raise $5,000 for Louisville Public Library in the name of the LSW – http://tinyurl.com/lc42u8

codslapHelp the Louisville free Public Lib. They had a huge flood. http://bit.ly/3vaf6V Let’s see if we can meet the LSW donation goal of $5,000.

http://twitpic.com/cvorn – My (former?) officegregschwartz

And others I don’t even know got into the act

wfplnews WFPL The Edit: LFPL Closed All Week: The Louisville Free Public Library’s main branch downtown wil.. http://bit.ly/bFral

wfplnews WFPL The Edit: Eat A Pie For The Library: @michellej at Consuming Louisville has started taking ma.. http://bit.ly/oQWxa

AriThatcher Help the Louisville Free Public Library recover from flood damage http://bit.ly/S8edr

Jen_Cook RT @TeresaMedeiros: Book drive 2 help out Louisville Free Public Library-flooded yesterday-massive damage. http://bit.ly/GkZNK

RainyDayBooks RT Help the Louisville Free Public Library out. http://bit.ly/3vaf6V . You don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.

Achilles_healin @joshuamneff Donated, sir. … RT @czamm Louisville Free Public Library needs your help http://icanhaz.com/LFPLNYH

Steve reported today that $600 has already been raised (less than 24 hours after posting his blog entry).  Thank you to all who helped spread the word and more importantly to those who contributed to a very worthy cause.

Let’s Flood Them With Cash

I know the economic times pull on everyone’s purse strings.  What I’m hoping is this will pull on everyone’s heart strings and maybe release a few purse strings as well.

Can you imagine coming home to your computer, books, TV, furniture and other beloved items under more than 3 feet of water?!  That is exactly what happened to the Louisville Free Public Library.   Fellow IT and Library friend, Greg Schwartz alerted us to the very devastating news via Twitter updates and Twitpic.  Their data center, mechanical room (for HVAC) and holding area for the books was just obliterated.

Library Society of the World is trying to raise $5,000 by September 1.  To find out more about and to contribute please read Steve Lawson’s blog post.

My heart (and my wallet) go out to all the employees, customers/ patrons/users of this library.  I hope you can come back even bigger and better than you were before.

TweetStats and Wordle

I’ve plugged my name in to TweetStats before but I never went to the TweetCloud before.  Interesting to see how my tweets look visually.  My top tweeted words are new, post, fm, blip, ♫ which is interesting considering I don’t use the musical symbol at all.  You can then take the TweetCloud and go to Wordle – so of course I did and here is how it looks.

Manage Your Profile Socially

Social Network Profile Management

Michael Porter, Greg Schwartz, Sarah Hougton-Jan, and Amanda Clay Powers

Another attempt at live blogging.

Each presenter is going to talk for 5 mins.

Who are you online? Identity – what I say about me – what others say about me

Digital identity mapping – not just expression, reputation, crumbs of other stuff to form digital identity

Google search your name plugged in.  You don’t own it – can’t control it but you can influence it

#1 tip own your user name – establish presence online – stick to a user name that works for you – checkusernames.com

#2 – join the conversation – the part is what you say about you need to participate don’t just sit on the sidelines

#3 other half of that is listen – what are others saying about you – search to see what people are saying about you

#4 be authentic – no persona – about connecting that online presence with the real one

Amanda is next – ask anyone who saw this about Michael Stevens and sowing his seed.

What are we doing here anyway?  Social networking isn’t new or strange people have been telling their stories for some time.  We know how to help people manage identity because we know how to manage data.

Educate people about what they are doing – help them be more secure in using their online identity.

People aren’t seeing the librarians as the experts on social networks – if only they knew!  Sounds like we need to educate them a bit.   Make your profile the way you want it to be – privacy settings.

Sarah Houghton-Jan

Library Social Networks Profiles – The Good, The bad, and The Ugly

Managing your identity as the library – official page.

uniform usernames – uniform generic email – profile information on site is current

quick replies to comments

personal tone – not stuffy, be yourself “not the library”, give it some personality

keep it open to all (doesn’t matter where someone lives – let them in)

Do not do

random strange usernames

individual emails

no profile info on site or out of date

slow or no replies to users

stuffy institutional tone

select friends (shutting down opportunities)

You can either over or under manage your library’s social network profiles.  Don’t fall into either trap.  Don’t let it fall on one person like the web master – across the institution.

Facebook, other social networking sites – can be professional no personal  – can be used in all sorts of ways – use all the options

CheckUsernames.com

Open ID and ClaimID – important

Ping.fm or Hellotxt.com to update multiple networks

AtomKeep – update all social network profile info in one shot

Now Michael Porter

Webjuntion.org

Libraryman!

Webjunction a community site for librarians and library staff – not closed but not really people who aren’t library related coming in and adding profiles.

All the fields you can control who can see them.  You have more options to control who sees what about your profile.

Do’s

Make funny pics using swag or stickers

tweet about the workshop you are doing

show your personality – librarians are fun, nice and have interests outside of books

have fun with the tools – show your personality

success stories – share them on the social networking tools

Don’t

bad photos – wrong finger sticking up – make sure goofy isn’t seen the wrong way

don’t take it so far – nearly naked photos would not be a good thing

Get some conversation going – Michael invites the audience to participate

Someone wanted to know if it’s possible to have 2 identity – personal and professional.  Most of the panel agree that they blend, the lines blur and it’s just too hard to keep it up.

Be aware of what you are adding because you can be seen as a “spammer” on Facebook by sending out too many feeds/updates.  Target information – rss feeds to a particular audience – people are getting overwhelmed by too much information.

Library success wiki – tips on how to manage professional profile – it still needs to be personal otherwise it won’t be effective.

Give people a one stop place – single place they may not be as familiar with the aggregators so still show the facebook, flickr links.  Cross pollinate.

T is for Training

I had the honor of participated in a niche that was finally filled today. To paraphrase what baldgeekinmd said “if you see something missing on the web you fill it – that is part of the read/write web”. Maurice was inspired by Greg Schwartz’s Uncontrolled Vocabulary show. And after searching around the podcasts out there realized there wasn’t anything that addressed training especially in the library world. So hence T is for Training was born.

Today was the “dress rehearsal” for the show. I joined Maurice, Jennifer Ranck (Training Coordinator for Eastern Shore Regional Libraries), and Bobbi Newman Digital Services Librarian at the Missouri River Regional Library.

I expected to be just a causal testing of the software (TalkShoe) but Maurice dived right in and had an agenda setup and the topics were quite interesting. Everything from do librarians need survival training to Bobbi’s 2.1 program to general talk about the aftermath of 23 Things here in MD (once Bobbi left the room was full of just MD trainers so we slanted the topic to us) and even a small trainer vent session. I suggested that Maurice keep the last 3 minutes of the show for the trainer vent session (will save a lot on our therapy bills).

I’m excited about this show and hope that lots of other trainers (library related or not) will join us on September 12 at 10:00 am for the first show and all the others to come.

Librarian – definition please

I entered into an interesting conversation with Greg Schwartz because of a sentence in my “About” page. I describe myself as not being a librarian by some people’s definition. What I mean is that I don’t have a MLS. However, if we go by the definition from Merriam-Webster dictionary (a specialist in the care or management of a library) then some might consider what I’ve done for the last 25 years makes me a librarian.

One could argue that a piece of paper does not a librarian make. I don’t mean that a degree lacks value but maybe it should have a statue of limitations. Does a degree from 5, 10, 15 or even 20 years ago still have the same value today? Has our industry not grown and changed by leaps in bounds lately? How could something you learned 20 years ago in college even begin to apply to today’s library? Doesn’t real life experience on the job teach you so much more than any class room?

Keep in mind that I am a trainer. I love to teach. I love seeing someone have an “ah-ha!” moment. I am a life long learner myself. I firmly believe the day I stop learning from life, work, people, the universe is the day I die. I’m not trying to devalue any educator anywhere. I’m not saying that college or any kind of formal training doesn’t have it’s place but I’d just like to see real life experience get the same level of respect.

If real life experience of 25 years in customer service/circulation services, in Interlibrary Loan, in Automation and now with Information Technology counts for anything….maybe Greg is right, I am a Librarian.