Social+Networks

SOCIAL NETWORKS [|http://www.shelfari.com/] This site is great for online blogging and discussion of books. It's an online social networking site that connects people by their interests of what they are reading or their opinion of books that other have read. I have set up my Battle of the Books list and have started writing short synopsises and my opinions of different books. Teachers could do the same with their students by setting up the week's book(s) and have students create online reading responses instead of writing in journals. Think of how much more fun the students would think of writing online instead of in a spiral notebook. Also, lots of students have strong opinions about the types of books that they read. This could become the place where not only is the teacher reading the students' opinions about the books, but other students could read them as well which could lead to real and online book clubs as well as debates over whether the book was good or not. In the library, this could become the place that children cold go to see if they might be interested in reading a certain book or not. The librarian could set up a Shelfari site by campus, grade level, or teacher depending on the size of the school. After the student reads any book, the student could record their thoughts in their place online. The library could then use this as a way to see what genres are being read the most or what authors the children were into. This could be one way that the ordering of new books transpires. Also, as new books arrive, the librarian in collaboration with the teachers, could add them to the site to now be advertised as to what the library has.  Debbie King [|http://www.edublogs.org] This site is great for helping students start blogging. I started using it last fall with my high school English classes. Setting up blogs through this site allows teachers/librarians to supervise what the students are doing. Individual blogs can be created and then organized different ways depending on the purpose. Teachers can set up class blogs where students can work together, or individual blogs can be linked by classes. Librarians could set up campus blogs and then each campus blog in the district could be linked so that students throughout the district could interact. Blogs could be used to hold virtual book talks and book club discussions. Students can post their views and comment on posts by other bloggers. The site itself has suggestions for how to integrate blogs into the classroom and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.
 * Shelfari**
 * Edublogs**

I used edublogs to have my students write book reviews. I set up a blog for each student and then linked each class. I also created my own blog which was linked to every student. Each month, students would chose a novel from a different genre, read it and write a book review. I asked them to write a brief plot summary, state and support their opinion of the novel, and find a previously published review of the work. They were encouraged to read the posts by their classmates and comment on at least one other post. As the administrator of the blogs, all the comments went to my dashboard and had to be approved by me before they were published. Not all of the students enjoyed this project, but they did learn a lot. For most of them, it was their first try at blogging (aside from Facebook, of course!).

Eve Waddell

**ePals**
This is another site that would be great to use when helping students to learn how to blog. From what I have been able to find out about it, it's a way for students and teachers to interact with each other and others not only from their class, but with classrooms all over the world. Teachers/librarians can monitor what students are posting and can make changes if needed. Not only can this be used with a teacher in a classroom, but a librarian could use it as apart of weekly/bi-weekly book talks or book recommendations. Students could share about books they have read, why they enjoyed them, or didn't enjoy them. It could also be a fun way to learn about different books that others are reading, giving students options for new books to read in the future.
 * [|www.epals.com]**

Teachers/librarians could even collaborate together when it came to setting up a research project for a class. On the webpage there are teacher & student forums for many different topics, from culture to arts & entertainment, and even global issues and homework help. The students could post a question or concern and see what kind of response is given by others in the class and around the world.

I haven't had an opportunity to use this particular blog site, but after searching it and seeing all the neat things that would be possible for students, I am looking at setting it up for my clas this year. What a great way to get the students involved in their own learning!!

Sharla Wilkinson

__[]__ __I__ don't normally think of social-networking sites when I think of libraries. I'll admit it. But this slideshare has awesome information about creating a social-networking site for your library. Not only does it offer reasons such as meeting stake holders in their "territory", but it also suggests several options like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. It suggests that librarians can reach many users and attract more patrons through the use of social-networking.

I love the idea of a library having a social-networking site. It gives it more of a "Barnes and Noble-y" feel. When you visit Barnes and Noble, there are always kids using it as a hang out or third place. I think that if you can entice kiddos to walk through the doors of the library, make them feel welcome, and get books into their hands, they will continue to come back. A great way to spark the interest of the 21st Century learner is through social-networking. I think it would be great to advertise a (let's say) a Facebook page to students. Once a few join, many will follow (After all, isn't that how it works!?). It would be a great place to post some fun pictures of happenings in the library. This could be events, but also just some kids hanging out and having fun in the library. Students could have fun posting comments about the pictures posted. The Facebook's Wall Page would be great to announce library events, make book recommendations, and post the arrival of new books. Students could join in the conversation and have "book talks" (almost). It would even be fun to post things like, "The first 50 kids who check out a book from the library tomorrow get a _ (bagel, bookmark, etc.)!" It would be a fun and meaningful way to build relationships with students and provide "marketing" for the library!

Angela Dorcy :)

__Social Networks:__ [] This is an article that discusses how the Denver Public Library increased traffic to their teen site through the use of a MySpace account.
 * The OCLC Newsletter**

Using social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter allows libraries to reach out to young adults on their own turf. These sites can offer links back to the library, homework help, movie/music reviews, current library events, etc. In addition, it is a great way to get students involved in writing their own book reviews and participating in library contests.

Kelly Clark

[] This site is an example of a facebook page from the ALA Library.
 * //__ Social Networks: __//**
 * // ALA Library Facebook page //**

This would be a great way to share what is happening in the library. Author visits, book clubs, and any events could be shared. It would also be wonderful if students would post reviews of book and have book discussions on facebook! It would be a positive way to have students communicate about the library and become excited to go.

Angela McNally

__Social Networks: __

St. Ignatious High School Facebook Page
[|http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/St-Ignatius-High-School-Harold-C-Schott-Library/133714423335542?ref=ts] This site is an example of a facebook page from a high school library.

This is a facebook page used by the school library to get the students to connect about different books and items availabe in the library. They also advertise different events going on in the library from time to time.

Kimberly Patenaude

=**Library Thing**=

**Assignment: Using LIbraryThing in Your School Library (Web 2.0 Tool Review)**
[]

This blog entry describes the technology LibraryThing and explains the various uses in a school library setting.

This technology is ideal for the school library community. It is an excellent way for teachers, librarians, and faculty to share professional resources. Students and parents can create their own LibraryThing accounts to share books with others who have similar interests, interact about class reading assignments, or participate in school sponsored LibraryThing book clubs. Librarians can create “groups” to support whatever topics interest the readers in their community that the students and parents can join, thus creating a link between the library and community at large with books at the center.

LibraryThing can also be used as a self-monitoring tool for reading progress. For example, students can use their LibraryThing account to keep tract of the Lone Star Books they read. The students can discuss, share, and encourage others in their school “Lone Star Readers” group and may receive rewards or incentives for reading all of the titles on the list by the deadline.

Diane Hance

[|http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com]
This is a social network for teacher librarians where you can access blogs about library issues, join a wiki to share ideas about library topics such as building successful library routines, watch videos of workshops and library events, listen to a School Library Journal podcast, and many more activities contributed by your teacher librarian peers. This would be a great resource to help keep track of all of the latest trends and happenings in the world of library science. Built by teacher librarians, it would be a great place to get ideas and to share what is working in your library with others.

Elaine Ayers

OTHER

 * __Blog:__**

Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services []

This site explains what blogs are and how to build one. It also explains what to include for a library blog and includes several links to library blogs.

I have built a blog for my library that list newly released and upcoming released boks. The blog lists each title and author for the newly relesed boks. For the upcoming books, it lists the tile, author and date of release. For each book, there is a link to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble that gives a desription of the book and the viewer can purchase the book if desired, or look at reviews and other information provided at those sites.

Kristen Mund =Flickr= __ [] __ []
 * How to use Flickr to exchange ideas and promote the school library**

The primary feature of this site is to provide a place where users can upload, share and exchange images. Pictures can be searched by theme or name. The link below the Flickr link will take you to the blog that explains how to use Flickr in a school library setting. The author provides an example of librarians using Flickr to share photos of their school library displays.

In my library I would use Flickr to share and keep photos of happenings in the library. I would also add links from the library website and include images in the library newsletter. I think for the primary grades photographs showing school library procedures would be especially helpful and could also be linked to the school library web page.

Sherry Schaefer

**ImageChef**

 * []**

=
ImageChef is a social networking and information sharing site that allows registered users (it's free to register) to create, upload, and share images through its site and other social networking sites. Users can create custom images by using provided templates or creating new ones and then email those images or post them to social networking sites like facebook or even post them to blogs so that the created image can be seen by others. Image Chef allows users to create an account that will help keep track of images and lets users establish friends with others using the site.=====

ImageChef can be used in a school library setting, maybe middle school and above, to create original images displaying information from novels or research. These creations can be used as presentations for a topic or introductions to a book. Students could create images on Image Chef using text to express their thoughts on certain issues. These images could be posted on the school library's webpage, or blog. This would allow students to develop a creative ownership in the library. It allows them to express their literacy side as well as let other students understand a wide range of literacy.

Annie Colvin

Young Adult Library Services
www.ala.org/yalsa

This website offers newsletters and a toolkit for teachers to appropriately use social networking in a school setting. The toolkit offers advice on how to educate the community and teens on safe and appropriate use of social networking sites. One specific example of social network use in a high school library setting includes a My Space site as a way for students to connect to the library and the community. The site includes the on line catalog and quick links for research as well as reminders of community and school events that teens can take part in. Students can make the library one of their My Space friends and each time they log in, they are reminded about the library.

My campus/district already uses Facebook as a tool to communicate with students and their families. We post current events, newsletters, photos and general information about the school. It has been very well received. My therapy dog, Boomer, also has his own Facebook page. Students can 'friend' Boomer and chat with him about school, books and anything dog related. He actually has more friends than I do! It has become a big job keeping his page updated but the kids love it and it encourages them to read and write in a format that they are already completely comfortable with.

I would like to expand the use of social networking as the new librarian on my campus by establishing a library podcast that highlights books 'selected' by Boomer (Boomer's Books). These books could be high interest/low level, fiction, nonfiction, reference, etc. Eventually, students could create their own podcasts about books that they have read and enjoyed. Through this process they would have some ownership in their library and be able to use and showcase abilities they already have.

Hayley Rambo

=25 Useful Social Networking Tools for Librarians= []

This webpage gives a sampling of various social networking and information share sites that can help librarians increase their awareness, learning communication and information output. Through the use of flckr a librarian can share a continuous updated list of newly catalogued items available to the patrons. Nings and blogging sites make collaborating on projects or book studies an easy access for all levels of students. Collaborative sites can be open to public or created in a niche environment which would allow a limited audience access to the project.

I intend to use a ning from [|Ning.com] to create a limited area where grade level book studies can be housed. With permitted access, the students will login as character and can create pages to develop the character analysis of their specific study. Students will remain in character throughout all interactions posing comments, conversations, interactions and pictures. The unit of study will host vocabulary pages and personal [character] reflections of the readings. Depending on the grade level, stuents can experiment with basic templates to add appealing visuals to promote their page. Students will be paired to work on project in a manner to best serve them. T-Kay [Teresa] Timmerman

=facebook =

[]
This webpage features the use of facebook in a school library setting. The author of this site uses facebook to connect with other librarians as well as authors. She has downloaded applications such as iread which allows her to list books she is currently reading as well as write reviews for those books. She also included links to resources and sites like World Cat. Anyone looking at her page can readily see what other facebook users she is a fan of, the groups she has joined and the journals she subscribes to. Finally she place a link for the school library's page which will include more general information for the school.

As a media specialist I would create a page for the school that contains the links included by this librarian as well as others that relate directly to academic and extracurricular content. I would take advantage of the iread app that could be greatly beneficial to teachers of all subjects for informal assessment or projects.

Jessica Tilley
__Social Network:__ This website allows you to create free interactive posters. The posters can include any information that you would like. In a library and/or educational setting, your students can create posters online to display a research project, a piece of writing, an art design, the alphabet, etc. The list can continously grow because you can create a poster for just about anything. I have found that students learn and remember things more often if they are presented in a different way other than a powerpoint. Other gloggers can comment on the posters and rate them. This website allows your students a non-traditional way of expressing themselves. I think it would be a neat idea to have your students create an online poster to describe themself. They could share them with the class as a "get to know you" activity. The second link above provides a variety of applications in an educational setting.
 * Glogster**
 * []**
 * []**

Shannon Hinsey

[]
 * Social Network/MashUP**

I like the Librarything website. When you find a book like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the page that comes up is a Mashup of a lot of things. It shows tags, Librarything recommendations, members recommendations, member reviews, publisher and news media reviews, external references, member descriptions, publisher descriptions, member ratings, book covers, plus a lot more. All this is mashed on the page to give the viewer a lot of different sources of information. To me it is like the old Siskle and Ebert movie reviewers. I tended to agree with one guy but seldom the other. Well, with all the members giving reviews you can get a feel for what the non-professional reviewer thinks of the book and not rely on a few professional reviewers. This site can be used by librarians, students, everyone, to get a feel for a book. If a book has a lot of decent reviews and a good rating then it is worth looking into a little more to see if it should be added to the collection. It can also be used as a Mashup example or reference for the librarian when the librarian wants to possibly add a Mashup page on the library site. It gives a good feel for what a Mashup can really do.

Kevin Loeffler