Instructional Screencast

For my instructional screencast, I chose to create an account with Tumblr. Tumblr is essentially a blog that works on Twitter or text-messaging speed, allowing users to share virtually anything (URLs, photographs, videos, music, quotes, chat logs, and text) with their peers. I have had many teen volunteers at the library tell me about this social media tool (and scoff at my lack of knowledge regarding it). It was relatively simple to sign up for and I could see how teens would enjoy the endless customization available at the website, as well as the ability to quickly make posts and share information with their friends.

Library Training Video

This video was by the 3M Company that produces Automatic Handling Machine Systems. These systems allow patrons to check in their own return items and have them immediately off their records.

While the video was indeed informative, I doubt that it would catch the eye or keep the attention of anyone looking for videos on the topic. There could have been an introduction to the library it was being used or just a brief introduction to what the video was going to entail, rather than simply the company's information. The lack of any dialogue, sound effects, or music, made it slow paced. While it was nice to see the machine working smoothly, as someone who works at a library who has an AHMS, the fact that there were only three sorting bins and a single pusher to sort the books made me want to see a larger AHMS training video, or at least contain a larger human element such as staff using the machine in the back room as well as the outside patrons using it.

To improve the video, I would have added dialogue or have a staff member interact with the "patron" to make it a more interactive video that actually has a customer service aspect. I also would have shown how the bins were separated from the machine and what happens to the outside check in station when the bins are removed.

Online Communities Challenges

Online communities, if created successfully, gathers a core of members that are active and interact with each other on a regular basis. Like the need for immediacy in instant messaging and social networking, online communities need regular updates in order to keep the interest of their users. One of the main challenges of creating an online community that is successful is ensuring that the target audience will actually be interested in the subject enough in order to create an account and log in day after day. Some subjects for online communities, I believe, are more successful than others. Those circulating around an individual's own work (writing / artwork / crafts) are very popular because users can show their individuality and comment on the work of others. Two such communities are DeviantArt and Flickr. DeviantArt allows users to create their own scrapbook of art as well as follow other artists and join 'groups,' quite like Facebook.

Online communities in libraries, I believe, require another special touch in that it has to be actively promoted at events that correspond to it, as well as through normal promotion such as flyers, bookmarks, and notices on the library webpage. Topics of interest would have to be polled either through circulation statistics, a survey, or another method such as recognizing that the teen book club is an extremely popular event and that there is call for a more often method of sharing book information with other people, rather than a weekly or biweekly grouping. The challenge with this is the same as with any online community, in that there is a need to create a strong user base of core members who will keep the ball rolling. While staff members can be part of this user-base, like other social networking tools in libraries, staff need to be sure that patrons feel able to give in their input and that it is not only a place for announcements rather than for communication between staff and patrons as well as patrons and anyone else who is interested in the subject.