Why twitter? What can Twitter do for my library & my professional development?

Why Twitter?
What can Twitter do for my library & my professional development?
Bill Drew, M.S., B.S., A.S.
Assistant Professor. Librarian.
Tompkins Cortland Community College
Dryden, N.Y. USA
Twitter: BillDrew4
Email: dreww@tc3.edu
Short URL for these slides: http://goo.gl/9l23

Our Goals:
The use of Twitter is growing greatly among individuals and institutions, and libraries and librarians are helping lead the way. Find out how to use Twitter as a professional tool to keep in touch with what is going on, to filter and exchange information quickly, and how to provide an opt in information service to your patrons. Learn how to be a twit!

What is Twitter?
From Wikipedia:
"Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. While the service costs nothing to use, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees."

My Twitter at http://twitter.com/billdrew4

TC3 Library - http://twitter.com/tc3library

What can Libraries do with Twitter?
Twitter can be used to do many things. Here are a few ideas:
Provide Reference Services
Local and National News
Identify local experts in subjects of interest to your patrons
Patrons ask questions
Library News
New Books
New Services
Library Hours
Special Events
Topics of Interest on your website
Create alerts for specific groups (ie; teens, parents, senior citizens)
Two way communications
Ask patrons for input
Post answers to common questions
Use your imagination

What can staff, trustees, etc. do with Twitter?
Library staff and trustees can benefit from using their own Twitter account. Here are a few uses:
Follow other librarians for ideas and professional development
Follow state and national associations:
NYLA: http://twitter.com/NYLA_1890
Public Library Association: http://twitter.com/ALA_PLA
YALSA: http://twitter.com/YALSA
American Libraries Magazine: http://twitter.com/amlibraries
More ALA feeds
ACRL: http://twitter.com/ala_acrl
LITA:http://twitter.com/ala_lita

What can staff, trustees, etc. do with Twitter?(more things)
Follow news about libraries from such sources as Library Journal (http://twitter.com/Libraryjournal)
Attend conferences via Twitter
Follow local and state news
Follow Congressmen/Senators
Follow State legislators
Communicate internally with staff, trustees, etc.
Networking
Trend Spotting
???

Why Librarians Use Twitter:
Quotes from real librarians. Others are scattered through out this presentation.

One Vendor's Use of Twitter
Carl Grant of Ex Libris sent me these thoughts on using Twitter.

Followers and Following
Who I Follow: over 400
Journals (LJ,AL, etc.)
OCLC
LibraryofCongress
InformationKnot
Pundits/Techies (eg. Cory Doctorow)
Vendors
Personal Friends
Librarians
Who Follows Me: over 900
Librarians
Personal Friends
Vendors
Journals
ALA & NYLA
Authors
Publishers
?

Who to Follow
Content is King!
Posts links to useful resources.
Retweets and has original content.
Some personal stuff is good.
Doesn't over tweet.
Don't follow everyone that follows you!!
Some of My Favorites
Michael Sauers (msauers)
Ellyssa Kroski (ellyssa)
TweetReport (TweetReport)
David Lankes (rdlankes)
American Libraries (amlibraries)
Tim O'Reilly (timoreilly)

Some Web based Twitter Tools
Twitterfeed - http://www.twitterfeed.com
Twitter Grader - http://twitter.grader.com/billdrew4
We Follow - http://wefollow.com/
HootSuite - http://hootsuite.com/dashboard
Mr. Tweet - http://www.mrtweet.net/
Twellow Directory - http://www.twellow.com/category_users/cat_id/346
Just Tweet It - Librarians- http://justtweetit.com/education/librarians/
Twazzup: http://www.twazzup.com/

Contact me if you have questions!
Bill Drew, M.S., B.S., A.S.Assistant ProfessorLibrarian, Systems and Tech Services/Electronic Resources/SerialsTompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) LibraryDryden, N.Y. 13053-0139E-mail: dreww@tc3.eduPhone: 607-844-8222 ext.4406
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BillDrew4Online Identity: http://claimID.com/billdrewhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Bill_Drew/

Why twitter? What can Twitter do for my library & my professional development?

by Bill Drew on Nov 10, 2010

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Why twitter? What can Twitter do for my library & my professional development? — Presentation Transcript