Don't be afraid to go beta: How To Web 2.0

Don’t be afraid to go beta: How to Web 2.0 Andrea Mercado, Reading Public Library Rhode Island OLIS CE 12/6/2007

CC Licensed by Ben Stanfield :: http://flickr.com/photos/acaben/562140565/

Star Trek - “The Enemy Within” :: Season 1 - October 6, 1966 :: http://www.trishbennett.net/jtk/enemywithin.html

So wait, what’s he doing here?! Miss Congeniality Priceline.com World of Warcraft Over the Hedge Boston Legal

Bingo Time! – 5 minutes
Yup, you’re getting up and moving around 
Introduce yourself if you don’t know someone
IF Yes, have person initial square
Each square must be a different person
“I think so…” == Yes
Yell “BINGO!”
For serious, there are 2 *prizes*

So wait, what did we just do?
Social networking, just IRL (In Real Life)
Tagging, kinda
(Probably) met some people we didn’t know
Some people won some nifty prizes!
It was beta, for me at least

Learning Web 2.0
23 Library 2.0 Things Created by Helene Blowers, Public Services Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC). : http://snipurl.com/23librarythings
Week 2: consider WordPress.com as a blog option
15 minutes a day
FREE
Bite-sized, digestible bits of Web 2.0
Customizable for your library
Add your own/adapt other Discovery Exercises for Facebook, MySpace, Second Life, etc.

More than just an account
"The biggest obstacle to learning something new is the belief that you already know it."
-- Zen philosophy

Make the time to do more than just push the buttons... Star Trek - “The Enemy Within” Shiny, candy- like buttons!

…to avoid using the wrong tool for the job… Star Trek - “The Enemy Within” But it’s * AWESOME * ! Snrk!

… resulting in frustration, wasted time, and wasted resources. Star Trek - “The Enemy Within” What now? Fuzzy, weirdly cute, and useless to us, Cap’n! The logic astounds!

You know what … now how ?
Start with a goal, plan to get there
Small , action-directed committee (could just be you, but +1 minimum is nice)
What do you have?
What you want to have?
What’s the best tool/site/service to use?
Can you implement & sustain it?
Plans are your friends They conserve time, money and resources.

Tech staff are your friends, too Star Trek - “The Enemy Within”

Overcoming obstacles Star Trek - “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” :: Season 1 - October 20, 1966 :: http://www.trishbennett.net/jtk/whatare.html

#1 tip for ultimate beta comfort
HAVE A PLAN. PLANS ARE GOOD.

Plan: Sample Simple Timeline
Configure settings
Play with a sandbox version, tweak
Develop process & policies
Build
Patron & staff interviews/focus groups/survey
Which tools fit our goal?
Who’s using it? What is the culture?
Are other libraries doing it? How? Is it working?
Where will you use it? Internally or publicly?
Assess
Form small “committee”
Goal setting/planning meeting
Who are your process staff? Include Tech!
Timeline
Planning

Plan: Sample Simple Timeline
Keep track of service changes/new features
Check in with stakeholders: is it working?
Tweak as necessary
Track/ Reassess
Newsletter, newspaper article, handouts, word-of-mouth, bookmarks, classes, tutorials
Educate public on new feature, as necessary
Launch/ Promote
Process & policies
How to use the tool/site/service
Train

Privacy: things to think about
“ The difficulty … in considering the Library 2.0 idea is that libraries and Web 2.0 services are based on serving two very different essential activities, and those activities have an opposite relationship to privacy.”
-- “The Central Problem of Library 2.0: Privacy” http:// libraryjuicepress.com/blog/?p =68

Now while I love Tim Gunn… http://snipurl.com/timgunn … sometimes you just can’t make it work.

You might need to go back and try something different… … but learning from mistakes is good. That’s why beta’s so cool. Again?? You’re kidding me, right?!

BETA!!!

3 Zen Mantras of Beta
Immerse & Educate thyself! Knowing the culture == Knowing the tools
Goals are the key Just like providing any other library service
Plans are your friends Actionable but flexible, based on your goal

Credits & Assorted Sundries
The Official William Shatner web site http://www.williamshatner.com/
Neil Gorman: Comicology podcast http:// comicology.net /
David Scrimshaw: Human Bingo http://snipurl.com/humanbingo
So many William Shatner pics! Thank you, Trish Bennett! http://snipurl.com/williamshatner
Shatner commercial for World of Warcraft http:// snipurl.com/shatnerwow

Further Interactions
“ unintended consequences - the good kind” by Beth Dunn, Small Dots http://snipurl.com/bethdunn
SNS Logic Model A - Should My Organization Use a Social Network Site? http://snipurl.com/logicmodels
Using Social Media to Grow Your Business FREE Webinar Friday, Dec 7, 2007, 1:00 P.M. Register: http:// snipurl.com/socmedwebinar

Questions? Comments?
Andrea Mercado
Reference & Techie Librarian
Reading Public Library, Massachusetts
http://www.readingpl.org
See also:
http:// www.LibraryTechtonics.info
http:// www.PLABlog.org
http:// www.slideshare.net/andreamercado

Don't be afraid to go beta: How To Web 2.0

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