Why Librarians (and MLS Students) Should Use Twitter

I'm a new convert to Twitter. Although I signed up for the free microblogging service last year, it's only within the past few months that I've come to truly understand its value. And at this point, there is no turning back.
 

I've enthusiastically embraced Twitter.
Image via Mashable.com

I've found Twitter to be extremely useful for keeping up with library-related news both in my country and abroad. I follow a number of state and national library associations, which tweet about events and activities of interest to their members and anyone else in, or interested in, the field of librarianship. These same associations also inform their Twitter followers about library jobs, as do companies and organizations that tweet specifically about library job openings, which is invaluable to me as a soon-to-be-graduating library school student.

Twitter is also great for keeping up with the goings-on at library conferences and other professional gatherings. As my commitment to the field has grown, I've noticed that there are always conferences, panel discussions, workshops, and other industry events happening, often at the same time. I had recently registered in advance for one library conference, only to find out later that another conference I wanted to attend was taking place on the same day. Thanks to Twitter, I was able to keep up with the developments at the other conference because attendees were actively live-tweeting it.

There's been a lot of talk lately about "branding" yourself and "managing your online brand." I've realized that Twitter is a great way to cultivate the image of yourself that you wish to present to prospective employers, professional contacts, or like-minded people in your areas of interest. How you come across online can either help or hinder you, and it's better to use your online presence to your best advantage. Tweeting about career interests and academic pursuits in a way that's personal and reflects your personality, but is also professional-sounding but still interesting, can go a long way in helping you cultivate your "online brand."

In her article for INALJ.com, "Top 3 Reasons to Use Twitter," Alexandra Janvey echoes my points on keeping up with the profession and following conferences. She also says that Twitter has helped her find a sense of community within the library profession. To see how you can better use Twitter as a librarian or library school student, check out Janvey's article at THIS LINK.

Great Literary Twitter Feeds to Follow

I'm on Twitter more and more these days, not tweeting but following the feeds of favorite music venues ("Just announced! Your favorite band playing a show - win tickets!") and library career sites ("New full-time position available not in a city near you!"). I also enjoy reading the random musings and observations that are shared, such as this one from the Toronto Zine Library:

Twitter is actually a pretty excellent medium for keeping up with places like zine libraries and other literature-oriented establishments. I mentioned Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in my last post. I have a soft spot for Housing Works because the proceeds from all sales go toward assisting those living with AIDS.
 

In addition, the bookstore is staffed almost entirely by volunteers. So for the staff there, working at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe - sorting through bags and boxes of donated books, selecting books to sell and shelve, hosting a string of in-store concerts and other events, and preparing food and beverages at the in-store cafe - is a complete labor of love. As if Housing Works Bookstore Cafe couldn't be more awesome, it also has a great Twitter feed.

The Twitter feed of Housing Works Bookstore Cafe is among the "30 Essential Literary Twitter Feeds to Follow," as chosen by Virginia K. Smith at Brooklyn Magazine. The others include Melville House, an independent publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; Mellow Pages Library, an independently run library and reading room located in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn; Bookslut, a litblog and webzine founded and maintained by Jessa Crispin, who is based in Berlin, Germany; Literary Rejections, a site that shares writers' personal experiences with rejection; and Greenlight Bookstore, an independent bookstore that's in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. And this is just for starters!

Check out all "30 Essential Literary Twitter Feeds to Follow" at THIS LINK.

How to Use Instagram for Your Library

To say that I'm active on Instagram would hardly be true. I follow a few of my artist friends and a favorite band or two on this photo-sharing social media site, but that is about the extent of it. I do suppose that if I were a visual or musical artist, however, I would use Instagram to help get my name out there.
 

Providence Public Library's Instagram photo of its Rhode Island Postcard Collection, which it is currently processing.
Image via http://instagram.com/rhodeislandcollection

Because Instagram can be a good tool for self-promotion, it's a shame that more libraries aren't taking advantage of it, especially since it is FREE. I browsed a number of public library websites, searching for examples of those that use Instagram to mention in this blog post, and I largely came up empty. Nearly all the libraries whose websites I looked at have expanded their online presence through social media, usually through Facebook and Twitter. Many also have YouTube and Flickr accounts. Yet nearly none of them are on Instagram.

I did discover that Providence Public Library in Providence, Rhode Island, is now active on Instagram. In an announcement made just last month, Providence Public Library stated that it has made "cool photographs of items" from its collection available on Instagram and that its "account is updated several times a week and showcases interesting tidbits and images as [librarian Kate Wells] comes across them while working with patrons, processing collections or just poking around."

What Providence Public Library is doing is definitely a step in the right direction, and other libraries should seriously consider following suit. Unsure of how to make Instagram - a FREE app that's already popular with more than 80 million users - work for you? Ellyssa Kroski offers you "10 Interesting Ways to Use Instagram for Your Library." Some of her tips include:

● Show off your books! Take and share photos of your new release or most popular books displays.

● Go behind the scenes! If you've started an improvement on your library, show photos of your progress.

● Show your librarians! Introduce your fellow librarians to patrons by sharing photos of them.

● Show off your events! Have an author talk or book sale coming up? Spread the word about it by posting teaser shots.

Kroski goes into further detail about each of these great tips on using Instagram, and she offers six more in her article, which was published last year on the Open Education Database. Check out her "10 Interesting Ways to Use Instagram for Your Library" at THIS LINK.

Librarians Advise Their Past MLS-Student Selves

Most of us who have advanced along a certain career path wish there were things that we had known at the beginning of our careers. Knowing these things, we feel, would have made that path smoother. This is a wisdom that we usually don't share with others. But this wisdom could benefit those who are just starting out.

Dude, what should we tell ourselves? A pivotal scene in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).
Image via http://2dreviews.ca

The Special Libraries Association (SLA) recently hosted a Twitter chat that allowed veteran information professionals, new librarians and archivists, and current library and information science students to share what they have learned along the way. As someone who is now in library school and is selecting courses and engaging in professional activities that she hopes will help her land her first real-world library job, I found this Twitter chat extremely helpful.

Moderators of the SLA Twitter chat asked that participants answer four questions: 1) What subjects or skills do you wish you were taught or exposed to in library school? 2) What was your favorite class or project in LIS school? How have you applied what you learned to your career? 3) What formal supplemental education, if any, did you pursue after library school? 4) What recommendations would you give a library school student? Each question would be addressed in fifteen-minute intervals during a chat session that would last approximately one hour, and the hashtag would be #SLATalk.

I signed in to Twitter as the session began and saw the advice (and reflections) come in furiously. A few wished they were taught organization management as it pertains to budgeting and hiring and firing, recruiting and retaining, and motivating employees. Others wished they were instructed on the ins and outs of vendor relations, including license negotiation and contract signing. And at least one participant wished the importance of networking was emphasized in class. Other gems that followed were "Don't do a specific track. Taking a variety of classes will best prepare you for your entire career, not just your first job"; "Don't rule anything out. You never know where your career will take you"; "Apply for any job that interests you. DO NOT rule yourself out (that's HR's job)"; and "Get involved with professional groups. Network. Make friends. Play nice. Pay if forward when you have an achievement."

To read the SLA Twitter chat "What would you tell your past MLS-student self?," go to THIS LINK and start at April 9, 2013.

Twenty-Seven Small Presses to Follow on Twitter

I've a confession to make: I am not on Twitter. My reluctance to becoming too "plugged in" has kept me from joining the popular microblogging service. But learning that so many of my favorite small publishers have a presence on Twitter has me seriously reconsidering my stance. How could I not, after poring over these captivating tweets from The Overlook Press?

New York City-based Overlook Press is not the only indie publisher worth following on Twitter. Poets & Writers, a nonprofit literary organization, points to twenty-six more, including Akashic Books, Beacon Press, The Feminist Press, Grove/Atlantic, McSweeney's Books, YesYes Books, and Melville House. Who knew that these small literary establishments were among the Twitterati?

To see the twenty-seven that have succinctly melded book culture with social media, see Poets & Writers' post HERE.

Homeless Woman Builds Twitter Following by Using Public Library

It's become common to see homeless people at the public library. What's not so common, however, are homeless people tweeting about their existence through the use of the computers at the public library. This is precisely what AnnMarie Walsh did. Walsh had been living on the streets of Arlington Heights, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. She routinely visited the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, using the computer stations to tweet about the ups and downs of her daily life.

AnnMarie Walsh on the cover of StreetWise magazine.

image source: http://streetwise.dreamhosters.com

Eventually, she would build a Twitter following of 6,000, be interviewed by the media, and be invited to speak at conferences. The upshot of all this attention has been that Walsh has received many offers of assistance. There's been such an outpouring of support that she is no longer homeless. Walsh is now a resident of Deborah's Place, a "Chicago organization [that] offers free permanent housing to homeless women, giving them a place to stay and get their lives back on track," according to WGN TV. Now with a roof over her head, Walsh aspires to find a job and go back to school.

For more on AnnMarie Walsh's incredible story, see the WGN TV article below.

WGNtv.com * January 11, 2012

#NoLongerHomeless: Twitter Helps AnnMarie Walsh Get Off the Streets of Chicago's Northwest Suburbs

By Marcus Leshock

WGN Feature Reporter

Chicago—She found herself alone, on the streets of Arlington Heights, with nowhere to turn. Today, AnnMarie Walsh has a following 6,000 strong.

I've been following @PadsChicago for a while now. There, AnnMarie was tweeting her life as a homeless person in the Northwest suburbs. Her online diary had spread all over the country, offering an intimate portrait into a world many know little about.

How does a homeless person tweet? At the public library. AnnMarie was a frequent visitor to the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, using their computer stations to update all of her Internet endeavors. Many homeless use pre-paid cell phones to do the same.

Her tweets, Facebook updates, and blog posts were read across the world, leading to all kinds of assistance and support. She was invited to Los Angeles and asked to speak at the 140 Conference. There she stood in the Kodak Theatre, still homeless, telling the packed house how she uses social media in hopes of improving her life.

Through a series of tweet ups and meetings, she was eventually led to Deborah's Place. The Chicago organization offers free permanent housing to homeless women, giving them a place to stay and get their lives back on track, no matter how long it takes.

AnnMarie's story has taken on a viral feel-good following as of late. She was featured in the Daily Herald a few weeks ago. Mashable told her story a couple of days ago. And tonight, we'll have her on the WGN News at Nine.

So many of my stories have me running into people I'm following on Twitter - and AnnMarie's is one of my favorites. She acknowledges that there is still a long road ahead. She's dealing with mental health issues and hasn't seen her children in a very long time. She hopes to find work eventually, and even go back to school.

We watched her scroll through the hundreds of supportive tweets that came in after Mashable ran its piece. In world where we hear so much about the evils of the internet, it's always refreshing to see how much joy it can bring as well.

You can hear AnnMarie Walsh tell her story at the Arlington Heights Library on January 29 at 2pm. More information about that HERE.

And if you know somebody who could benefit from services at Deborah's Place, or want to contribute to this organization in some way, you can find them on their website HERE.

I also mentioned WeAreVisible.com in my story. Find them HERE.

And of course, follow AnnMarie on Twitter HERE.

Library of Congress to Archive, Analyze All Tweets

The Library of Congress, in a deal made with Twitter, will archive every public tweet ever sent. Why? "To find and analyse interesting trends" through the public's use of this social medium, according to the Daily Mail article below.

Tweets will be put under a magnifying glass.

image source: http://www.123rf.com

"There have been studies involved with what are the moods of the public at various times of day in reaction to certain kinds of news events," said Bill Lefurgy, of the Library of Congress. "There's all these interesting kinds of mixing and matching that can be done using tweets as a big set of data."

If everyone knew that their tweets would ultimately be housed underneath the same roof as the Declaration of Independence, perhaps a few would have communicated something more erudite than, "I spent the last hour molding a little man out of Starbursts and now I have to explain to him about death."*

* An actual tweet, from http://funtweets.com

Daily Mail (UK) * December 8, 2011

Library of Congress to Archive Every Tweet Ever Made

By Daily Mail Reporter

If you were thinking that tweet you just sent would soon disappear into the ether, you couldn't be more wrong.

It will soon be stored alongside Thomas Jefferson's draft of the American Declaration of Independence and a Gutenberg Bible.

That's because every public tweet sent since Twitter was launched five-and-a-half years ago is to be archived by America's national library.

Billions of tweets will be archived,

including the very first - sent by

Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey.

The Library of Congress announced the deal with Twitter last year, but yesterday its digital initiatives manager shone more light on the project.

'We have an agreement with Twitter where they have a bunch of servers with their historic archive of tweets, everything that was sent out and declared to be public,' said Bill Lefurgy when he appeared on Federal News Radio's Federal Drive show yesterday.

The archive will be available to Mr. Lefurgy's team of researchers, to find and analyse interesting trends.

'There have been studies involved with what are the moods of the public at various times of the day in reaction to certain kinds of news events.

'There’s all these interesting kinds of mixing and matching that can be done using the tweets as a big set of data.'

And with more than 140 million tweets processed by Twitter every single day, the social networking site has its work cut out with the Library project.

'They've had to do some pretty nifty experimentation and invention to develop the tools and a process to be able to move all of that data over to us,' Mr. Lefurgy said.

Innovative: The first-ever tweet was sent on March 21, 2006.

The archives won't contain tweets that users have protected, but every other message will be stored there - including the very first, sent by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

His tweet, sent on March 21, 2006, simply said: 'Just setting up my twttr.'

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.

It was built in 1800 and is housed in three buildings in the capital, Washington, D.C.

As well as a rough draft of the American Declaration of Independence and a Gutenberg Bible, the Library holds Thomas Jefferson's entire personal book collection.

Twitter 101 for Librarians

I have never sent a "tweet" in my life. I'm sure there is a surprising number of librarians who've had little-to-no experience with Twitter as well.

image source:http://www.marketerpulse.com

Luckily for them (and for me), there are highly informative videos on YouTube that explain, in simple terms, how to use Twitter, specifically as a means of library outreach. The following is one such video.