Thing 21: Other Social Networks

I spent some time on Gather and read each feature as the yellow tab moved across the top of the home page from one “Gather Essential” to another (i.e.. food, health, politics). I found a great lamb recipe and printed it! There is a lot going on here!

Minnesota Reader is a “groupspace” where you can “chat about what you are reading” or join the Midmorning Book Club. Maybe this summer…
I looked at some of the nature images on Minnesota Life. Nice “groupspace” to share all things Minnesota. There were a lot of members (139) in the “Back to the Basics” group – those who want to get back to the basics in everyday life. I should join to find out what that really means??

I have wondered what WebJunction is. Now I know – it’s a national online community for library staff for resources and courses. I thought it was just a Minnesota thing! I went to the Minnesota partner page and looked up the difference between Metronet and Minitex.
Metronet – “Metronet serves all types of libraries in the 7-county Twin Cities metro area. As a multitype library system Metronet does more than facilitate discussion around news and events—they actively engage librarians by advancing professional issues, highlighting best practices, and advocating for libraries.”
Minitex – “The MINITEX Library Information Network (MINITEX) is a publicly supported network of academic, public, state government, and special libraries working cooperatively to improve library service for their users. The MINITEX program is funded by the Minnesota Legislature."


Ning is an online service where you can create, customize, and share your own social network.

I joined the "23 things on a stick" group on Ning. I finally figured out how to get my avatar from Yahoo! to my picture setting in the "23 things" group. That was quite an accomplishment!
I left a comment on Randi Madisen's wall.

I visited the other social networking sites: yelp.com, linkedin.com, mashable.com, dogster.com (and catster.com!), grouprecipes.com and the 50plus digital.com site. Take your pick!

I tried to use the EBSCO Researcher Database to find the article, “Myspace for book,” in “Publisher’s Weekly.” I couldn’t find it - I am embarrassed to say. I tried many different ways of searching for it??
I read “Building a Social Networking Environment at the Library,” by Steve Campion at the WebJunction website.
http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=17981
I like his reminder that “the social web is much richer than MySpace alone… it represents a cultural shift towards expression, collaboration, and interaction. Internet users are not satisfied with simply reading web pages. They are beginning to expect the opportunity to interact online with their bank, retailer, and (why not?) their library.”

I am impressed with the potential to involve the people in and even outside one’s library community in so many activities initiating from the library. There is time involved in the set up and the maintaining of these online forums of communication but it is becoming more and more where people “live.” Like Campion said, “The library is already a community space. Let's make the social web a new meeting room…”

The “43 Things” network looks like a good place for people to get encouragement to get going on things they keep putting off.