Weblogs : SocialTwister.com.

In my quest to read more about Social Software and it's impact on the library community (thanks KMD for the push into this arena), I've subscribed to a bunch of new feeds, including, SocialTwister.com (RSS), whose description tag says:

"SocialTwister's goal is to examine the impact of the Internet and Technology on our perception of both information and one another"

I've also set up Feedster and Pubsub feeds for the key phrase "social software". Topix also has a Feed on the topic. Suweeeeeet. [Library Stuff]

  12:00:25 PM   [Feedback ]  

Weblogs : Social Software and the Enabling Council.

From an article enitled, Social Software and the Enabling Council:

"What these increasingly popular forms of 'social software' demonstrate is that people will interact online around shared interests. However, rather than just connecting people on the other side of the world with an unusual passion for first editions of Local Government White Papers, we are increasingly seeing social software being used for the development of voluntary, bottom-up social networks around the common interest of the locality. In short, the internet is becoming more local."

Chew on this: librarians working together in an online social network community for collaboration, getting help with reference questions, interlibrary loans, and much more. I keep hearing this song playing in the back of my brain: "Something tells me I'm into something good" (link via Headshift) [Library Stuff]

  12:00:02 PM   [Feedback ]  

Weblogs : Walt on Social Software.

Walt Crawford says that he doesn't understand Social Software. Because of the good timing on my social software posts tonight, I feel the need to respond.

When I talk about Social Software, I'm not necessarily talking about Orkut, Friendster, and the rest per se , but a concept that I have been trying to form in my brain about how people working together in groups (the "social" in social software) to form better concepts, theories, and work product than the sole individual. Librarians (or any other professionals) can use online resources (the "software" in social software) to collaborate, work out problems, form ideas, etc for the common good of the profession. It's not just about meeting people. It's about working with these people in a group effort. I'll understand more as I read up on the topic (I have The Wisdom of Crowds on order and have a few more like it on interlibrary loan). In remembering back to my masters work in psychology, there are many theories about how groups work and interact with each other that build confidences as well as enhanced production. I can't wait to delve into this more. [Library Stuff]

  11:59:43 AM   [Feedback ]  

Weblogs : RSS blogs give me so many eyes and ears.

Janet Tokerud on how weblogs and RSS fit into social networking in a post entitled, RSS blogs give me so many eyes and ears:

"What struck me is how great it is to be able to find out about this stuff in a timely manner. I doubt that I would have ever even found this excellent little piece without my RSS reader and all the blogging community and the NYT working together on my behalf.

We are all so busy these days. We rely on our network to clue us into things we should pay attention to. I used to rely on my own browsing efforts and word of mouth from my personal friends. Not any more! I feel so connected and in a way protected. People are looking out for me. People I haven't met... Thanks."

And my personal thanks to all those library bloggers out there who have linked to articles, resources, and online tools that I would not have seen if it weren't for weblogs and RSS. [Library Stuff]

  11:58:48 AM   [Feedback ]