In an instant with Instagram

Out of all the different social media platforms we've looked at, Instagram is by far the least convenient to use on your laptop or pc as it is designed for easy on-the-go access on your smart phone.
Therefore it may be less desirable for libraries than Twitter or Facebook, being that it can only be used on one platform, without being able to link to other pages.

Instagram is definitely a more visual based social media like Pinterest, as you can only upload photos with added descriptions and hashtags except it is not used to bookmark pages, only to show followers the photo.
And as with Twitter, it's a quick way to reach follows about current events, thinks happening 'right here, right now' but there's no character limit so the description can be as long as you choose, with no limit on hashtags either.


There are however, many ways libraries can benifit from using Instagram, such as:

• Its 'right here, right now' updates are good for letting followers see events as they're happening as well as anything interesting that happens, like the State Library did on May 4th.
• Instagram can also be a good platform to run competitions, promotions throughout the library and to run surveys as the Monash University Library have done.
• Being that others can  comment on any photo uploaded to Instagram, libraries can use this to show displays and ideas, getting useful feedback in the comments about what the community wants/thinks.
• Another great use, as shown by the British Library, is to showcase what the library has in its collection, letting followers know that a library is more than just books. 

 In conclusion, Instagram, although not a popular choice, has many advantages and uses in the library. Its 'right here, right now' updates are great for letting the community see events and its visual platform allows libraries to show off collections and get important feedback.

The only thing to keep in mind is to limit the use of hashtags in each post...if asked, most people will say they're not put off by it....

Getting down to business on Scoopit

When you think of social media, Scoopit is not a platform many people know about.

There are a lot of differences between Scoopit and the more popular forms of social media, which can make it hard for the public to use and navigate, making it harder to find information they're interested in. For this reason, Scoopit seems to be a more professional based form of social media, used by organisations as a content curation tool. That is, collecting, organising and displaying content of a specific subject over the internet.

I think different libraries can benefit from using Scoopit in many different ways, for instance:

• State libraries could use Scoopit to collect and display information about their different states, as they have to collect this information for records and preservation purposes.
• Special libraries can benefit from using Scoopit to display the latest information and items in their collection to people and organisations in that specific area.
• Public libraries can use Scoopit to share ideas for improving services.

Being that Scoopit is a more professional based form of social media, there is great opportunity to use the site for professional development for library information service workers, to share information.
These could include:

• Sharing articles and information about specific areas of library services between libraries
• Sharing tips on improving services to customers
• Sharing special events and ideas to help promote libraries in the community
• A chance to collaborate and share between libraries

Though Scoopit is probably not ideal for reaching the public and community, there are many great opportunities for organisations such as libraries to get together and share information and ideas as well as collaborate to improve services, making for a consistently higher quality of service and experience for the community across the country and even the world.

Rub a Pug

A little something to brighten your day.
I know I couldn't watch this without smiling like a dork...
Hopefully it does the same for you!

(P.S. click the speaker that appears in the bottom right hand corner for sound, which trust me, you want!)

Libraries use the biggest book of all, Facebook!

With Facebook being one of the most popular social media sites in the world, many libraries are getting in on the action, creating a page and using the site for many different reasons.

Some of these reasons include:

• Using their Facebook page to let users know about events. A library service that makes great use of this is the Melbourne Library Service.
• Posting reviews about books
• Sharing links, videos and other information from outside sources, like the National Library of Australia
• Linking their other social networking sites such as Pinterest, as seen on The Library of Congress Facebook page.
• Connecting to large groups of people, specifically adults because of the Facebook 13+ age restrictions, like ALIA National Library Technicians Facebook group.
• Libraries also use Facebook to gather and record feedback and comments from their library users.

The city circle of libraries

Friday was library excursion day in Melbourne for our Information Industry class!

The day started with coffee and ended with...well, coffee. But everything in between (including more coffee) was really very great!

Our first stop was the State Library of Victoria where we wandered around, looking at all the different areas and services the library offers. After thoroughly wandering, we were taken for a special peek at the original library there.

Next we were off to the RMIT library for a quick tour around and talk with another student before running off to catch the City Circle tram to Parliament.

Once we all made it past security, after the confiscation of many a spoon and umbrella, the group was taken for a walk through Parliament (even getting to walk through one of the chambers) and eventually ended up in their amazing library.

The librarians were kind enough to show us around, telling us about some of the history and about how their library operates.

After getting back the spoons and umbrellas that we'd given up for a tour of Parliament, next stop was The Library at the Dock...this library...is indescribably amazing.
The range of services and activities it offers is extremely extensive, and they even have a small cafe!
Here's a small video to give you a tiny look at just how amazing this place is:

How did the pancake make it all the way across the road?

It didn't, that's why it's a pancake...

Follow, follow, follow

Today is library blog following day!

There's some exciting reading ahead!

I've managed to stumble across a website called Libraries Interact which actually has a nice list of both personal and corporate Australian library blogs.


Here is a little list of some blogs I found on Libraries Interact that I think are quite interesting:

Feral Library Tales - although this blog has not been updated since 2013, it has some interesting tales about working in the library industry.

BookBuster - this blog talks about various issues within and relating to the library industry and their personal views on the situation.

The Hills Shire Library Online Book Club - a nice blog run by the Hills Shire Library. They run this as an online book club where they pick a certain theme each month for participants who can then choose their own book.

Teenagers Reading? - this blogger talks about the different books they're reading, concentrating mainly on teenage literature.

Skerricks - ideas and inspiration for improving school library environments.


I'm sure I'll find many more to follow in the future, but for now, these ones will keep me quite occupied.

Sweet, sweet access

Guess who finally exists on the system that is Vic Uni now?

That would be ME!

I'm no longer denied the joys of having access to all the online class content, which is absolutely brilliant!

I'm so, so thankful for Margie and her amazing help, persistence, and, of course, her very kind words with the people in charge of getting this all sorted.

Now I can get stuck into the course properly!


Now, in celebration, a little advice from Loki:

First blog post!

Ahh, Blogger, we meet at last.

I've known about you for a long while but now I'm delving into your depths for my Social Media class for 2015.

Isn't this exciting!