Blogging:
Here at the handknit librarian.
better meta
For a Spring 2010 class, LS590 Metadata Management & Control, students were required to set up a WordPress blog and post on assigned readings and other related resources and events. The comments function was used as a tool to further our understanding of metadata related topics. [The better meta blog is unfortunately now offline]
Networked Social Communities
In a distance MLIS program, it can be difficult to foster a sense of community among the students. UA does a great job by using the cohort system and having an on-ground orientation session, but Facebook is one of the ways the members of my cohort (the Fantastic Fourth!) keep up with each other both academically and personally.
Ravelry
As a user-driven online community for knitters and crocheters, Ravelry has user forums and an enormous database of patterns. It provides a structured way to track current and future projects, supplies, and personal library items. As a Ravelry designer I sell (and give away) knitting patterns. As a Ravelry user I obsessively track the status of my projects, recording in meticulous detail the minutiae of each, and balancing my desire to be creative with my need to be ridiculously well-organized.
Yes, I tweet. No, not much at all. Actually, I started an account to see what it was all about. These days I use it only occasionally, and really only to keep up with certain friends and relatives and to track trends than I do as a personal form of communication.
RSS Feeds
Google Reader
I was a relatively active Google Reader user up until January 2010. At that point I became a super user! For the Metadata Management and Control class, students were required not just to blog actively, but to subscribe to the feeds for the posts and the comments of all fellow class members. It was an excellent way to be “pushed” into learning to manage an almost overwhelming amount of information arriving on our virtual doorsteps daily.
Wikis
Also used for the Spring 2010 Metadata Management & Control class, using the MediaWiki software application, the class wiki helped teams organize, refine, and finalize a metadata application profile for a digital collection for the Blum Archive, The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Class teams worked with the client to develop a working application profile for a collection of digital images related to tobacco advertising. The Dublin Core metadata schema was used.