MLA CE WEEK 3

The assignment this week was to investigate social network sites as vehicles for facilitating communication among MLA Members. Linkedin, Facebook, and MySpace were visited. Elements found on Linkedin and Facebook might be employed to improve member communication on the MLA Website.

The professional appearance of Linkedin would be a good place to start designing a new communication system for our members. Valuable features from this sight include: search able member profiles containing the members' name, library affiliation, library and contact information, Ill policies, etc. A fill in the box area could be used to add any announcements or updates that might change from time to time. Links to individual websites and catalogues should also be provided.

The development of a separate resume page tied to the member ID# would be very helpful in organizing career information over time. This could include positions held, chairs & elected offices, and publications and a CE record. The friends feature could be useful if one was searching for a reference from someone you worked with along time ago.

This localization data could help librarians keep in touch if it were easily accessible, search able, and was updated frequently (One might be required to update the data before you could renew your membership.) I see this as expanded librarian look up data.

Facebook provides contact data with the ability to share comments, documents, photos, etc. This seems ideally suited to committee work, conference planning, document revision by consortium members, manuscript revision among several authors, and the sharing of events. There needs to be a simple way to designate the recipients of this information e.g, the entire membership or some sub-segment of the membership. Privacy controls have to be in place to keep conservations limited to the intended recipients.

In my Community Hospital setting, I do not see a place for a MySpace or Facebook Page. Our web page includes links to our catalogue, E-mail, and other resources. Our patrons are familiar with the web page and it seems redundant to redesign and add another layer of complexity.

Privacy concerns abound on the web and include identity theft, and misdirected communications. Communications would take place in a passwork protected website and wold be limited to transactions between members. This would seem to eliminate most serious privacy issues. Members would have to select the correct privacy settings and recipients to ensure messages were delivered only to the intended recipients.

I am going to conclude with some overall comments on MySpace, Facebook, and Linkedin.
The design of MySpace seems ideally suited to adolescents and perhaps some college students. This seems to be an effective social networking venue for this age group. Facebook seems to have expanded the venue and I can certainly see adults using this site to make connections and keep in touch with friends. The search capabilities of all three of the reviewed sites seem poor. I did several name searches e.g. Jon versus John and the results were poor. These sites do provide some useful ideas that might help Medical Librarians work more effectively and share a feeling of social connectedness.

MLA CE WEEK 2

Greetings Again:

The subject of this second post is Wikis. I have created a wiki covering my favorite hobby: hiking. The link to this wiki (Bay Area Hiking) is located at the bottom (left) of this page.

Wikis are very different from blogs. Blogs tend to be more focused on the opinions of their creators and seem ideal as a vehicle for sharing views and opinions on particular topics. Wikis can be used to share information among a number of readers. Unlike blogs, they invite reader participation in the modification of the topic under consideration. Readers can comment upon the information in discussion forums, add or eliminate information, and rewrite and reshape the content of the site. In this way the information is molded by the input of numerous readers over time. This iterative process transforms that which is presented into a product that meets the specific needs and characteristics of the group creating it. While this can have great functional applicability, one must remember that information so generated is subject to strong biases that belong to its creators.

This seems highly suited for any activity that involves coordinated efforts of many individuals who are working towards some common purpose. This might involve planning a meeting or event, updating policies and procedures, editing an article for publication, developing or revising course content, or perhaps, sharing information among hobbyists.

I can see the utility of this approach, in that, it provides for a diverse opinion in the development and shaping of content related to a specific task, goal, or interest. It does require the input of a number of individuals to be fully effective. Wikis might encourage some individuals to participate more fully than they otherwise would if participation means taking time to attend meetings or voicing one's opinion in the midst of opposition.

In my small community hospital, I do not believe the staff would use this as a means of communication. For the kinds of activities we are involved in ie., CME Planning, IRB activities, Medical Staff Meetings, etc., it is easy to plan and conduct small group meetings at appropriate times to resolve any issues or provide input needed to complete these tasks. Larger institutions with individuals at various locations on a campus might find this a highly effective tool for completing projects in a timely fashion.

MLA CE WEEK 1

Greetings All:

As my first post, I am exploring the usefulness of Blogs as a communication device and RSS Feeds as a research tool. In this Community Hospital Setting, our Medical staff consists mostly of older experienced physicians who have not had much exposure to online research tools. Medical Students do not rotate through our facility.

Most of these physicians are unlikely to expeditiously adopt new technology. Their very busy clinical practice schedules limit the time they will devote to learning or employing new technology. Most often they seek information solutions that rapidly provide answers they can endorse with confidence. Frequently, this involves consultation with another colleague over the telephone, or in the doctor’s lounge. Often the doctors will bring their queries directly to the librarian, with the expectation that answers can be found through an immediate search. If full text is needed, it will be copied from our collection, or ordered via Docline, and promptly delivered to their offices. RSS Feeds will help the Medical Librarian focus on changes in areas subject to frequent patron inquiries.

I am impressed with the potential of RSS Feeds for the dissemination of Journal TOC data to researchers who are following changes in specific areas of interest. We could certainly help our Medical Staff members by establishing RSS TOC Feed subscriptions. They will need some instruction to manage this new method of information delivery. How often the Medical Staff relies on this as an information gathering strategy remains to be determined. Younger physicians appear more familiar and more willing to adopt these tools.

This library blog may serve as a communication tool, posting information regarding new library services and hours in addition to hospital policy and procedure updates. As well, this blog can function as an additional avenue to submit queries or request specific assistance from the library.