I was interested in the twitter conversation about Social Media Specialists, the role of librarians in all this, and how to rethink those things.
I do think there is a real role for librarians in this. Whether they ARE the social media specialist, or whether that person is partnered with a librarian to form an "social media team" is something that I've been pondering.
I think it's easy to get into some fuzzy areas of overlap which is often a struggle at my campus. Librarians who are social media specialists themselves sometimes get either overlooked as the true power players on their campuses or work at odds with the technology side because they are pushing the envelope too much. Sometimes it goes the other way as well.
So it seems hiring a team, with overlapping responsibilities but similar views and policies and support might be significant. Because I believe only having that sort of team can you really effect change.
On the information literacy, curriculum and research side, you really do need someone who understands how those social connections are made, how they work, how to support students and teachers in them--and how the social media play into all of that. And on the technology use side, you need someone who really understands how to encourage reluctant users, work with teachers, and build the support policies for all that to happen and provide that outreach and "go to the room" help that a librarian can't always do because they have a facility to keep open and manage and teach in.
I do think our interests need to work in tandem, whatever the model looks like.
Darren Draper
· 7 months ago
That's exactly the vision I am hoping to distribute in creating this IT department.
Carolyn, have you ever been to Salt Lake City? I can't think of a better place to be a Media Specialist. :)
kallan
· 7 months ago
Kia ora Darren.
I applaud the direction here. It's the means to get there that's hard to master.Communities are more akin to forests than cities.
Think growth rather than build. It's easier and probably more productive.
Catchya later
Jack
· 7 months ago
Hi Darren,
MIT is running a nationwide vocab contest, and I think it may be of interest to your readers.
It is being hosted at Brainyflix.com. We are trying to get high schoolers to teach other SAT/ACT vocabulary, and they'll be using a feature we've built called Brainypics flashcards, which lets users pair a word to images and sentences of their making. Our end goal is to create a free resource online that can help high schoolers prep for the big test, and we could use all the help we can get publicizing & getting teachers/kids involved.
We'll be awarding prize money to the student and his/her school who has the "best" Brainypic as voted on by the public as well as iTunes to Finalists and top contributors. We will double the prizes if we can get students to make 4 unique Brainypics for each word on our word list. Due date for submissions is May 22. More details at http://brainyflix.com/main/contest_rules.
Please let me know if you could write a short blurb about us.
All Comments
I do think there is a real role for librarians in this. Whether they ARE the social media specialist, or whether that person is partnered with a librarian to form an "social media team" is something that I've been pondering.
I think it's easy to get into some fuzzy areas of overlap which is often a struggle at my campus. Librarians who are social media specialists themselves sometimes get either overlooked as the true power players on their campuses or work at odds with the technology side because they are pushing the envelope too much. Sometimes it goes the other way as well.
So it seems hiring a team, with overlapping responsibilities but similar views and policies and support might be significant. Because I believe only having that sort of team can you really effect change.
On the information literacy, curriculum and research side, you really do need someone who understands how those social connections are made, how they work, how to support students and teachers in them--and how the social media play into all of that. And on the technology use side, you need someone who really understands how to encourage reluctant users, work with teachers, and build the support policies for all that to happen and provide that outreach and "go to the room" help that a librarian can't always do because they have a facility to keep open and manage and teach in.
I do think our interests need to work in tandem, whatever the model looks like.
department.
Carolyn, have you ever been to Salt Lake City? I can't think of a better
place to be a Media Specialist. :)
I applaud the direction here. It's the means to get there that's hard to master.Communities are more akin to forests than cities.
Think growth rather than build. It's easier and probably more productive.
Catchya later
MIT is running a nationwide vocab contest, and I think it may be of interest to your readers.
It is being hosted at Brainyflix.com. We are trying to get high schoolers to teach other SAT/ACT vocabulary, and they'll be using a feature we've built called Brainypics flashcards, which lets users pair a word to images and sentences of their making. Our end goal is to create a free resource online that can help high schoolers prep for the big test, and we could use all the help we can get publicizing & getting teachers/kids involved.
We'll be awarding prize money to the student and his/her school who has the "best" Brainypic as voted on by the public as well as iTunes to Finalists and top contributors. We will double the prizes if we can get students to make 4 unique Brainypics for each word on our word list. Due date for submissions is May 22. More details at http://brainyflix.com/main/contest_rules.
Please let me know if you could write a short blurb about us.
Thanks,
Jack