Day: May 23, 2020

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Reflective Statement

How my views on social networking have changed

On reflection, my experience using Social Media prior to starting the INF206 subject involved interactions between personal usage and work-related projects. The main platforms I had used before starting the Bachelor of Information Science revolved around the use of Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and WordPress. The main reasoning behind such a limited repertoire of platforms was to keep a contained online presence and profile. This was structured mostly around Facebook as being my personal presence while LinkedIn represented my professional online representation.

My most recent experience with social media platforms was my involvement in a work-based project looking to enhance the digital literacy skills of students coming into an academic environment for the first time.  There is an inaccurate assumption the students coming into academic studies from high school are “Digital Natives” and have the capacity to thrive due to their enhanced online knowledge (Stevenson & Lindberg, 2010).

Since commencing the course I have begun to branch out into a variety of new experiences, the first of which was joining and using the INF206 202030 Facebook groups component for the subject.

I do not think I could have chosen a more interesting time to be doing the subject for personal exploration as well as assisting staff utilising new technology online for the first time and utilising tools outside the normal course related structure to engage and enhance student learning and communication.

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Thoughts for the future

Technology column: Is there a drone in your library’s future?

The use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a library environment might seem unheard of yet looking back so too was the use of 3D printers up until recently.Their usage is a unique opportunity for library staff in term of gaining new knowledge and skills, collaborating with different parts of the community.

Similar to libraries themselves, drones comes in a variety of types specialising in different requirements depending on the user and the proposed function required. Some of the common features discussed by Fernandez are:

  • The agricultural industry in the assistance of monitoring crops, distributing pesticide and feed drop and potentially scare off larger pests to protect crops and livestock.
  • Military and law enforcement usages for surveillance and defencive capacities
  • Entertainment industry where they provide new and previously unattainable angles for filmmakers and directors and location scouts.
  • Educational or STEM groups seeking to engage students with robotic, engineering or coding elements involved with the development or construction of drones.(Fernandez, 2016).

It is perhaps the last point where academic libraries have the most potential to enhance people’s experience, knowledge and potential first use of handling a drone. Providing courses through local libraries in partnership with local employment agencies could allow for greater employment for people seeking employment with Livestock monitoring in real time local forestry tree counting or geological observation for the mining industry (ABC News, 2016).

The potential importance of drones for delivering information of physical library resources to patrons with movement restrictions or mobility issues. If this can be incorporated with technology such as facial recognition on drones to identify patrons to assist in remote borrowing or returning of items or equipment to assist patrons help stay connected with their local library (Anonymous, 2016).

As seen with the current Covid 19 pandemic, libraries have risen to the occasion by providing activities such as online trivia, book and movie clubs and reading challenges online for patrons to participate (Australian Library and Information Association, 2020).

If future situations rise again and libraries are forced to their physical collections would it be feasible to consider the use of drones for physical delivery or inter library loans. Is there a potential for use for patrons to use a drone for remotely viewing the stack of a collection. Previously the thought of patrons being able to stream movies in their own home via their local library would have been unheard of.  Libraries continue to embrace new technology, it will be of interest to see how our profession embraces drone technology and moves forward with it in the immediate future.

drone flying near a lighthouse

Image Credit Pxfuel

References

ABC news, (2016). Agricultural drone jobs taking off in northern Australia. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2016-12-13/agricultural-drone-jobs-taking-off-in-northern-australia/8103834

Australian Library and Information Association, (2020). COVID-19 and Australian public libraries: interim report 30 April. Retrieved from https://read.alia.org.au/file/1354/download?token=a5rDrE9C

Fernandez, P. (2016). “Through the looking glass: Envisioning new library technologies” Drones. Library Hi Tech News, 33(7), 1-5.

Anonymous. (2016). Emerging Tech Trends Require Change Management. Library Administrator’s Digest, 51(5), 3-4.

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Managing your digital identity

Managing your digital identity

Through the course we have looked at the many benefits that social media provide us as consumers. However, we need to look beyond this narrow field and look towards how these platforms can benefit us as individuals and for the companies we work for.  These platforms allow us to have a presence in an increasingly digital world, an ability to talk on a global scale to create a personal brand that opens opportunities never seen before.

Within this new frontier comes new problems as well and learning how to navigate the netiquette of things has never been more important. As mentioned in the YouTube clip by Equalman, “What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube” (Equalman, 2019).

As a tool for organisations and personal use there is no greater access to self-promotion or for a product for free than the signing up for a Facebook account. Yet what most people fail to recognise this is just the first step in a long journey. An online persona must be monitored, nurtured, and cultivated. When collaborating or sharing information with peers or clients online you must be aware of issues relating to ethics and the treatment of those you interact with. As Osborne points out “the data you leave behind when you go online” encourages us to tread carefully on social media and to consider what our online presence might reveal to a prospective employer (Osborne, 2016).

Another important issue to recognise is that not only can your data be monetised for profit, the content you publish online could be detrimental to your future employability.

It is important to know where to find your privacy settings, and how to know if the post or tweet is being sent to a local set of friends or to a public audience.

With this in mind, the use of social media groups on platforms such as Facebook can be an a tool for peer to peer learning. As discussed by Sutherland, academic students using university social media profiles are more likely to engage with the broader university community and potentially less likely to drop out within their first year of study (Sutherland, 2018).

This is just a small list of considerations when planning an online presence for either yourself or for your employer. In either case the shaping your online identity will require planning and continual work and a continuous regulation of the terms and conditions that are required of each platform.

References

Equalman, (2019, January 8). Digital transformation video [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k_G_h41ZaQ

Facebook, (2020). Terms of service.  Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/terms.php

Karen Sutherland, Cindy Davis, Uwe Terton, & Irene Visser. (2018). University student social media use and its influence on offline engagement in higher educational communities. Student Success, 9(2), 13-24.

Osborne, N. (2016, December 2 ). What does your digital footprints say about you [Video  file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVX8ZSAR4OY