I am developing as a social networker….

I reflect back on my beliefs of, attitudes toward, and understanding of social networking for information professionals at the beginning of the subject INF506 with a combination of satisfaction and a little awkwardness. Reviewing some of my original contributions to our Facebook group, my attitude toward social media was negative and narrow in terms of its use for socialising, rather than as an effective tool for organisations and information professionals in particular. The subject content of INF506 has allowed me to take a broader view and provided me with the skills to not only acknowledge the benefits of social networking, but to develop effective skills in critically analysing. Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 had a defined place in my understanding. Through interaction with the resources provided in INF506, I gained a deeper understanding of the complexities of the actuality of these terms. I engaged in reading of various studies relating Web 2.0 technologies that provided background to various trends in different countries, not just our own backyards. Williams (2018) paper addresses the use of technologies in libraries and how ease of use was a major adopting factor.

Opportunity was created through this subject to learn about technology advancements, changes, challenges, their interaction within organisations in general and specifically within our information world.

The requirement of creating accounts and engaging in different platforms such as Twitter and Facebook provided an opportunity to explore social media platforms in a different way, focusing on the sharing of information in a positive and professional manner. In addition, it also allowed me to make new connections through communication with colleagues, fellow students, and like-minded professionals. The internal argument I had prior to engaging in this course, regarding social media and its positive influences, were challenged through the various readings outlining advantages of organisational use of social media platforms. Nisar, Prabhakar, & Strakova’s (2019) paper was one such reading. Their study, similar to others, provided evidence of knowledge management systems positively affecting performance in organisations through social communication. I continue to utilise some of the platforms introduced to me in INF506. Twitter, as a way of keeping up to date with current and relevant trends in the informal professional’s worlds. OLJ#10 allowed me an opportunity to compare and contrast two of my most followed twitter accounts; @ALIANational, and @UNESCO. The creation of my Teacher Librarians Blog, “Miss Worthy- Your Teacher Librarian” (Pope, 2021) for Assessment 1 was so enjoyable that I have decided to continue utilising this blog and implementing it within my new role in my school. With my newly acquired knowledge and skills, I am using these technologies more efficiently and effectively. I am even attempting to use the plethora of social media terms that is being added at a very fast rate such as those suggested by Stec (2020).

The Online Journal Tasks (OLJ) offered a chance to delve more deeply into an academic mindset in a range of relevant and current issues.

The elderly’s utilisation and attitudes toward social networking sites (Casanova, Abbondanza, Rolandi, Vaccaro, Pettinato, Colombo, & Guatita, 2021). OLJ #2 touched on the influence of technology on society and organisations, The opportunities and risks associated, as well as examples of the influence of technology on schools and learning in our current Covid climate. My final two blog posts were when the appreciation of my development of learning from INF506 became apparent. They were focused on not just the convincing side of the argument of the benefits of social networking in organisation. They also allowed me to go back to where I was at the beginning in questioning. However, this time, my learning allowed me to look at the dangers, challenges and potential for the future in a new way. This time, I focused on an opportunities perspective. To understand the challenges means to have some power over the direction. Upon further reflection, the implications of engaging in and learning about the risks and social media policies has had the most significant effect on me as a professional. Following trends regarding privacy and security, ethical use, inclusiveness and diversity, digital literacy, and digital identity is something in the day-to-day life of a teacher librarian that often gains little attention. In truth, the importance of these things is integral in being an effective information professional.

The encouragement I found from the discussions and interactions on Facebook as well as the inspiring nature of our teacher has invigorated me to learn more about the future of social networking, technology and possibilities in these areas. ‘The little robot who lived at the library’ (Axellson, 2019) was such an engaging story that it has stimulated me to want to join the lead for change. Am I ready for exponential change? I am not sure. However, upon reflection of the course content and learning opportunities, personally and professionally INF506 has definitely prepared me more than I was prior to engagement in this module.

The course has allowed a change in thinking for not only me as a professional, but my personal beliefs and attitudes have been transformed through the acquired knowledge and education. I believe the content learning in INF506 has boosted my passion and enthusiasm as an information professional by opening my mind to the opportunities available through social networking. It has given me the ability to keep questioning and keep re-imagining my library so as to keep up with our technological world of information and learning.

References

Axellson, M. (2019). The little robot that lived in the library [Blog post].  https://towardsdatascience.com/the-little-robot-that-lived-at-the-library-90431f34ae2c

Nisar, T. M., Prabhakar, G., & Strakova, L. (2019). Social media information on benefits, knowledge management and smart organizations. Jounral of business research, 94, 264-272. https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0148296318302303?via%3Dihub

Stec, C. (2020, July 27). Social Media Definitions: The ultimate glossary of terms you should know. Hubspot. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-terms

Williams, M. L. (2018). The adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in academic libraries: A comparative exploration. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.1177/0961000618788725

Where do we get our daily fix of information and news about the world? 86% of Americans say from a smartphone (Suciu, 2021). Accessing news online has very few barriers for consumers and producers of information. We can access things quickly and with little hassle.

Social media platforms should have rules about the information that is produced on them. They may do. However it would be more than a fulltime job to policy and fact check all of the content. Suciu (2021) also suggests they may not want to; “misinformation gets clicks”. Putting it another way, misinformation engages consumers through emotion and the more shocking the news, the more engagement happens on the platform. Misinformation can come intentionally or unintentionally. For example, some organisations misinform on purpose to create engagement or influence. Recently this has been very common in our current Covid-10 pandemic and vaccination debates. Another way misinformation and fake news can have an effect is how it changes the way people interpret and respond to real news (Shu, Wang, Lee, & Liu, 2020). Their ability to differentiate what is true and what is not is reduced. This is where misinformation becomes dangerous, especially for our youth/students. In information organisations such as schools, it becomes essential for teachers and teacher librarians (TL) to educate students on how to navigate news and make informed decisions about reliability of information.

There are some simple ways to spot misinformation;

– Credibility of the source. Who or where does this information come from? Are they qualified, do they have bias?

-What is the information? Is it recent? Based on facts/science?

-What is the intent? Is it just to share information or are the authors trying to get something in return?

(Suciu, 2021).

A framework for detecting misinformation was utilised by Komendantova, Ekenberg, Svahn, Larsson, Shah, Glinos, Koulias, & Danielson, (2021) in a study on misinformation and how to  recognise it. This framework was much more in depth than the above-mentioned skills. The truth seems to be that as consumers and/or informational professionals, there will always be fake news, misinformation and disinformation. Acknowledgment and an awareness of this is the first step in re-gaining control as a consumer and distinguishing between them.

Kandel (2020) discusses ‘Information disorder’ as sharing or developing false information with or without the intent of harming. The fact that this issue has become one of harm and classified as a syndrome is alarming. Whether organisations are purposely providing disinformation or misinformation, it is obvious that this topic requires more research and guidance for information professionals in terms of education programs for our youth to provide them with critical analysis skills in this area.

Students may experience their own personal or school community variety of misinformation in another form such as rumour. We talk about mis/disinformation through social media platforms in relation to news and knowledge. However there exist, for students probably more importantly, personal misinformation. Such as the likes of rumours shared through Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and Tik-Tok. Providing our students with the understanding that misinformation is out there everywhere, allows them the opportunity to sift through social media whether it be for news, schoolwork, or social interactions and critically analyse the source for truthfulness.

“infodemic” is another newly developed term by the World Health Organization (WHO) in reflection of misinformation, the Covid-19 pandemic and misperceptions (World Health Organization, 2020, Yan, 2021). As this is a world-wide current situation the relevance of the effects of social media and misinformation surrounding this topic is extremely well researched. The negative effects have been made very clear through the amount of the population having developed conspiracy theories, the divide between believers and non-believers of not just the virus but vaccinations and government policies. The detrimental effects can be costly, fatal even. Misinformation has equated to negligence in prevention and protection of the human race (Yan, 20210).

There remains the issue of moral, ethical and legal issues surrounding misinformation in online social media environments. This issue is not going away. There must be a better solution for platforms to manage the dissemination of materials.

It is not just enough to explore and explain misinformation and social media. We know it’s out there. There has been conferences titled “Libraries in a post-truth world” (Phillips Academy, Andova as cited in Sullivan, 2019 p1146) The importance is in understanding the dangers of it and what it does to individuals and communities (Sullivan, 2019). More personally, what I can do in my role as an information professional. Sullivan suggests that Librarians and information specialists don’t have a full understanding of the dangers of misinformation and therefor aren’t able to join the fight against it. This could be due to the constantly changing online environment in which nobody seems to be able to keep up with. Combined with the lack of literature that combines misinformation and social media. I do not completely agree with this assumption. Information organisations are places of leadership. Professionals in this field are trained to lead and to keep a step ahead. I do believe the issues of mis/disinformation will always exist. I believe it is our role to continue exploring these current issues and ensuring we are education others on how to develop their own critical skills in analysis. Some practical steps could be simply to provide online seminars/lessons to evaluate sources, provide video tutorials.

As an information professional I am an ally against misinformation in any form be it, paper, online news, social media.

References

Kandel, M. (2020). Information Disorder Syndrome and its Management. Journal of Nepal Medical Association, 5(224). 280-285. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7580464/

Komendantova,

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-00702-9#Abs1

Shu, K., Wang, S., Lee, D., & Liu, H. (2020). Disinformation, Misinformation, and Fake News in Social Media. Emerging Research Challenges and Opportunities. https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-42699-6

Suciu, P. (2021). Spotting Misinformation on Social Media is Increasingly Challenging. Forbes Magazine. August 2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/01/28/nfts-unblocked-seed-round-tiger-global-dapper-labs-jay-z-marcy-ventures/?sh=c5ba594e699b

Yan, S. It doesn’t take a village to fall for misinformation: Social media use, discussion heterogeneity preference, worry of the virus, faith in scientists, and Covid-19- related misinformation beliefs. Telematics and informatics 5(58), 101547

https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0736585320302069?via%3Dihub

READ THIS…….

The Little Robot that Lived at the Library;

https://towardsdatascience.com/the-little-robot-that-lived-at-the-library-90431f34ae2c

Thank you Minja Axelsson! The Oodi Library in Helsinki that built an emotive robot library assistant. I want one.

The potential for the future of school libraries is immense. There are many ways in which we talk about integrating technologies into our teaching within the school library setting. Educating students about technologies, online environments, research skills, cyber safety etc. This is all essential and we are doing a great job of it. Keeping up with changes and giving our students the skills they might need for their futures in jobs that don’t even exist as yet. However, the reality of a teacher librarians’ (TL) role such as mine, is that 50% of my time is taken up with monotonous tasks such as re-shelfing, staking, covering, labelling and often a lot of foot work to retrieve things for people. What about allowing librarians to use their time for better use by having a robot do the menial tasks? The possibilities of having automated machine/robotics for certain tasks is so exciting in terms of the time this can free up for a TL.

I further researched robots in libraries to find out more about these wonderful creatures. There are about 10 libraries in Australia that use humanoid robots. Nguyen (2020) identified 4 themes in robot interaction in libraries through her study. Her analysis revealed in the studied settings that robots are considered as community builders, teachers, aids, and challengers. What a benefit for librarians and library users. It leaves the question; how else could they do support us? What else could they do? I am not an IT master or robot builder yet. However, could they also become storytellers? Help facilitate delivery of programs?

Personally there is no fear in ‘robots coming’ to take our jobs. More the better, I see this as something that compliments a librarian and attracts patrons.

There will always be need for human interaction. Robots are many things however, they don’t have human intelligence; experience, values, judgment.

Robots and machines have been present in many other industries for a long time. I feel excited about the opportunities that robots and other technologies can bring forth in the library and school library settings. We cannot fight progression but rather embrace it.

References

Axelsson, M. (2019). The Little Robot that Lived at the Library {Blog post}. https://towardsdatascience.com/the-little-robot-that-lived-at-the-library-90431f34ae2c

Nguyen, L, C. (2020). The Impact of Humanoid Robots on Australian Public Libraries. Journal of the Australian Library & Information Association, 69(2). 130-148.

https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/results?vid=0&sid=8db50eae-33ee-4238-9384-af5c32e7e539%40redis&bquery=%28SO%2B%28Journal%2Bof%2Bthe%2BAustralian%2BLibrary%2Band%2BInformation%2BAssociation.%29%29AND%28DT%2B2020%29AND%28TI%2Bthe%2Bimpact%2Bof%2Bhumanoid%2Brobots%2Bon%2Baustralian%2Bpublic%2Blibraries%29&bdata=JmRiPWEyaCZ0eXBlPTEmc2VhcmNoTW9kZT1BbmQmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl

The term ‘Digital native’. Was first introduced to me in 2005 when I was first studying my teacher’s degree. This stuck with me for years as a perfect name for the upcoming generation of children and adolescence that were growing alongside the development of new technologies. Since becoming a mother myself and now a teacher of children aged 5-18 I question the accuracy of it. It does not seem to be inherent that they have digital knowlge naturally. Hernandez-Martin, Martin-del-Pozo, & Iglesias-Rodruguez (2021) reinforced my thinking through their study on Pre-adolescent digital competencies in the area of safety specifically. The target population of pre-adolescence for their study is integral. Our younger generation of technology and online users must have the knowledge and skills surrounding safe use. As an information professional it is our moral responsibility as well as our job to asses and teach them these competencies. Our children must learn from us how to navigate the challenges of analysing and questioning information for truthfulness. “Mum, I learnt something from YouTube today! Did you know…….” This is a conversation I have with my child at least once a day. 9 times out of 10 the story is no-where near the truth.

A study on Fake news done by Rampersad & Althiyabi (2020) finds that it is age that has an influence on the acceptance of fake news. Fake news is literally intentional lies told by somebody to use emotion to coerce another into believing something. The study looked at age, gender, education and culture and the acceptance of fake news. It does focus on political news, However the message is the same, that age is the major factor in belief. Younger people generally react more on emotion, and this is exactly what fake news uses as a driver for influence.

As a mother I am reminded by my sons’ ‘new found information on youtube’ of the dangers of fake-news and online safety. As in information professional it is my responsibility to educate my students to the best of my ability of the digital competencies.

References

Hernandez-Martin, A., Martin-del-Pozo, M., & Iglesias-Rodriguez, A. (2021). Pre-adolescents’ digital competencies in the area of safety. Does frequency of social media use mean safer and more knowledgeable digital usage? Education and Information Technologies, 26(1), 1043-1067.  https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/article/10.1007%2Fs10639-020-10302-4

Rampersad, G., & Althiyabi, T. (2020). Fake news: Acceptance by demographics and culture on social media. Journal of Information & Politics, 17(1), 1-11. https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/19331681.2019.1686676

Blogging and microblogging have become an online environment for nearly any person or organisation to share thoughts, insights, information and basically to have a ‘voice’ in the online world.

I am new to the ‘twitter world’ and am engaging in different twitter account to familiarise myself with how to become a successful ‘tweeter’.

Below is a basic analysis comparing and contrasting 2 twitter accounts.

‘The Reimagined Library’

Laura Cole (2016) explores and explains the way in which the library can move with the times and technologies, and embrace the change from print to digital.

Libraries no longer need to be the destination because information accessibility from digital libraries can be from everywhere. Her explanation that the patron becoming the destination for the information is a very useful and accurate description. Exploring my local library on my phone whilst on the train I can reserve a physical book, hire a digital book, check my account, book a class, or hire a movie. This makes accessibility nearly everywhere as well as to everyone.

In addition to this her identification of digital libraries being space savers is a benefit to all. This does not mean you have less, it means that space can be used for other purposes. Libraries are not just information depositories, they are social spaces, learning hubs and community centres. Digitalising resources free’s up this space for all of the above. Again, the local library holds many different organised and casual groups and classes, included in the space is an art gallery too.

With all of these changes from print libraries to digital comes a change in the role of the library, the patrons and the librarian. The library becomes the ‘liberator’ as opposed to the keeper of information. The role of the librarian nowadays probably has little resemblance to the day-today librarians of the past. Laura termed librarians as ‘custodians’ of information. However, with the change to digital libraries the role is much more of a ‘navigator’. In my role as a teacher Librarian (TL) I must embrace library 2.0 in my job. I assist students and the larger school community in searching, identifying, locating and analysing information every day in every class. I am not the keep of the information.

Digital libraries allow empowerment and freedom to those that may not have accessibility otherwise. The modern library cannot be stopped because the technology will. Not stop evolving. Laura’s encouragement of exploring its potential and embracing the fluid sharing of resources and information was an inspiring part of her presentation.

Reference

Cole, L. (2016). The Reimagined Library- Where will it find you? TEDx San Antonio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnYDl66YfQ0

New Older Users’ Attitudes Toward Social Networking Sites and Loneliness: The Case of the Oldest-Old Residents in a Small Italian City.

-An analysis

The goal of this study was to investigate the elderly and their utilisation of social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Older adults in small cities can experience loneliness and even more so recently with less face-to-face contact as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through providing training to a sample, aged 79-84 on SNS, the authors gathered qualitative information about personal experiences.

The results obtained were positive and indicated that using SNS helped in reducing loneliness for the elderly and that they were mainly used for contact with relatives and friends.

The barriers for non-use were around technical issues, in addition to privacy issues. Interestingly this is also why users preferred WhatsApp over Facebook.

I agree with the authors wish to identify issues and provide interventions for the elderly in reducing loneliness. Many elderly people do not have the skills or knowledge required to utilise SNS. In addition to being less physically able to get out and about. Add in the social isolation orders that have been put in place during the pandemic and it is a very important area of study to hopefully allow decision makers to provide services in this area.

Reference

Casanova, G., Abbondanza, S., Rolandi, E., Vaccaro, R., Pettinato, L., Colombo, M., & Guaita, A. (2021). New Older Users’ Attitudes Towards Social Networking Sites and Lonliness: The Case of the Oldest-Ol Residents in a Small Italian City. Social Media + Society, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.1177%2F20563051211052905

Social media has got to be the fastest way of communication.

I personally have mixed views and feelings around the use of social media; advantages and opportunities as well as challenges and disadvantages.

In terms of utilising social media in my professional world, I am very keen to learn the tools and opportunities available to me in my school library setting.