Facebook and Twitter

I've been on both Facebook and Twitter for years as a way to socialize. In the past few years I've added more professional pages and feed to follow.

As I searched on Facebook, I found that many library use their pages to showcase what is happening in their library. There seems to be an emphasis on Maker Spaces on the pages that I looked at. Several included book trailers for new books in the library. Our local high school includes links to pages that offer advice on completing research papers and citing sources. Many also used the page to advertise their book fairs.

I can see this as an easy way to reach parents and show them what is going on in the library. Parents love to see their kids in pictures. It is a great way to advertise your upcoming events, show off new books, and other activities in the library.

The problem may be timeliness. Parents will only see what is on your page if they login to Facebook and follow your page. If they aren't frequent FB users, they may miss out on important information.

Now as for Twitter. I have an account and follow many of the people on the suggested list already but because I don't use it regularly, I often miss things and don't feel as comfortable using it as I do FB.

The first person I looked at was Kathy Shrock  (@kathyshrock). Several of her tweets were very interesting, especially about devkits. This is a neat way to teach kids to code and develop apps. I know so little about this and found that after reading about it, I don't have to be as scared of it as I've been.

Take a look at the DevKit app for iOS from @VybeSoftware for easy, powerful game coding for your students’ Hour Of Code activities! Lots of support materials for both teachers and students. https://t.co/0C1NfTA0fM

— Kathy Schrock (@kathyschrock) November 29, 2017

Plus, on a personal note, she's from Cape Cod where I spent many childhood days. So it was nice to see her photos of home!

I checked Linda W. Braun (@lbraun2000) next. The majority of her recent posts are about YALSA, which I enjoyed because YA is my love. I had to scroll to November to find more technology related posts. She had some great retweets from the Cooney Center.

This link led to a line for SeeSaw, a digital portfolio for student's work. While papers go home weekly, being able to maintain digital copies for data collection and for parents to access is great.

I'm not sure why David Warlick(@dwarlick) is on the list. His tweets were almost all personal,  his photography,  or political. Did I miss something or have the wrong person?

Gwyneth Jones (@GwynethJones)!!!! OMG! I think she is my library spirit animal!

How to be a Teacher Librarian Rock Star
Branding Tips & Tricks + More!
NEW Blog Post https://t.co/yx2V0NOEgA#TLChat #EdChat #FutureReadyLibs #ISTELibs
I kinda pour my heart out in this one. pic.twitter.com/JviSnN1dEi

— Gwyneth Jones (@GwynethJones) January 21, 2018

6 Strategies for Improving Your Parent-Outreach Strategy by Leveraging Simple Tech Tools https://t.co/XbcD6Sauki #edtechchat #teachergoals pic.twitter.com/uJ5yho0FwT

— Cooney Center (@CooneyCenter) November 21, 2017

This link to her blog was amazing! And it was the first thing I looked at.  As I kept scrolling I came across this link to a way to make digital comic. My students would adore this!

I've added her blog to my feed and her to my twitter account.

Creating digital comic strips: A fun way to demonstrate and reflect on learning | Emerging Education Technologies via @DJFTLL https://t.co/EtOrS9mCuT pic.twitter.com/oigwXtWeT0

— Gwyneth Jones (@GwynethJones) December 29, 2017

Jim Lerman (@jimlerman) has great links and resources, but I totally get what Dr, Gross meant about the frustration of clicking to finally get to the story. For some, I had to open 3 different pages to get the full story. The information about Google Educational Suite was good but I think I could have found it faster with a simple search.

Blogs and Blog Readers

It's nice to be back on my blog after such a long break. Don't know why I let it lapse, but I'm here now.

I selected feedly for my blog reader. I liked how easy it was to use and locate blogs. And I need easy! I found several blogs that appealed to me. I selected:

• The Annoyed Librarian  http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/ 

 I feel that keeping abreast of the issues is essential and the Annoyed Librarian's post is a great way to get one side of important issues in librarianship.

• Free Range Librarian http://freerangelibrarian.com/

Another great way to keep up with issues and a different point of view.

• Letters to a Young Librarian http://letterstoayounglibrarian.blogspot.com/

While I am not young, I am new to librarianship and this blog is a wealth of advice to the new librarian. Any help I can get is welcome!

• Library Link of the Day http://www.tk421.net/librarylink/

A daily link to library issues, book reviews, and other library related information. What I liked about this one is that it doesn't have commentary or personal thoughts, just the facts! I felt that was important to have that balance.

• Awful Library Books http://awfullibrarybooks.net/

I have to admit I included this one just for the humor. This site is about the horrible books found during weeding. If we can't see the humor in our jobs, then we shouldn't be doing it! And quite frankly, the one about NOT killing your husband intrigued me. I may need to find a copy.

I have created a tumblr account, much to my teenager's dismay. She claims she will help me learn how to use it, but I'm not holding my breath! Time to figure it out on my own!