ALA Editions Blog

Came across this via another blog - http://blog.alaeditions.org/ and it does a good job in connecting books and blogs for library professionals...

my first blogging reference question

So this morning I had a call from an 80-y/o patron wondering what these "blog" and "blogger" words that she has seen recently in the newspaper mean. It wasn't an easy call, as she doesn't have a computer and no experience on the internet. She wondered about all aspects of blogging (once I gave her a general definition): who would do it, why would they do it, how do they do it, differences between blogging and e-mail, and "is this why the police take peoples' computers away?" It was a very interesting experience, especially in light of this project.

An Alternative to PLCMC's Program

I think Charlotte's program is a great idea. I didn't know if you all were aware that another program about social software recently took place online; the course was called Five Weeks To A Social Library. The original brainchild of Meredith Farkas (who I think is totally awesome), this program differs from PLCMC & its derivatives because the entire project was conceived and delivered by volunteers in different library systems across the country & therefore, wasn't affiliated with any institution (which also meant no institutional support). Talk about altruism!
Meredith talks about the whole experience and the things she'd do differently in her blog Information Wants To Be Free.

I think we can explore different avenues in what we want to offer. We could take a little from PLCMC, from Five Weeks, and others to create something unique & relevant for our staff.

The Beginning of the Spider's Web...

Just a thought about the the things that we could have the participants do as they make their way though the program. How about a jump back in time to help the staff firm up their understanding of what the Web is vs. what the Internet is. Maybe we could have the participants do a little online searching to discover the roots of the Internet and the development of its child, the Web, and then post their discoveries on a blog that they create.

I think that many people have used the Web but do not really have a grasp as to what they are really using. I think that such an exercise as the one I suggested will help people firm up their understanding of what they are using.

Incentives

Does anybody have any ideas for incentives? Charlotte-Meck gave away MP3 players to everyone who finished the program by a certain date. They also had a drawing for a laptop.

I don't know if we could come up with that kind of money...

In my dream world, I would give out several incentives if we can to encourage staff to stay involved in the program. For example after completing 8 weeks, maybe we could give away a 1 GB flash drive or something like that. Then after completing 16 weeks, they would get another small prize. Ideally, these prizes would be something that would relate to the Web 2.0 experience.

So, what do y'all think? Is this over the top? What kinds of stuff should we be looking for?