The MS Library 2.0 Summit is back! We’ve re-imagined it as the MSU Libraries Emerging Technologies Summit, and we are already starting to get great submissions for the Steal-This-Idea sessions. We are so excited to have Jason Griffey as the keynote this year!

This conference started in 2007 with Michael Stephens introducing about 100 folks from eight states in the region to new technologies that were poised to change the library world. Along the way, some have–and some have disappeared–but the culture of learning that took hold after his visit has changed the MSU Libraries. We had cutting (bleeding?) edge presentations that have echoed in the library community since (mind you, this in was 2007):

A report from Southeastern Louisiana’s SMS virtual reference project (an early report from the pioneers of text messaging reference)
A workshop on the impact of social media, and Facebook in particular, for marketing in academic libraries
A panel on the challenges of institutionalizing 2.0 technologies in libraries

Enthusiastic about our work in the area and wanting more, we invited Sarah Houghton-Jan to come in 2008 to give us a big-picture for the state of 2.0 in the library world. Her timely keynote, Sustainable Web 2.0 Services for Small and Underfunded Libraries, came just as we were all beginning to feel the pinch of the economic downturn. Other sessions were perfectly timed for this Wild West period of 2.0 development in libraries, including:

Managing Identity in Social Networks / Information Overload
Using Google Analytics in Libraries
How Viral Marketing Can Help Your Library

Though we weren’t able to host the Summit in 2009, it has given us time to reflect on what we would like to know about (and talk about) at this point–in particular issues around assessment, sustainability and the future of social media in a post-2.0 environment. Now that we are using these tools, doing this outreach, in a culture of learning and growing, what’s next?

As we’ve done in the past, we’ll be podcasting and archiving the Summit, but nothing beats actually being a part of the discussion. If you’ve got something you want to talk about, consider submitting a proposal.

I’m reposting blogs I have been doing on our library website, just because this blog looks sad and lonely and I don’t have time or inspiration to blog separately.

I’ve been thinking a lot about creating identity–and re-creating identity online. And about managing information as part of all of that. I presented about it at our MS Library 2.0 Summit. If you follow the links to the 2008 Agenda, you can even find the podcast, my slides and a handout. I haven’t listened to the it–I’m afraid my voice was cracking at the beginning…so embarrassing.

One of the central models for creating identity in social networks came from all the new(ish) Facebook privacy tools, particularly the ones using Friend Lists. You can create a system of relationships as complicated as you have in real life–if only you had time to go through and tag everything and then remix it all to give info to some and keep it from others. But it is possible to do. And so I’ve been mincing my way through it, realizing that I’ve been sending out info to everyone’s NewsFeeds from my applications that I didn’t necessarily want to (can also be controlled under Privacy)–among other social gaffes.

So in thinking about all of this as a developmental theory–I’m moving into some sort of adolescence, I think. Becoming an adult? And I guess that means figuring out what to blog about here, on my personal blog. So I’m going to be working on that. And upgrading my WordPress (remembering where those files are and how to do that…lol). And in the meantime, what follows is a sample of what I’ve been writing about–pretty dry, but think of it as evolving.

Amanda
So, here we go again…

So, I’m giving a talk at the MS Library 2.0 Summit on Managing Your Identity in Social Networks, and it’s something I think about all the time. Not just privacy, though that is a huge part of it—choosing how we want to be in public (online) is so important and there are lots of great tools to make that easy to do. But daily, I’m also faced with the headache of just managing so much information. Not extraneous hilarious cat videos on YouTube, but information I need to do my job better. Or at all.

I think part of the problem is me as a human being. I really have a vision for how these tools will help me provide better public service to our patrons here at MSU. I see that we’ve put all of our resources online, but we haven’t followed them there. In CHAT and over email, I see where our patrons get stuck and lost looking for peer-reviewed articles or trying to find a book. If they were here in the library, I could just watch them wandering through the Indexes or at the Card Catalog and call out from the Reference Desk. Or maybe one of them might screw up the courage to wander over and ask a question. But where are we now? For me, the 2.0 technologies are a means to an end. And that end is providing reference service to the Mississippi State University community. I am absolutely passionate about that and occasionally overwhelm myself with my earnest attempts.

Really, the human being part of me would like to be able to cut off from the world. I miss the time before cell phones when you could really be unavailable. Or away. I’m still on a primitive Motorola plain-Jane phone they don’t sell anymore. It does take pictures, but that’s about it. I’m reluctant to upgrade to a piece of machinery that will compel me to remain connected without interruption. Instantly uploading pictures to Flickr, blogging from the bathtub, twittering from the movies, facebooking on the beach, etc. Well, maybe I’ll still be able to take a bath.

Anyway, in trying to “manage my social networking identity” this week I’ve jumped into FriendFeed and Google Reader this week, sort of at the same time. I love Google Reader so much more than Bloglines. SO much more. And FriendFeed has the potential to be very interesting. Right now my only friend (imported from the Facebook App) is David Lee King. He’s quite the twitter-er it turns out. FriendFeed is a foot print of what you are doing in all your social networks—what you’ve bookmarked on del.icio.us, what you’ve shared on Google Reader, your twitter status, your blogs, your comments, etc. It’s interesting. And Google Reader has so far made it much easier for me to keep up with those blogs I always intend to read but haven’t been able to work into my daily routine.

It’s been a while since I had anything to say, but since I’ve started blogging at the conference website again, I’ve got overflow that needs to go somewhere. Try again if you can’t get to the site. Our WordPress doesn’t like our Server.

Amanda