So I haven’t blogged since June. It’s now October. I’ve been studiously ignoring this blog. I just found a wonderful comment that I missed from said studious ignorance (thank you Ellen). I am so immersed in MSU Libraries and our emerging technology efforts, Facebook, Twitter, and Virtual Reference. Honestly, I’m tired of it. Maybe even burnt out. We aren’t going to be able to do the MS Library 2.0 Summit this year because of the current economic climate–even though there has been passionate interest in doing it again. Maybe it’s because I didn’t make a more compelling argument?

Lately all I seem to be interested in is poetry and art. Fourth Fridays. The cre8tive warehouse. Launching a new graphic novels bookclub in Starkville. Housekeeping. I’ve even started writing poetry again when I get exhausted from writing academic papers on Virtual Reference.

I just found myself sitting at my desk, trying to figure out how I could push the information I’m gathering about these topics. I thought about Facebook, but I needed an RSS feed. I thought about Twitter, but I needed more than 140 characters. Then I remembered this long neglected blog. Could I really do it? Aren’t I supposed to be a professional/librarian online? Am I allowed to have a personal-ish blog? More struggling with Online Identity. Is it better to have a dead blog if I can’t think of anything to say anymore about 2.0 and Libraries? Should I just kill it altogether and make this site a CV?

But then I remembered that my goal is to experiment always. My job is to find new ways of using technology–sometimes they have applications for libraries and sometimes they don’t. I was reminded about Carol Greider, who had been conducting “irrelevent” basic science research–quietly studying an enzyme with no application in mind. An enzyme which eventually became critical in understanding cancer and aging.

So maybe everything I do doesn’t have to have an application. Maybe it’s okay to just do something to do it and let the cards fall.

We’ve got two reference positions open at the Mississippi State University Libraries. Both are for subject specialists. The first is for a Business/Social Science Reference Librarian, and the second is a new position for the library, an Education Reference Librarian. These reference librarians support two of the largest academic colleges at Mississippi State University. The positions are critical for our reference department and the library as a whole. We work as an eleven-person team (including these two!) to provide Reference Services in person, both at service points and through consultations. We also do email and CHAT reference, and we are very actively engaged as liaisons to our respective departments on campus.

The MSU Libraries are progressive and very engaged with applications of emerging technologies to public services. You can find links to our 2.0 services on our website. We also host a 2.0 Summit each summer which has brought both Michael Stephens and Sarah Houghton-Jan to our campus. Both are terrific references for our programs, AND our hospitality.

Mississippi State University is has approximately about 17,000 students, and we are located on a beautiful bike-friendly campus in a progressive Southern town. Starkville has active an active arts community, green movement, film festival, music festivals (including the Johnny Cash Flower Picking Festival!) cycling clubs, a grass roots organization dedicated to making Starkville cycling and pedestrian friendly, independant coffee houses, an (amazing!) community theater, a community market, a vibrant downtown, great places to eat, remarkable nearby state parks and spots for hiking, and a smoke-free ordinance!

We’re looking for two special people to join our team and share our vision of being where our patrons are, when they need us. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

I’m following 51 people on Twitter. Today one of them “tweeted” that it was Shawerma Wednesday at Shaherazad, our local mediterrenean restaurant. I love Shawerma Wednesday, but I’d forgotten all about it.

When I signed up for Twitter it was an experiment. I looked for everyone at MSU and in Starkville–there weren’t many–and “followed” all of them. And then they “followed” me. I started getting updates about when exams were happening (and what people were doing to de-stress!). Then MPBOnline and the Clarion Ledger started following me. Mississippi Public Broadcasting is doing some pretty cool things, it turns out.

Then I went to ALA in Anaheim this year and found some friends to follow there. I roomed with warmaiden who was hooked in with lots of cool library-type twitterers. So now I’m following folks that are doing really interesting emerging technology library-type things. And they twitter about them. It turns out you can get a lot of information–or at least a tiny url–into the 140 character micro-blogging limit.

Now I get updates on emerging technologies, news from public radio in Mississippi, along with a peek inside the undergraduate’s mind. And I got my shawerma today for lunch for just $3.50 thanks to willbryantplz.

So now I have to figure out if it can work for our library. What kind of information would people want who are following a library’s tweets? Who would be following them? Or would it just be an RSS feed we could put on our site somewhere with updates? The Clarion Ledger and UIUC Undergrad Library both do that. But what would our patrons want to know? Here’s a list of potentially good information:

1. When anything is closing early or closed for a holiday, etc.
2. When the network is down.
3. When we have an event in the library (?).
4. When we have an interesting workshop in the library (?).
5. When we post pictures on Flickr (?).
6. When printers are down or other equipment.
7. News at the library.
8. When podcasts are released.
9. Major new resources/databases at the library.
10. New blog entries?
11. Hmmm…?

Next…who would keep up with it?

Amanda