User Generated Content In Brief

Have you ever created a blog/uploaded a video/made a Facebook page/created or edited a Wiki/published a story online/posted a comment on a discussion board or uploaded photos? If the answer is yes then you have created some User Generated Content (UGC). In broad terms UGC is any content created by a user or users and available in some form on the world wide web.

UGC is a significant part of the whole Web 2.0 philosophy with users not wanting static information but to be able to interact with it (for example through editing or feedback) and to create material themselves to share with others. In a library context users might do this through creating a book review on TALIS (Tasmanian Automated Library Information System) or editing content on the Trove site.

Emarketer, an enterprise that prepares reports on digital marketing and ecommerce, has projected that, by 2014, about two-thirds of an estimated 165 million regular web users will frequently go to sites based on visitors' content contributions. (Tomaiuolo 2011, p. 18.)

The use of UGC in libraries raises a number of possible issues for library staff. These include ownership, access, privacy, controlling the information, finance and staff training.

So, that's a brief description of User Generated Content and what it means for libraries. Stay tuned to this blog for more.

Tomaiuolo, N. 2011. Library Uses for User-Generated Content. Searcher The Magazine For Database Professionals, 19 (8), p. 18.

RSS Feeds

This blog post is about the process involved in using RSS (Really Simple Syndication). The purpose of using RSS is to enable a person to have updated content from their favourite websites available in their browser through a reader. Or to put it more simply the content comes to you instead of you having to look for it. This is a great way for a user to keep track of updated content on multiple sites without it consuming a lot of time.

The two steps involved are 1. Signing up for a RSS Reader.
                                        2. Subscribing to feeds from websites.

As I already have a Feedly account I signed in using Gmail. I found searching for feeds, adding and sorting them into a category to be a simple matter of clicking a few links. The only problem I had was that with some settings the icon or box to type into was a bit hard to see. I had already created a group for Library Information. Today  I  added more feeds to it by searching the site using the terms libraries, user generated content, library technicians and variations thereof.

 I think there are two main ways a library tech (or one in training!) could use RSS. The first is to keep track of sites relating to their professional development (such as ALIA) or more general library knowledge and trends (such as IFLA or the Library of Congress). The second is to keep track of information specifically related to the type of  library they work in (such as the APLA site for those working in parliamentary libraries). An RSS feed could also be provided on a library's website as a service to it's clients.

Blog About User Generated Content In Libraries.

Below is a link to the blog Libraries & User Generated Content. I am sure it will provide me with lots of ideas for my presentation. Maybe you'll learn something useful there too.
http://lis690group8.blogspot.com.au/

Website Evaluation

I chose the Pew Research Center's website to subscribe to as although it is an American website the library section contains observations that are also applicable in an Australian context about libraries and emerging technologies. This organisation is a non-partisan, not for profit think tank that conducts research on the impact of the internet on all aspects of a person's life. 

The Library section has content on a variety of topics such as e-books, accessing library services through mobile devices, library services in the digital age and using information searches to solve problems. As the website has been updated in the past few months the content is current and as the observations are supported by research it is fairly authoritative. The intended audience would be anyone working in a library and interested in emerging technologies. From here you can also access the Libraries In The Digital Age Blog. Check out the post about The science of "the smell of books".

Pew Internet & American Life Project. 2013. Pew Internet - Libraries. [online] Available at: http://libraries.pewinternet.com [Accessed: 30 Jul 2013].

Lauren's Library Blog

Had some difficulty finding a blog on my topic so here is one that is about libraries and technology more generally.  http://laurenpressley.com/library/

Lauren Pressley is the Associate Director for Research and Learning at Virginia Tech University Libraries and wrote So You Want To Be a Librarian and Wikis For Libraries. Her blog is about libraries, information and education but she examines these from more of a philosophical viewpoint than a practical one. Her Ideas section post about technology provides a good basic summary of why the use of technology in libraries is important. The Future of Libraries post is also interesting. The intended audience would be anyone working in a library environment.

Lauren's Library Blog. 2013. Home. [online] Available at: http://laurenpressley.com/library/

[Accessed: 23 Jul 2013].

*Edit: Her experience in this area means that this is an authoritative blog.