Building Grassroots Think Tanks with Social Software Meredith Farkas ALA Annual June 24, 2007

The Problem Where does a new librarian go to get good ideas and learn from other librarians? Librarians are pretty bad at sharing their success stories. Success stories out there are scattered all over the Web; hard to find.

The Solution: Library Success Wiki

Encouraging new content Don’t do too much yourself! Barn-raisings Encourage people passionate about certain topics to use the wiki to collect information about their interest Encourage folks with already existing collections to wikify them

Lessons learned Seed the wiki with content, but don't do it all alone Get spam protection Have documentation for wiki novices Resource will develop slowly People need reminders Wikis are great for collecting the things we think no one would care about (but they do!)

The Problem Lots of people don’t have access to quality, low-cost continuing education. One-off Webcasts are great, but don’t ensure continued learning/use of the tools discussed. Importance of hands-on learning. Online courses could be run more cheaply.

The Solution: Five Weeks to a Social Library

What is it? The first free, grassroots, completely online course devoted to teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries. 40 participants All kinds of libraries Application process Chosen on basis of need and perceived benefit

Building the class Found five other lovely librarians to help Michelle Boule, Dorothea Salo, Amanda Etches-Johnson, Karen Coombs, and Ellyssa Kroski Solicited presentations from experts in the library world Used open source software whenever possible. Planned the entire course using wikis and instant messaging.

Tools Used

Structure of the Course

Comments from participants “My favorite part of this course is the variety of ways to learn. To read an article, listen to a Webcast, experiment with the technology and then chat about it -- what a great combo. Each part built on the other to help deepen my understanding.”

Comments from participants “My favourite experiences had to be the weekly chats. This was probably the most valuable learning tool - if I wasn’t learning from my peers, I was gaining their support and encouragement.”

Comments from participants “In just a short time, I created 2 wikis, a book discussion group web page that pulls in RSS feeds, developed a blog and I am completely obsessed with Flickr. I couldn’t stop!”

Comments from participants “This 5 weeks has been one of the most invigorating and energizing professional development activities I’ve engaged in 20 years of being a librarian. I’ve discovered an entire sphere of activity and conversation and interaction going on in the library world that I knew nothing about.”

Lessons Playing with technology is essential to learning technology. Reflective learning makes ideas stick. Learning from peers can be more important than learning from a “sage on the stage.” Online learning can be developed on the cheap.

The Bigger Lesson Anyone can develop tools that help other professionals learn, share ideas and innovate.