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Social Technology and Your Library Collection
Your collection development policy should define and give examples of the items that are included in a comprehensive school library collection. Increasingly remote, digital materials such as web resources are becoming a part of the library’s resources.
Use the following topics, definitions, and examples to get you started investigating social technology with applications in your school library.
Social Technology is software that connects people for cooperation, collaboration, and information sharing. People may use these digital tools to identify new relationships or connect with friends and family. Users are able to communicate using tools such as blogs, forums, instant messaging, and electronic mail. Participants may also be involved with activities such as reviewing, evaluating, or rating content posted by others.
Blogs are web logs that arrange postings (i.e., text, graphics, audio, video entries) in reverse chronological order. Generally a single author or team of authors post messages and encourage others to add comments. Blogs are often used to journal, log ideas, and gather reactions. For instance the NMH Library Reading Room is a blog maintained by high school students. Most blogs contain a web feed (or RSS feed) that allows readers to subscribe and use a news aggregator to quickly view the latest postings. Podcasts, audioblogs, vlogs, or videoblogs are blogs that syndicate media components such as audio and video. Blogger is a popular general-purpose tool, while Edublogs and Class Blogmeister are designed specifically for educators. Subscription services such as ePals and Gaggle Blogs are gaining popularity. Open source blog software such as Wordpress can be installed on a web server for schools that wish to house their own blogs.
Forums (also known as threaded discussions, web boards, discussion groups) are a web-based application for holding virtual discussions. Unlike blogs that have a single thread of comments associated with each posting, forums allow participants to create new threads within a discussion. This encourages side conversations and added depth. Many professional education groups maintain forums. For example, the WebQuest Forum is used for discussing the WebQuest model including research, examples, and resources.
Social Networks are a type of web-based social software that facilitates formal and informal connections among people with similar interests. Communication and collaboration tools such as electronic mail, forums, and blogs allow individual or group information sharing. Most networks ask users to enter information about themselves in a profile that can be searched by members of the group. Although most commonly associated with friendship networks such as MySpace, there are many applications of social networks for sharing text, visuals, audio, and video. For instance, Geocaching.com uses social networking software to share the location of hidden caches around the world. Participants then use their GPS devices to find the cache based on the longitude and latitude coordinates provided. They then log their findings and share photos at the website. Elgg is a collaborative community for educators including blogs, as well as social and collaborative spaces. Although many networks are designed for adults, imbee and SchoolTube are specifically for young people.
Collaborative Technologies are generally web-based tools that involve two or more people working together in a virtual environment to create something greater than could be build independently. Rather than simply viewing existing information, emphasis may be placed on authoring and sharing content. These environments may be predominately text-based or may incorporate audio, video, and animation. There are many collaborative tools such as concept maps (i.e., Thinkature, Gliffy shared documents (i.e., Google Docs, calendars (i.e., Google, Yahoo, Scholastic, bookmarks (i.e., Del.icio.us), photos (i.e., Flickr) and videos (i.e., Google Video, YouTube). Some websites provide a suite of these web-based, collaborative applications (i.e., 37Signals ).
Wikis use "open editing" collaborative social software to provide an easy way for multiple participants to enter, submit, manage, and update a single web workspace. Users make changes by selecting from options and filling in forms on a web page. Authorized users can add and delete links, pages, and content. In some cases, a moderator approves changes before they are posted. Some wikis also provide a way to track changes and view earlier versions of pages. Wikipedia is probably the best-known wiki. Wikispaces and PBwiki are popular wiki tools for educators. Young people enjoy using wikis as a tool for collaborative writing. After reading the book The Wright 3, sixth grades built a wiki to share their understandings about the book.
Course Management Systems incorporate many of the other social technologies such as email, blogs, forums, and wikis along with other resources such as testing tools and data storage options to help teachers manage course administration. Moodle is an open source option that can be installed on a web server.
Teens and Social Networks
Social networks are particularly popular with teens. Lamb and Johnson (2007) identified the five ways young people use social networks.
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Activism – From environmental activities to celebrity fan clubs, teens want to be involved with the world beyond the local community.
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Belonging – Young people crave a sense of identity and affirmation from friends.
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Contact – Maintaining constant contact with friends is important to teens that want to be part of the action.
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Data Collection – Young people enjoy sharing and reacting to the ideas of others.
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Freedom – Social networks are a place for teens to exert their independence and experiment in a virtual environment.
The Role of the Teacher Librarian
While some politicians and parents would like to censor all social networks, it’s the role of the teacher librarian to mediate and guard the rights of both parents and children. Only parents have the right to restrict access of their own children to library resources, but they are not free to interfere with the right of other people's children to read what they wish.
Social technologies provide a forum for sharing creative thought. Rather than restricting access, teacher librarians must help student weigh and select information and ideas. In 2006, ALA adopted a “Resolution in Support of Online Social Networks” stated “learning to use the online environment effectively and safely is an essential component of education.” The role of a school library is different than a public library. Educational institutions focus on learning. School librarians should provide guidance for students, teachers, and parents in the use of social technology. Deb, do you think the role of the school library/librarians should be expanded a bit more here?
Personal Protection for Social Network Users
The following list provides tips for safety and responsible use of social technologies and networks:
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Use your first name only or a pen name.
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Stay anonymous (i.e., avoid school name, street name, places you hang out)
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Limit your “friends” lists to people you know
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Rather than posting your photograph, create a cartoon avatar of yourself or pick a piece of clipart to represent yourself.
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Avoid posting photos that associate your name and face
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Seek closed networks with password access.
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Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your friends, teachers, or parents to read
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If you feel uncomfortable or threatened, talk to a teacher or parent.
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Ask your parents to arrange a face-to-face meeting if you want to meet someone you’ve met only online.
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Treat others and yourself with respect.
Examples of Social Networks
Like many technologies, social networks were first embraced for leisure rather than educational applications. ALA’s “The Freedom to Read” states that “the answer to a ‘bad’ book is a good one, the answer to a ‘bad’ idea is a good one.” The key to social technologies is demonstrating the many ways that these tools can be used responsibly.
Before jumping into the use of social networks with young people, be sure to read the legal and privacy notices posted at most websites. This information will outline any age restrictions, guidelines for posting, and procedures for reporting inappropriate use of the resource. Many social networks allow young people to participate with parental permission.
All Recipes is designed for adults. However it’s a good example of how social networks can be applied to many different subjects. Each person sets up a profile. Then, users can enter public or private recipes. This tool would be a great way to introduce parents and their children to a productive social network. Let's say children are reading the book Mud Soup by Judith Head. Teachers, parents, and child might all contribute a recipe to the project at the AllRecipes website. By tagging their recipe, they can search and find other recipes with the same ingredients or the same cultural background. They can become part of the global community, get parents and the local community involved, or simply share within a "private recipe box" area.
Care2 is a social network devoted to green living, health, human rights, and other social issues. Sponsors include The Nature Conservancy, Breast Cancer Fund, and Amnesty International. Like many social networks, children under the age of 13 are prohibited from using the service without supervision. In addition, a code of conduct guides website content.
ClubPenguin is a child-friendly virtual world where children can chat, play games, and interact with others in a safe environment.
Facebook is a friendship network designed for high school and college students.
Imee is a friendship network designed for young people. Containing many of the components of MySpace, Imee also provides parent and teacher components and options for closed spaces and groups.
Library Thing is a virtual community for people wishing to share their personal libraries. Participants catalog their books, share reviews, hold discussions, and connect with others who share a passion for books.
Pandora is a music network that uses the tagging aspect of social technology to help users identify and listen to music in genre of interest.
Sconex is designed for high school students to socialize with classmates. The website is organized by high schools. Participants can share photos and post a mini-blog. They can also post messages for the entire school, clubs, or specific classes.
Study Breakers is designed for high school students.
Teen Second Life is a teen version of the popular adult website called Second Life. In this virtual world, participants create an avatar (3D character to represent their body) and are able to explore a 3D world. This website is only available to teenagers.
Whyville is a virtual world designed for young people. Participants learn, create, and participate in an exciting world that includes an online newspaper, government structure, and lots of educational games. This is one of the few social networks specifically designed for young learners.
CyberSafety Websites
Resources for Young People
Chat Danger
Cybersmart
Get Your Web License
ID the Creep
IKeepSafe
Internet SuperHeroes
NetSmartz
Safe Surfing
StopCyberBullying
X-BLOCK
Resources for Adults
GetNetWise
i-Safe America
OnGuard Online
Safe Kids
WebAware
Wired Safety
Learn More
Lamb, A. & Johnson, L. January 2007. Key Words in Instruction: Social Technology and Social Networks. School Library Media Activities Monthly, Vol. 23, Issue 5, 40-44.
Lamb, A. & Johnson, L. October 2006. Want To Be My Friend? What You Need to Know About Social Technologies. Teacher Librarian. | 
