Congrats!  The Internet has made you an honorary librarian. Since writing that post, I’ve been thinking about what's the purpose of credentialed librarians when social media enables many of us to fill some of their roles.

Steph, a librarian in Melbourne, Australia, feels that the Internet has made her a better librarian.  She states:

In many ways the Internet has made me a better librarian. I am able to answer questions more quickly and efficiently. I know that there is more to what’s available than a search engine or Wikipedia can provide. I love the fact that there are cool databases available through university libraries with hundreds and thousands of amazing articles that I can search!

Like her, I feel that the Internet makes librarians more useful and needed. Here are some ways that credentialed librarians and information professionals help us in a social media world:

1. Confronting the filters that search engines use to narrow our browsing experience

One of the trends that has bothered me over the recent years is that search engines are getting better at personalizing information for each user. Eli Pariser has written about this trend in his book The Filter Bubble. For instance, search engines take many factors ranging from demographics, computer/operating system information, location, and browsing habits to make the information it presents a person more relevant to them.  While this may make the search results more relevant, one is less likely to get introduced to new things. 

It doesn’t matter if it is a different shoe website or political point-of-view, exposure to new information and things that challenge our world view is important.  People fret about totalitarian countries like China censoring search results for their citizens.  Although many sites may not have such a suspicious motive, filtering (which is related to censoring) content is still troublesome.

Librarians can help individuals understand the filters that affect their Internet browsing experience and can help them find a wide variety of information to help them make well-reasoned decisions.

2. Finding less accessible information

Some things are just hard to find – even on the Internet. 

One major barrier is determining the proper search keywords.  For instance, there are really technical and scientific terms that only people with highly specialized expertise can accurately understand.  This can certainly affect someone who is searching for health information.  At times the subject requires precise scientific terms that only a few of us know, but within the Internet surfing population there’s a wide range of age, familiarity with languages, and medical related literacy.  A librarian can provide great assistance in finding more robust search terms regardless of the topic.

Another major barrier to finding some information is the format that it is in.  Some information may reside in obsolete or fragile media like microfiche or Betamax tapes.  Very few people have access to the equipment required to access information in these formats, and librarians can help provide such equipment.

The needs of certain individuals also is an important factor.  There are plenty textual or audio files on the Internet.  How do people who are hearing or visually impaired access this information?  Librarians can help people find (or convert) information in formats that are accessible to them – regardless of their specific needs.

3. Searching better — even using those pesky library databases

Beyond using search engines, there are plenty of databases on the Internet that have their own unique search functions.  Anyone who has used their public library’s electronic catalog can attest to the fact that sometimes it is difficult to use the different fields like title (exact), title keywords, author, genre, etc.  Then there are databases like JSTOR, LexisNexis, and ProQuest.  That’s only accounting for publicly available databases, and there are many tailored to specific industries and professions.  These are robust tools, but their power comes from complexity.  Librarians use the databases provided by their organizations regularly, and their familiarity can make life easier for those of us who don’t use them as regularly.

4. Improving tagging

“Tagging” is a hip synonym for “classifying.”  We can even throw big words like “taxonomy” and “folksonomy” into the mix (to appear smart, of course); these are systems that help us organize information.  Taxonomies are more rigid since there are strict guidelines on the terms used in them while folksonomies are much flexible by allowing people to add terms with less control over format and standardization.  Sites like Delicious and blogging platforms that allow users to come up with their own terms are more aligned with folksonomies than taxonomies.  Despite their differences, these two different categorizing philosophies can help each other as Daniela Barbosa of Dow Jones explains in her The Taxonomy Folksonomy Cookbook ebook that I reviewed.  Librarians can bring harmony to folksonomies and taxonomies allowing the strengths of each to benefit information users.

A very simple example of these two systems working together is when people contribute to a folksonomy by tagging pictures with tags like “apple” and “mouse.”  Taxonomy terms associated with the pictures would provide further context and reveal whether the pictures are of computer equipment or biological specimen.

Museums are organizations that can benefit from librarians’ expertise with both taxonomies and folksonomies.  The Steve Project aims to improve the utility of tagging by allowing members of the public to help describe art and artifacts displayed at museums.  The hope is to prove “that social tagging may provide profound new ways to describe and access cultural heritage collections and encourage visitor engagement with collection objects.”   

5. Understanding intellectual property issues

The Internet has made it easy to share information.  This includes sharing a recently aired TV episode, a song, a captivating picture, an interesting book, informative research material, etc.  How about fan fiction? Such information wasn’t created for free, and creators have intellectual property rights provided through copyright, patent, trade mark, and trade secret protections.  The rest of us also have rights granted to us through fair use and the public domain.  Intellectual property laws are complicated and are typically enforced with strict regulations and stiff penalties. 

Unfortunately, many of us don’t have access to intellectual property lawyers nor can many of us afford their services.  However, that’s where librarians can provide expertise.  There are many organizations like the Center for Intellectual Property at the University of Maryland University College – where I did my graduate assistantship at – that offer great resources to both librarians and members of the public that can promote an understanding of intellectual property issues.

In case you’re wondering, the picture I used for this post is from Wikimedia Commons and is in the public domain – click here for the details.

6. Compiling lists of reliable sources of information

Just because something is on the Internet, does not make it true.  That is why there are resources like dmoz that are maintained by human editors (not fancy algorithms).  Such sites provide an editorial stamp on their quality as well as organize them into highly distinct and descriptive categories, and this is a great service to information seekers.

Granted, dmoz is no longer very useful since Google’s algorithm no longer gives more weight to its links than to many other types of links.  Further, there are too few editors to review the link submissions while people try to spam the directory for search ranking purposes.  Having acknowledged that, I still feel that the directory model has value if it is done in a different manner that allows for more manageable submission policies, and librarians are great candidates for gatekeepers of such directories.

I also further would like to note that there is some subjectivity that can cause drama when it comes to evaluating the quality of information related to political, religious, social, and many other sensitive topics, but that does not completely negate the usefulness of edited directories – especially non-profit ones.

7. Teaching information literacy

As mentioned above, there’s a lot of information on the Internet, and information quality varies online.  Information Literacy refers to the ability for one to determine the quality of information.  There are several factors that one can use to assess information quality.  A major factor requires evaluating credentials of individual/organization providing the information as well as their motives.  Further, one should consider how frequently the information is updated and the ability to verify such information.  These are skills that school librarians teach children, and they can help the rest of us improve our information literacy, too.

The stereotypical librarian is a bespectacled lady who goes around shushing everyone. Having completed the University of Maryland Master of Information Management program through which I took classes with Master of Library Science students, not only have I learned that librarians are typically anything but quiet but thanks to the Internet more people – maybe even you – provide library services.  Librarianship is not just for the bespectacled!

Here are some social media trends that allow the Internet to turn you into a librarian:

1. Classifying data

“Tagging” is a cool way of saying “classifying.”  Whether you use Delicious to save links with descriptive tags, place blog posts into categories (just like this post is categorized!), add a hashtag to your tweets, or tag a flickr image/Youtube video/last.fm song, you’re classifying data so that it is easier for others to find.

2. Answering questions

One of a librarian’s main duties is to help people find information.  There are sites specifically designed for this – like Yahoo! Answers.  However, there are other methods for answering questions online.  I frequently see friends ask questions via Facebook and Twitter, and they get answers through those sites.  Maybe you have answered someone’s question…

3. Recommending information sources

Google recently rolled out its +1 button.  This was partially in response to the like and recommend Facebook buttons and Tweet buttons that provide easy ways to share links through those networks.  Let’s not forget digg, Reddit, LinkedIn, “e-mail this” functions, etc.  Further, there are many sites that allow one to rate a page by using intuitive scales like presenting five stars.  How often do you recommend information to other people?

4. Reviewing/Spotlighting books, music, television, and videos

Newt Gingrich was an active book reviewer on Amazon; he had his own a virtual “Newt’s Picks” section.  How often do you see a “Staff Picks” section in a library?  Like Amazon, many social networking sites allow people to list their favorite books, movies, music, and television show on profile shows.  Through these sites, you can set up your own section of your favorites – just like Newt.

5. Providing instruction

While the stereotypical bespectacled librarian merely checks out/in and shelves books (when he or she isn’t shushing someone), many modern librarians are also instructors.  Back in 2009 in the New York Times explained how many librarians teach. Likewise, many people have created web videos that teach how to play a musical instrument, tie a bow tie, make Chinese food, etc.  Then there are bloggers and people who contribute to sites like About.com or HowStuffWorks.com.  What have you taught online?

6. Reading stories aloud

One of my favorite things to do in elementary school was to go to the library to listen to a story.  However, one no longer has to actually go visit someone else to listen to them read a story.  There are sites like Librivox where people read literature in the public domain for others to download and listen.  Although many of these people are volunteers, some are quiet good.  Who doesn’t like to listen to a good story?

This is not an exhaustive list – especially since librarianships is much broader than the stereotype suggestions.  Feel free to comment on how the Internet brings out the inner librarian in you.

Update: Read my post "Librarians offer plenty in a social media world" for my thoughts about what credentialed librarians have to offer considering that social media have allowed many of us to participate in librarianship.

You’ve got a ballroom, VIP badges, t-shirts emblazoned with sponsors, a distinctly clever and useful Twitter hashtag, and even check-in locations for your Foursquare-loving visitors. By all accounts, you’ve got everything you need for your big industry conference. However, there’s one thing missing from this picture: content. And that is exactly where all of those hard-earned conference attendees would love to help you out. Crowdsourcing, using the internet to gather ideas, actions, plans, money or just plain help from the online community, has been used increasingly in recent conferences for event planning, content selection, and even logistics.

There have been great successes in crowdsourcing’s history (i.e KickStarter, the online giving community which has launched millions of crowdsourced ideas) and sizable failures (i.e the White House being inundated with un-answerable questions every time it’s offered crowdsourced forums) However, crowdsourcing principles can easily be applied to industry conferences and tradeshows. These events gather large groups of people focused on the same or similar topics, most of whom probably want to know more about one specific issue. Gathering opinions from the people who are going to attend your conference about what they actually want to see at that conference is a win-win situation: you get to know exactly what your target audience desires, directly from them, and your audience gets to see only the product that they have the most interest in.

Doing research on conference marketing for a client, I came across some dividing opinions on using crowdsourced topics, events and products for conferences. On the one hand, you have direct interaction with your customer base. This interaction fosters community and trust, which in turn can foster purchasing and revenue. For member-based organizations, catering to the needs of your members in a direct and transparent way can set a precedent of goodwill amongst your members and attendees. However, both of these scenarios offer counterpoints. First of all, allowing the inmates to run the asylum and control the content of your conference can be asking for trouble. A few bad apples with voting power can turn your focused, taut conference activities into divided, roundabout attempts to please everyone. When your members create the content for your conference based solely on their own interests, you can come up with something totally “inside baseball”-irrelevant to outsiders and ultimately, useless to any projects outside of the immediate industry. Another problem-groupthink. Everyone rushes to create the same five conference topics or after-hours events without any form of mediation. This can be solved by instating smaller focus groups to curate individual events-these smaller crowds can sometimes crowdsource more efficiently, easily and directly.

Ultimately, crowdsourcing as a marketing technique and planning tool for conferences can walk a fine line. You stand to gain input and trust from your conference attendees, while enjoying free marketing from their word of mouth; on the other hand, you give them the reins too much, and you may have too many cooks in the proverbial kitchen. However, at the end of the day, allowing your attendees to have input into your creative process and truly engaging with your audience in any way possible can only lead to good things-enlightened conference organizers, and satisfied customers.

Editor’s note: See a lively example of conference crowdsourcing in-the-making for Digital Technology Week here: here.

(photo credit ChristopherSmitt)

Social fundraising is on the rise and these 5 sites are a great place to get your feet wet:

Before Jimmer, the “Mexican” restaurant Café Rio held (and still holds) a special place in the heart of many current and former Jello-O Belt residents, and for good reason since it beat Chipotle, In-N-Out Burger, Chick-fil-A, and Pei Wei for the best Quick Service Restaurant in 2011.  Today, the restaurant is opening a new location in Olney, MD here in the DC area – its first east of the Mississippi River.

Yesterday Inside Facebook detailed three new advertising opportunities that organizations can use to turn ordinary posts from people into ads.  While these are interesting developments, I argue that these are not the best tactics for advertising on Facebook.

So, what does this have to do with Café Rio?

Today, I have seen several Facebook posts from my DC area friends who are salivating about the new nearby Café Rio, and these were not sponsored posts.  These were event invites (for lunch on Saturday – I think I’ll brave the crowd and go) and status updates asking for people who want to go on a road trip.  The restaurant provides quality and addictive food (I’ve been told that people theorize that the chain caffeinates its lettuce to hook people on its food #cuckoo), and that is why people are so excited.  I don’t know about you, but items in my news feed are eye catching.  That’s wonderful word of mouth advertising.

While researching the various advertising Facebook options and running campaigns is important, the best thing an organization can do to enjoy positive buzz on the social network is to provide quality products – like sweet pork barbacoa salad with cilantro lime dressing – and services that people like and would recommend to others.  

Barack Obama’s 2008 web program is widely regarded as the most successful online campaign that has ever been run.  And the campaign site design is probably the most ripped off in history as well. 

People forget that the Obama campaign didn’t nail their site design right out of the gate.  It took them a while to get there.  See the screenshots below of www.barackobama.com in October 2007 and October 2008. 

Obama Site October 2007

Obama Site October 2008

As you’ll see, in October 2007 the Obama website design was kind of mediocre.  It was super cluttered.  There was no photo of the candidate.  The eye has no idea where to go. 

The Obama team took a look at their site and saw some things that weren’t working so they made changes, despite the fact their site had been up for less than a year.  They iterated and improved based on how people were actually using their site.  And eventually they nailed it.

This is a good reminder that a good website is never done.   There are always ways to make it better if you are paying attention.

During last Friday’s episode of the Fox sci-fi show Fringe titled “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide,” Walter, Peter, Broyles, and Bellivia were tripping on LSD.  I almost thought  that I was tripping when I saw “#Fringe” just above the logo of Fox 5 (WTTG – the DC affiliate) in the lower right hand side of the screen (different affiliate logo pictured below).

When I was watching the Glee episode “A Night of Neglect” last night, I also saw “#Glee” above the Fox 5 logo.  So, Raising Hope was going to have a hashtag, right?  Wrong.  Hmm… So, when I was searching for a Glee screenshot to get its hashtag, I found one from Fox 41 (WDRB of Louisville), and there is no hashtag.

Further, I checked these episodes on Hulu, and there were no hashtags there.  That makes sense since Twitter is more about real-time communicating, and Hulu is not about the here and now.  It allows you to an extent watch shows when you want to.

Granted, Fox in the past has used Twitter to host tweet ups with show cast and crew members during episode airings.  So, what about this new development?  Here’s my thinking about this…

• Fox probably thinks that fans of some shows tweet more than fans of other shows.  With Fringe attracting a vocal sci-fi crowd and Glee a more youthful crowd, it makes sense to encourage them to tweet. So, why doesn’t Fox think Raising Hope fans tweet that much about the show?
• TV network and affiliate politics likely obliges (if not requires) Fox to request affiliate permission to place the hashtags above their logo.
• Fox probably chooses to place this hash tag on the screen on a show-by-show and affiliate-by-affiliate basis.
• This is a good time to experiment since show plots are now rapidly progressing toward their season finales.  That means more people will likely tweet about the late season plot twists and turns.

Some of my biggest questions about Fox placing these hashtags on screens are: What are Fox’s goals?  How are they going to measure success?  Has Fox monitored and cataloged show-related tweeting in the past and will compare it to when the hash tags appear on TV screens?

Further, what is Fox expecting from more Twitter activity?  Does Fox hope that greater buzz will attract more viewers to its shows?  Is it planning to sell “sponsored” tweets from one of its official Twitter accounts during the conversation of an episode that is currently airing?

What do you think?  During which, if any, shows did you see the hashtags on your TV?

On a personal note, I would like to thank Fox for renewing Fringe for a 22 episode fourth season.  THANKS!

Several months ago on our ImpactWatch blog, we profiled a number of our favorite local blogs that chronicle and life and times of living inside the District of Columbia. A little bit of time has passed, some conferences were attended, and now the Bivings Report is proud to bring you a more comprehensive (and awesome) list of local and hyper-local blogs in the DC area.

And thus we present: The DC Hyper-Local Blog Directory:

Prince of Petworth – What started out as a Petworth-specific blog is now site looking at real estate, and events happening in Petworth, Columbia Heights, Park View, Adams Morgan, Pleasant Plains, U Street,  Logan Circle, and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods. That may be a vast area to cover, but you’d be surprised how well Dan Silverman keeps it running.

Frozen Tropics – A local blog all about Trinidad, H Street, and the larger area north of Capitol Hill. They cover everything from real estate, to restaurants, and local events. If you find yourself loving Frozen Tropics, you should also follow @HStreetDC for all your hyper-local news delivered in 140 characters or less.

Diary of A Mad DC Cabbie – The nation’s capital is full of good stories, and who better to tell them than DC cabbie? Not updated very frequently, but this is a blog actually written by a real-deal DC cab driver. After a few entries, you’ll find yourself asking every cabbie you see if he’s the one writing the blog.

The Hill is Home – A family-oriented blog about Capitol Hill. Pretty light on the crime coverage, but great for events, entertainment, and quality-of-life posts. Their Monday Morning Circle Time series of posts is both informative and funny.

Borderstan – This blog focuses on the Dupont-Logan-U Street neighborhoods. The writers (Matt Rhoades, Luis Gomez, and their contributors) all live in the area and  cover local politics, crime, entertainment, restaurants,  and business development.

Greater Greater Washington – I’m of the personal opinion that this site one of the best for news and reporting about commuting, crime, real estate, and politics in DC. The ‘urban issues’ blog has over 40 editors who contribute at least 4 lengthy articles to the site every weekday. Oh, and they love bikes, zipcars, and the DC Metro!

14th and You -  A married local man blogs about his hood – and the crime, metro, events, and real estate shenanigans that ensure.

Penn Quarter Living – Penn quarter is not all expensive condos and Jose Andres restaurants… not completely, anyway. This three-year-old blog has a contributing staff of 13, and covers entertainment, dining, and civic engagement news in the downtown Washington, DC area.

Fishbowl DC- Matt Dornic and Betsy Rothstein run this site about TV, capitol hill, and political happenings in DC. Caution: this blog is a member of the MediaBistro blogging network and is thus a little more corporate than other blogs on this list.

DCIst – One of the mumerous branches of GothamIst. This blog sets the standard for local DC reporting when it comes to news, local crime, and entertainment. Do lots of stories fall through the cracks? sure. But that’s why the hyper-local blogs have a great niche, too.

FamousDC – Amos Snead and Josh Shultz run a capitol-hill and politics-focused blog. They started it using the premise that everyone loves to see their name come up in a Google Alert. And, well, they’re completely right!

U St Girl  – A 20-something female writer covers the goings-on of her neighborhood. It’s both regularly updated and has a great perspective on life in this quickly-developing ‘hood.

We Love DC – you can’t go wrong with this all-inclusive blog. It covers everything under the sun and as a substantial following.

Free in DC – Amy Melrose runs a great blog about free arts and culture events around town. Everything is metro and/or bus accessible. The best part? All events are free, donation based, or cost ten dollars or less!

New Columbia Heights – this quickly-gentrifying area has seen quite a bit of growth and development in the last few years. Follow all the happenings on this blog or follow them on twitter.

What are your favorite local blogs? Let us known in the comments –

Make sure to follow us @bivings and like us on Facebook. You can also follow Alla on Twitter @AllaGoldman

Got ideas for improving on the old the ‘series of tubes’ we call the Internet? If your idea meets the following criteria, students from Harvard and Stanford might actually implement it:

• Does the solution meaningfully contribute to building a better Internet?
• Does it enhance openness, accessibility, security, or something else of value to the public?
• Does the solution effectively respond to a particular problem or need?
• What, realistically, will the project change about the Internet? How significant will the change be?
• Does the proposal account for realistic challenges and constraints?

From the press release:

“The Berkman Center and Stanford Law School are pleased to announce a new initiative in which we invite the world to submit their ‘Ideas for a Better Internet.’ We are seeking out brief proposals from anyone with ideas as to how to improve the Internet. Students at Harvard and Stanford will work through early next year to implement the ideas selected. Interested parties should submit their ideas at http://bit.ly/i4bicfp by Friday, April 15. Please spread the word far and wide, and follow us on Twitter at @Ideas4BetterNet”

h/t to Politico’s Morning Tech

Yesterday I had one of those hand-to-forehead moments.  “Why didn’t I think of that?!!!”

Over the weekend an Egyptian Cobra snake disappeared at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, and as a 21st Century snake it decided to tweet its adventures – see @BronxZoosCobra.  So far it has gone on the Sex and the City tour, visited Wall Street, scarfed down a cupcake at @magnoliabakery, and had other fun.  Since Monday (March 28, 2011), it has amassed tens of thousands of followers.  Impressive.

What if the Bronx Zoo beat this snake to the punch and started tweeting from the cobra’s perspective?  While the tweets would definitely have to reference Charlie Sheen (duh!), report celebrity sightings, and banter with local journos, the cobra could also sneak back into the zoo to visit its animal pals, get some pop corn, cotton candy, or popiscles, or take advantage of buying discounted admission (on its iPhone as not to tip off scare a human cashier).

Don’t get me wrong. Cobras can be deadly, and they frighten many of us when we encounter them in person.  Further, it may not be wise for a tsunami, earthquake, or other disaster – man-made or natural – to start tweeting witty remarks, but in this case when a snake on the town is not a disaster or likely threat to anyone, an organization (the zoo or another related organization) could capitalize upon such an occurrence to capture the attention of tens of thousands of people and get some media coverage.

In fact, @SpaSally alerted the cobra to a spa deal, and it accepted the deal!

Earlier this year a hawk visited the Library of Congress.  What if the library of staffers started to impersonate it on Twitter?  Imagine the tweets:

• Gosh!  It is cold outside.  Good thing I am indoors!
• Does anyone know if @benschilibowl delivers? I am getting hungry! Watch out tweety bird.
• People get concerned when I swoop; I am just looking for a copy of Twilight.
• Why did I choose to visit the Library of Congress? It has free admission! #value
• I didn’t know that the Library of Congress had a baseball card collection! http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/bbc/ Go Nats!

The library could have capitalized on their guest.  Just as the Bronx Zoo could capitalize on its escapee.

It takes a little creativity and speed to beat those clever people out there on-line, but organizations can turn annoyances like these events into something positive.