Microblogging

From IPL Wiki

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to the question of "What are you doing?"

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Contents 1 About Twitter 2 How Does Twitter Work? 3 Best Practices 4 IPL examples 5 Hands on Activity 6 Articles about Twitter 7 Feedback and Prize Drawing

About Twitter

Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) is a micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as "tweets"), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS (text messaging), RSS, or through applications such as TwitterMobile, Tweet Deck, Facebook, and Twidget.

Twitter has inspired other micro-blogging sites, including Jaiku and Yammer (see Wikipedia's list of other micro-blogging services), as well as many third-party applications, ultimately making the service easier to use as well as wildly more popular.

Twitter was also named one of the 50 Best Websites of 2007 by Time Magazine.

How Does Twitter Work?

Signing up for a Twitter account is free: https://twitter.com/signup

Twitter users can have “followers” to their post, or “follow” others’ posts.

Posts can appear on the Twitter home page for all to see, or posts can be made private, sent only to groups of friends. Twitter groups, trends and tags can be seen on hashtags.org.

To access information relayed via Twitter, use the Twitter search engine: http://search.twitter.com/

There is also a “Yellow Pages” directory for Twitter: http://www.twellow.com/

Best Practices

Libraries are adopting Twitter for many services. They integrate it with their reference services, use it to post and share events and services, and use it for other activities and methods of information sharing. The following article from Information Today, Inc. lists more ways that libraries are effectively using twitter. http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/may09/Milstein.shtml

Check the Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki's Twitter page for more information on libraries using Twitter.

• For more about reference service and Twitter, see Stephen Francoeur’s May 2007 blog post, Reference Service and Twitter.

• David Lee King has blogged 10 Ways to use Twitter: http://www.davidleeking.com/2007/03/10/twtter-explained-for-librarians-or-10-ways-to-use-twitter/

• Michael Stephen’s message on Tame the Web highlighted the use of Twitter by the Waubonsee Community College Todd Library. Using the Twitter API, Twitter is embedded into the library’s webpage per staff person, so that as each staff member updates their personal Twitter profile, their updates show up in their biographical summary. Additionally, library staff created a Twitter feed for the library, and then incorporated it into the SIRSI online catalog, so that it automatically tweets once an hour if a book on the new book shelf gets checked out. Also, Twitter was added into each record in the catalog; patrons can click on the Twitter icon and up pops a menu where they can log into Twitter and send a tweet with a link to the catalog record.

IPL examples

The Internet Public Library is on Twitter:

@theipl Follow the Internet Public Library on Twitter

Hands on Activity

Signing up for a Twitter account is free: https://twitter.com/signup

After signing up your account, for more information about how to use Twitter, see:

• Newbie’s Guide to Twitter created by CNet:
• Twelve Minute Definitive Guide to Twitter by Fred Stutzman
• 16 Twitter tips to try from Chris Lake

Activity #1 on Twitter: follow another user. You can try this out by 'following' the IPL's account:

@theipl Follow the Internet Public Library on Twitter

Activity #2 on Twitter: tweeting with a group. You can add your tweets to those of others who use the same marker or "hashtag" (such as #ipl15things). The 'pound sign' or # indicates the hashtag. To tweet with the hashtag #ipl15things:

First, you need to 'follow' hashtags.org so that your hashtags will be indexed:

Step1: Go to: @ hashtags http://twitter.com/hashtags and become a follower

Step2: Then, tweet about the IPL 15 Things to shared hashtag #ipl15things. Send your message to everyone like this:

• #ipl15things I'm doing the IPL 15 Things

Or, send only to those subscribed to received updates from #ipl15things, if you send it like this:

• #ipl15things !I'm doing the IPL 15 Things

Articles about Twitter

• Huberman, B., Romero, D.M., & Wu, F. (2009). Social Networks That Matter: Twitter Under the Microscope. First Monday, 14(1). Retrieved from: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2317/2063
• Johnson, S. (2009). How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. Time Magazine, Jun. 05, 2009 http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604-1,00.html
• Kroski, E. (2008). All a Twitter: Want to Try Microblogging? School Library Journal, 54(7), 31-35. Retrieved from: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6573999.html
• McDermott, I.E. (2007). All a-twitter about Web 2.0: What does it offer libraries? Searcher, 15(9), 34, 36-37, 39. Retrieved from: http://www.allbusiness.com/media-telecommunications/internet-www/10586172-1.html
• Milstein, S. (2009). Twitter for Libraries (and Librarians). Online, 33(2), 34-35. Retrieved from: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/may09/Milstein.shtml
• Murphy, J. (2008). Micro-Blogging for Science and Technology Libraries. Science & Technology Libraries, 28(4), 375-378.
• Notess, G.R. (2008). Searching the Twitter Realm. Online, 32(4), 43-45.
• "7 things you should know about Twitter," Educause, July 2007. Retrieved from: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7027.pdf

Feedback and Prize Drawing

To give feedback to the IPL about the 15 Things and to register for the prize drawing, please visit: http://vll.ipl.org/15things/index.html

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