Thing #48: A Facebook Page for Your Library

Facebook Pages. You've seen them, you've "Liked" them. Does your library have one? Are your patrons on Facebook when they use the library's computers? Then maybe your library should be on Facebook, too. Facebook Pages are a great way to connect with your patrons, to promote your library's programs and services, and to share interesting stories or events. And they're easy to set up!

For this month's Thing, we're going to have you set up a Facebook Page for your library. If your library already has a Facebook Page, that's great! You can still participate this month - you can share how the library's page was set up and how it's being used now.

Before you make a page for your library, you must decide what you are going to use it for. Have a plan! Decide why your library needs it, what kinds of information you will have on it, who will be in charge of maintaining and updating the page. If you currently have a library website or newsletter, you can post the same types of items that you put there on your Facebook Page, too. And you already have people in charge of your website or newsletter - can those people keep up your library's Facebook page? Or maybe there is a volunteer or board member who is a big Facebook user themselves - can you recruit them to promote your library on Facebook?

To see how libraries and library organizations are using Facebook, here are a few Pages to look at:

Bellevue University Library
Gibbon Public Library
Lincoln City Libraries
O'Neill Public Library
South Sioux City Public Library
Union College Library
Nebraska Library Commission
Nebraska Library Association
American Library Association

This is a very short list of library-related Facebook Pages. See if you can find more!

We've also created a Facebook Page for this Nebraska Learns 2.0 program. We plan on using our page as a gathering place for Nebraska Learns 2.0 participants - for you to share ideas with each other, and for us to share information about the program with you.

Now that you've seen how others are doing it, it's time to go make a page for your own library. First, watch this video on the basics of setting up a Facebook Page for a library:



Remember, if you already have a Facebook Page for your library, you don't need to make a new one. Simply use the one you currently have to explore Facebook Pages for libraries.

To learn more about the whys and hows of Facebook Pages, here are some interesting articles:

What can you do with a Facebook Page? - David Lee King
What's Your Library's Facebook Policy? - Library Journal
Our Library Facebook Page - Stanford University, CA
Facebook as a Library Tool: Perceived vs. Actual Use - College & Research Libraries

Assignment:

1. Create a Facebook Page for your library. If your library already has a Facebook Page, then you've done Step 1.
2. "Like" the Nebraska Learns 2.0 Facebook Page. 
3. Spend a week or two posting updates to your library's Facebook Page. Don't forget to promote that you have this new resource to your community - link to it from your website, put it in your newsletter, post flyers in the library, etc.
4. Write a blog post about your experience with Facebook Pages. Some ideas to blog about:
• Did you find it hard or easy to create the page?
• What types of things have you been sharing on your library's Facebook Page?
• What has the response been to your library's Facebook Page?
• Do you have any ideas on how libraries can use Facebook to promote themselves?

Thing #47: Say hello to Linux

Most of us use Windows. Some of us use Macs. My question is, how many of us use the other option known as Linux?

As a brief introduction, here’s some relevant bits from the Wikipedia article:

Linux refers to the family of Unix-like computer operating systems using the Linux kernel. Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers. Linux is a leading server operating system, and runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world.
The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed, both commercially and non-commercially, by anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public License. Typically Linux is packaged in a format known as a Linux distribution for desktop and server use. Some popular mainstream Linux distributions include Debian (and its derivatives such as Ubuntu), Fedora and openSUSE. Linux distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting utilities and libraries to fulfill the distribution's intended use.
The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel, originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The main supporting user space system tools and libraries from the GNU Project (announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman) are the basis for the Free Software Foundation's preferred name GNU/Linux.

For this month's Thing, we're going to take a look at one of the most commonly used Linux versions, Ubuntu. But, you may be wondering - what's it going to take to test a whole operating system? Well, here’s the three greatest things about most Linux distributions:

1. As previously mentioned, they work on some pretty old hardware. So, if you happen to have a spare old computer you thought wasn’t good for anything any more, you can probably use that.
   
2. You can actually try most Linux distributions without actually installing them by using something called a Live CD. (More on this in a minute.)
   
3. For Ubuntu, the distribution we’ll be trying, you can actually install it as a Windows application along side your current version of Windows.

I’ll get more specific about each of these options shortly.

For this lesson you can use the current version, Ubuntu 10.10, or try Ubuntu 11.04 Beta if you’re wondering what the next version will look like. (If you’re already feeling unsure, I’d stick with 10.10. If you’re going for the beta version, read the instructions I’ve linked to. Most of the rest of this article should be accurate but I’ll be writing from the point of view of 10.10.)

You have three options for trying Ubuntu: via Windows Installer, via the Live CD or USB drive, and installing it on a spare computer. Here’s the hows and whys of each:

Via the Windows Installer
Use this option if you would like to give your computer the option to boot either into Windows or Ubuntu when you turn it on. This option uses a lot of hard drive space and you will need to have full administrative access to your computer. DO NOT do this on a work computer without first talking to your IT folks. (Chances are they’ll tell you not to do it.) I’ve done this on a few computers and there’s nothing to be particularly scared of, but it’s not a decision to be taken lightly.

Head on over to http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/windows-installer, download the installer, and run it just like you would install any other Windows program. Once finished, reboot your computer and you should see a menu asking you which OS you’d like to use.

To uninstall Ubuntu, boot into Windows and uninstall it via the Control Panel as you would uninstall any other Windows program.

The benefit to this method is that you don’t need a spare computer and any changes you make on the Ubuntu side will keep past a reboot. However, please be aware of the issues with doing this that I previously mentioned.

Via a Live CD or USB drive
This is the most flexible of the three options. All you need to do is download the .ISO file from http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download and then create a bootable CD or USB drive. (All the instructions are on that page. You will probably need to download and install an additional piece of software and have the ability to burn to a blank CD-R or a blank USB drive.)

Once finished with that process, reboot the computer with the newly burned CD in your CD-ROM drive, or USB drive plugged in. In most cases the computer will boot from the CD/USB instead of the hard drive. (If not, you may need to perform an extra step or two - contact your IT folks for that or leave a comment here and I might be able to help.)

Once the computer has successfully booted from the CD/USB, you should see an Ubuntu menu. Choose “Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer” and press Enter.

At this point you’re running Ubuntu completely from the CD/USB and your hard drive isn’t being used in any way that will damage your Windows installation or files. When you’re done, shut down the computer and remove the CD/USB. Upon reboot, the computer will boot back to Windows.

This is a great way to play around with Ubuntu. The only down sides are that it’s a bit on the slow side due to CD/USB speeds, and anything you change will not keep. So, the next time you boot from the CD/USB, it’ll act like a fresh OS having forgotten anything you’ve previously done. You can find a more detailed explanation of the Live CD concept at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

Installing it on a spare computer
If you’ve got an old computer please give this a try. Follow the same instructions for creating a Live CD but when you get to the first Ubuntu menu, instead choose “Install Ubuntu”. Follow all the prompts and in 15-20 minutes you should have a bootable Ubuntu OS installed on the hard drive. Don’t forget to plug the computer into your network so it can get all the needed updates from the Internet.

Ok, I’ve got Ubuntu running, now what?
Well, that’s up to you. The idea here is to give you the opportunity to play with this wonderful (in my opinion) alternative to Windows and Mac. Here are a few of the reasons I like to use it on some of my computers:

• It’s a more secure operating system.
• It updates faster and more often that Windows or MacOS.
• It allows me to run some older hardware that Windows no longer supports.
• It’s free!

Additionally, here’s just one idea that I had for using Ubuntu in a library setting. (Unfortunately, it’s a little late for this year.)

A Nebraska public library was concerned about the lack of printed tax forms this year. What I suggested was to take an old spare computer or two (I know they had some) and install Ubuntu, connect them to the network and a printer. Then (this bit would take some technical know-how) lock down the browser so that it only went to IRS.gov. Stick this computer in a corner and label it the “Tax Terminal” and treat it as a non-reserveable walk-up computer for printing out tax forms. Once you know what you’re doing, the whole setup might take 20-30 minutes. This plan has two significant benefits: First, not having to pay a license fee for the OS. Second, since it was just for printing forms from a browser, the fact that it isn’t Windows wouldn’t be that much of an issue for the patrons.

So, let me leave you with just a few ideas for where you can poke around in Ubuntu:

• Under Applications, see what software comes with Ubuntu. Maybe try playing with OpenOffice if it’s already there, if not…
  
• Look for the Ubuntu Software Center under Applications and see what’s available for download and installation.
  
• Look under System|Preferences and see how flexible the interface is.
  
• If you have accounts with Twitter, Facebook or other social sites, click on the speech bubble in the upper-right corner and select Broadcast Accounts.

For your blog post write about your experience with installing and playing around in Ubuntu. Did you find a neat feature I didn’t mention? Do you think you might consider extending the life of some of your old equipment for your patrons by installing Ubuntu? Let us know what you think.

Bonus:
For those of you that think you’ll never get away form Windows, try installing the Wine application via the Software Center. It allows you to install and run most Windows programs on the Ubuntu OS.

Thing #46: Stixy



Last month our colleague Kathryn came down the hall to tell us about a new application she’d discovered, which she thought would make a great Nebraska Learns 2.0 “Thing”: Stixy!



If you’ve ever seen Kathryn’s desk and office walls, which are covered with semi-organized patterns of post-it notes, you’d understand why this application appeals to her! Stixy is the online equivalent of a bulletin board or physical desktop, with the added value (when desired) of collaboration.



Kathryn at her Post-It-Note covered desk



Kathryn's bulletin board

Stixyboards

Stixy’s tagline proclaims it is “For Flexible Online Creation, Collaboration, and Sharing.” With a free Stixy account, you can create as many Stixyboards as you like. Keep some private for personal projects; invite friends, family, or colleagues to view and/or collaborate with you on others. The choice is yours!

Each Stixyboard you create provides you with a work area where you can place your content. Stixy doesn’t use a fixed grid, so you can physically arrange your content in any way you’d like – just like you do on your desk or bulletin board: you can line content up in neat horizontal or vertical rows, scatter it randomly, or even layer or stack it.

Content Widgets

Content is added to a Stixyboard by dragging and dropping a widget onto your work space. There are currently four types of widgets to choose from:

• Note – This widget is the equivalent of a post-it note. Notes can be resized to accommodate anything from a couple lines of text to multiple paragraphs. Background color and opacity, as well as font color, size, and style can be customized. You can also include links out to web pages.
    
• Photo – The photo widget allows you to upload a photo to your Stixyboard. Supported file types include JPG, GIF, and PNG. Once uploaded, you can resize or rotate your photo, drag it to a different location, or add a handful of effects.
   
• Document – The document widget allows you to upload various types of files to your Stixyboard – Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF documents, sound files and movie files. If you’re collaborating with others, they will need the required programs on their computers to open the files, but it is a nice alternative to sharing files by attaching them to email messages.
   
• Todo – Todo widgets allow you to create date-specific reminders that can generate email alerts to you and your collaborators if you choose.

Collaboration and Privacy

There are several options available for collaboration. If you are working on a project with a small group of people, click on the “Options” link associated with the Stixyboard you plan to use for your collaboration. This opens the Options menu, which allows you to send email invitations to the specific people you’d like to collaborate with.

A Stixyboard can be private, meaning only you and your collaborators can view and edit it. You can also set up guest access to allow people other than your collaborators to view the Stixyboard. Guest access is provided via a special guest URL.

If you’re interested in broader collaboration, you can even allow guests to add, remove, and edit widgets. If you choose this later option you may want to require guests to enter a password before they get access to the page.

Here are guest access URLs and passwords to a couple of Stixy boards I’ve created:

• Thing #46: Stixy: http://www.stixy.com/guest/107872 (password: ilovelibraries)
   
• Nebraska Learns 2.0: http://www.stixy.com/guest/107712 (password: ilovelibraries)

As guests, I’m only allowing you to view the Thing #46 Stixyboard, but I’ve given you permission to both view and edit the Nebraska Learns 2.0 Stixyboard. (So if you have any ideas for future “Things,” add them to the list!)

There are a couple of important factors to keep in mind when making decisions about who can edit a Stixyboard. First, for better or worse anyone with edit permission can change or delete text and widgets added by others. Second, since additions, changes, and deletions aren’t tracked or attributed to specific collaborators or guests, there’s no built-in way to identify who did what, whether positive or negative.

For these reasons you can see the value of limiting editing privileges to a few trusted colleagues in situations where content integrity is important. When opening up participation to a broader group of individuals it will be important to establish expectations in terms of behavior, content, and self-identification.

For more information on how to use Stixy, I recommend this short YouTube tutorial. You may also want to view the following Stixyboard examples:

1. Work collaboration (from Stixy)
2. Research an online purchase (from Stixy)
3. Photo album (from Stixy)
4. Collaborative brainstorming
5. PTA Information Distribution
6. Teacher Page
7. Vocabulary
8. Information about sound

Assignment

1. Create a Stixy account and play around with it. Try out the various widgets. Experiment with formatting, resizing, and arranging. Figure out how to create guest access.
    
2. Write a two-part blog post. In part one, briefly describe your experience with Stixy. What did you like or dislike about it?
   
   In part two, speculate about who in your community might have an interest in or use for Stixy? Would parents be interested in learning about it? Genealogists? Church groups? Are there ways you could use Stixy in the library, either internally or with your community? Could you use it as a staff bulletin board? With your teen advisory group? With book club groups?
     
3. Finally, mock up a Stixyboard demonstrating one of the possible uses you wrote about in your blog post. Include the guest URL to your Stixyboard in your blog post.