Firebug is a Firefox plugin for web developers. It allows you to explore web pages providing you with all of the information you need to understand what’s going on and to troubleshoot problems.

With Firebug you can easily inspect different elements of a webpage, including HTML, CSS and JavaScript and troubleshoot any problems you might be having with a page. Firebug will also alert you about any possible errors on a given page.

The cool thing about Firebug is that you can manipulate the properties on the page without making the actual changes to the code. So if you would like to see what your page would look like with a few modifications — and without actually disturbing the site and making the changes, you can do it in Firebug and get a live preview of your changes.

But this is just the beginning… Firebug offers much, much more.

Overall, I think Firebug is a must-have learning tool for web development beginners (like me) and with all of the advanced options I’m sure it’s also a great tool for experienced developers as well.

Check out the 1 min video and see for yourself…

My research paper examines the difficulties and obstacles that many libraries have to deal with trying to provide adequate services for the next-generation of patrons. The paper also outlines some tips, best practices, and possible solutions to help libraries leverage social media technologies.

The main goal of my research is to share knowledge, spread awareness and encourage libraries to examine their library 2.0 efforts and ultimately make improvements. In the research I discuss:

• Choosing which library 2.0 tools are right for your organization, which involves establishing library/community needs and dealing with tough decisions making;
• Finding appropriate resources for your social media efforts as far as staff, funds and time are concerned;
• Utilizing library 2.0 technologies at your library which entails planning, creating guidelines and maintaining good communication;
• Tips on promoting social media in your community, such as creating awareness in your community and keeping your audience engaged;
• Maintaining social media success is also discussed, and involves continually evaluating your efforts, improving and innovating.

The thoughts and ideas presented in my research are an accumulation of what I have learned through reading and learning about online social media tools, as well as utilizing the tools myself at home and at work. Thus my first suggestion would be for librarians to stay informed and test different social media technologies themselves in order to gain awareness which is crucial to decision making, planning, implementing and ensuring long term success.

Related Posts:

• Social Media Best Practices for Libraries
• Literature Review
• Context Book: Blink
• Exploring heart, trust, decision making and change

This is what I learned from doing brand monitoring and what I personally would recommend to libraries that are getting started with social media.

Tip #1: Learn how to monitor your brand

Join the RIGHT conversations at the RIGHT time. In other words, stay on top of what people are saying about you and make sure to respond, to let people know that you are listening and willing to join the conversation.

Tools to utilize for brand monitoring include RSS feeds, Google Alerts, Technorati, and staying on top of your Twitter, Facebook and other social media accounts. This is definitely the number 1 lesson I learned from this assignment.

Tip #2: Learn from your brand community

You’re already engaging in conversations, why not ask people for some feedback? There are plenty of quick and easy ways to get good information that will help you keep learning from what you’re doing and improving the process as you go along. Just make sure not to overdo it; remember to always engage in conversations as a person.

Tip #3: Have a game plan

Set goals, measure and iterate your social media efforts in order to continue to grow and improve your efforts. Make sure everyone who is involved in your social media strategy clearly understands the role and goals of this initiative. There’s nothing worse than joining a social network with no purpose, plan or a way to measure what you’re doing.

By using trackable links (like bit.ly or su.pr) to help track what your users are responding to, you will be able to measure your efforts and make improvements.

Tip #4: Promote, promote, promote

I noticed a lot of libraries who do wonderful things on Facebook, Twitter or Flickr yet they don’t include links to their social networks on their websites. Or libraries that use Twitter often but don’t follow anyone; that’s not a good way to start a conversation.

A library website should be an entry point to social media; you need to create awareness. People should not have to search for you on Facebook, or Twitter, you should reach out to every member of your community first.

Tip #5: Allow open, yet governed access for your employees

This is where a social media policy comes in. By making sure everyone who is involved in your efforts understands what to do (what they’re allowed to say, how they should respond in different situations, etc) you won’t have to monitor what each person does. Instead, you will be able to focus on making improvements.

One tip about your social media policy — make sure it’s succinct and to the point, otherwise no one will want to read it.

Tip #6: Stay relevant and be helpful

Use social media to build trust, credibility and awareness in your community. Instead of broadcasting information, try creating conversations. Remember, speaking doesn’t always result in being heard.

Be helpful, stay relevant and focus on your community’s needs. It’s also important to humanize your efforts; don’t hide behind your library’s logo, allow your users to get to know you as a person.

Tip #7: Give your community room to grow

Focus on small, consistent and ongoing change. Let your members decide how they want to use “their” online community. Listen to what they have to say and change your goals and objectives based on how your community wants to utilize social media.

Tip #8: Remember, you’re not alone

By building relationships with key people within your community who also utilize social media you can leverage your efforts and obtain better reach. People who are influencers, those who are natural communicators or leaders in your community can help your social media efforts immensely. Identify these people and ask for help. Word of mouth can be very powerful.

Tip #9: Go where your users are

Remember, you don’t have to be an early adopter. It is much better to wait for your community to start utilizing the technology before adding it to your social media arsenal. In short, go where your users are. It’s much easier for someone to join you on Facebook or Twitter if the person actually uses the technology.

Tip #10: Lead change

This is important, especially for libraries that can be very resistant to change at times: if you want to lead change, find one thing you said no to in the past and give it a try.

This last tip is actually something I heard at a digital marketing conference I got a chance to attend last month, but I think it applies great to libraries and social media.

How is this possible? Here’s a 4 minute video that explains how Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 works.

MultiPoint Server 2010 for the Classroom

The MultiPoint Server was created with schools in mind, designed to provide a cost-effective solution for the classroom, thereby providing teachers and students with increased access to technology. Students will be more likely to develop their 21st century literacy and social media skills by having the access to a PC and the internet.

Teachers are also benefiting by being able to manage the computer system easily, since MultiPoint Server 2010 is designed for non-technical people.

How Libraries Can Take Advantage of MultiPoint Server 2010

But the new technology has potential for more than just the classroom. Libraries are perfect candidates for the MultiPoint Server.

By creating easy access and more opportunities for users to utilize computers and the internet, libraries can be better equipped to help their communities develop important technology skills.

Multipoint Server allows up to 10 users to use one PC simultaneously, each with his/her own monitor, keyboard and mouse — this is huge! I’m looking forward to seeing how libraries will be utilizing the MultiPoint Server 2010 when it comes out next year.

Further Reading:

• Expanding Education’s Access to Technology with Windows Multipoint Server 2010
• Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 FAQs
• Microsoft to schools: Share a PC

I got even more excited about it when I realized that this little thing called Poken (that kind of looks like a toy) ties into my research on successful social networking strategies for libraries.

But first, let me explain what a Poken can do.

What’s a Poken?

A Poken is a small USB tool that allows you to exchange your social networking information with other people who have a Poken. So when you meet someone new, instead of exchanging business cards, email addresses, or other information, you simply touch your Pokens together to get connected. Once you “poken” you still have the option to accept and deny the new connection. The Poken also allows you to share only the information you choose in your “digital business card.”

To put it briefly, it’s the easiest and fastest way to share online social networking information with others. And that’s where libraries and library users can benefit from this simple, little tool.

Poken in the Library

By placing a Library Poken at a central place (maybe near circulation? the reference desk? maybe all librarians should carry them around?) users can easily get the library’s social networking details like the library’s Facebook page, Twitter account, Flickr account, etc. and vice versa; the library can get information about their users and see which social networking sites they’re using, which can be very useful for the library in terms of planning and implementing new social networking technologies.

Library users benefit from the ease, simplicity and speed of the device. Libraries also benefit by being able to easily connect with patrons, but they gain even more by being able to learn about users and their social networking preferences. We all know how difficult it can be to choose the right social networking technologies to implement at the library and then promote them to patrons. The Poken can play a key role in both of these areas.

The Problem with the Poken

At the moment, one problem with the Poken is that it’s not very popular. Yet. At only $20 a piece, I think it has the potential to become widespread.

Another problem is with the privacy of the device. When you add your social networks to your Poken account you’re asked to enter your password to verify that the account is really yours; the Poken website states that passwords are not stored and that they’re only used to confirm your accounts, but I still don’t think that’s very safe. On the other hand, many applications and websites ask for both usernames and passwords to your social networking accounts in order to verify that you own them.

I guess only time will tell if the Poken will be the next essential little gadget that everyone will one day have.

I did find one library that started using a Poken, and as you might have guessed the library is in the Netherlands.

Further Reading:

• Do You Poken? (or have business cards gone the way of the Dodo?)
• I wanna love the Poken (but I can’t)

Making Library 2.0 Decisions

What steps should libraries take to find out what works best? Is it better to spend more time planning and discussing or make simple snap judgments? What are the best ways to ask patrons what they want?

To find possible answers to these questions, I’m going to rely on two books with totally opposing viewpoints:

• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
• Think: Why Crucial Decisions Can’t Be Made in the Blink of an Eye by Michael R. LeGault

In addition, I started reading a couple of other books on decision making to get a better perspective on the whole issue:

• Why We Make Mistakes: How We Look Without Seeing, Forget Things in Seconds, and Are All Pretty Sure We Are Way Above Average by Joseph T. Hallinan
• How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
• Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious by. Timothy D. Wilson

There are also a few relevant blog posts that pertain to this subject:

• Researching Your Library Tech Decisions
• Strategic Decision Making …
• Making Good Technology Decisions

Promoting Library 2.0

The second part of my research, will focus on how we can successfully implement library 2.0 technologies. So once we make the decision to use a particular product or service, what are some of the things we can do to ensure that the technology is being utilized by the community.

For this part of the research, I decided to start with these three books:

• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: by Malcolm Gladwell
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking by Andy Sernovitz

And a couple of links (blog post & presentation) I stumbled upon:

• Join the Conversation–Promoting Library 2.0 Tools on Public Library Webpages
• Give Them Something to Talk About: Infusing Library 2.0 Into Your Library Instruction and Web Presence

And of course, I will refer to the LIS text Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service and anything else I can get my hands on that’s relevant.

Gladwell explores the concept of “thin-slicing” which he defines as “a critical part of rapid cognition” and “the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience” (23). He also explains how all of us use thin-slicing in every day situations and how this is particularly important in how we interact with others.

One interesting section of the book titled “Listening to Doctors” (39) focused on how we talk to people, and proved that when people feel “rushed or ignored or treated poorly” (40) the quality of care, or the information that they’re given doesn’t matter as much. Although the book referred to Doctors, I think we can learn a lot from this; the quality of our interactions with patrons can mean so much. It’s not just about what we say to people, it’s how we say it.

Another concept in Blink that intrigued me, is the process of finding out how others make decisions. Gladwell states that there is a right and a wrong way to ask people what they want, and points out that simply asking people what they want, more than likely will not work. And it’s not because people are lying, it’s just that truly knowing what you want is more difficult than it seems. What you think you like might not actually be true. Therefore, finding out which Library 2.0 services our patrons really want is a more difficult task than we might think.

Blink Animoto

p.s. If you haven’t it already, check out animoto — I had a lot of fun making this video :)