Welcome

Welcome to the Northbrook Public Library Web 2.0 learning blog

This program is intended for the staff of the Northbrook Public Library, but anyone is welcomed to take a look and play along.

This program is modeled, like many others, on the original program that was developed by Helene Blowers at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County and licensed under Creative Commons.


The 8 Things @Northbrook:What is this?

The 8 Things @ Northbrook is a self guided learning experience. It leads you through 8 (well, really 9) web-based applications centered on “social media” that are widely used today. Library administration strongly recommends that all staff participate in learning (or practicing, if you already know) these 8 things.

To start, here's a short video below from Common Craft to explain the concept and uses of “social media.”





What’s in it for you? 8 reasons:

1) Learning is fun!
2) Your peers, friends, children and (especially) grandchildren are already using these forms of communication everyday.
3) These are how our patrons access much of their information. It’s the language they speak and what they expect us to speak.
4) We’ve made it really simple.
5) Other libraries have done it with all of their staff and have found it very rewarding.
6) You can do it with a friend.
7) We provide work time to do it. How crazy is that? We’re paying you to learn.
8) Material profit! At the end of the learning period we will have prize drawings. Everyone who’s completed the program can participate in these drawings.

This program is more about experimentation and learning rather than training. It is meant to be self-guided experimentation, but if you want to buddy up with someone, that’s ok too. You are meant to have fun with it and just about the only way to do it wrong is if it doesn’t feel like playing.

If you have a question, you can use the chat box on the right. If you really get stuck we have some mentors who can help you along. They'll be introduced on Staff Development Day.

So, just what are these things that we are trying to make fun in order to trick you into learning?

The Meat
1. Blogging
2. RSS and Feed Readers
3. Instant Messaging
4. Photo Sharing

The Potatoes
5. Social Networking
6. Social Bookmarking
7. Wikis
8. The Northbrook Community Portal

Still Hungry? An amuse-bouche for you overachievers
9. Podcasts

Well, alright then! Let's not dally: It's time to get started with Blogging.