Miessler+S401

=About Me= My name is R.C. Miessler. I am in my first year of the SLIS program at IUPUI and I am focusing on academic librarianship during my studies here. Outside of class, I am a project manager for a call center in Carmel, Indiana. Although social media is generally not used too much at my job because of computer use policies set by IT, there are some ways the people I work with use social media to better communicate with each other.

In a call center environment, it is difficult to get up and ask people questions if you are unfamiliar with a product or process. Leaving a customer on hold just frustrates them while you try to find a solution, so the fastest way to speak to other agents is to use our internal chat program. We have one-to-one chats, as well as a chatroom set up for the call center agents where they can ask each other questions, post interesting or difficult cases, and even have a little fun from time to time. We also use a wiki-based knowledgebase for our training and day-to-day procedures; this wiki can be updated by multiple users and is meant to be a fluid, constantly updated document. If a new process or procedure is introduced by a client, or a new product is released, it can be quickly added or edited on our wiki so that all agents have immediate access to it.

As a library professional, I see the value in both chats and wikis. Chats can provide remote reference assistance to patrons, both those who are in the library but not close to the reference desk, and also those patrons who are accessing the library electronically and do not have the ability to talk to a librarian face-to-face. Chats also provide librarians to provide detailed step-by-step directions, as well as relevant links to materials that patrons may find useful. The wiki concept also will be useful as a library professional, as the wiki format is becoming entrenched as a method for delivering information. While it will not replace traditional databases, it could certainly provide assistance to patrons with library functions, policies and resources. The social nature of the wiki allows for the library community to add to it; the community of library workers could add to the policies, while the patrons could add to the useful links and provide a local community that uses the wiki as a focal point socially.

=RSS Feeds=
 * http://infolit.wikia.com/wiki/ACRL
 * Information Literacy wiki of the Association of College and Research Libraries - A new and evolving source about the importance of teaching information literacy to youth in academic settings. The wiki needs additional contributors.
 * http://bannedbookschallenge.blogspot.com/
 * Banned Books Blog - Reviews of challenged and banned books, updated regularly. Good for public and school libraries to stay current on information about challenged and banned books.
 * http://www.loc.gov/podcasts/
 * Library of Congress podcasts - Podcasts of the various services and materials in the Library of Congress. Good for keeping up to date with the activities of the Library of Congress for possible integration into a local library.
 * http://www.imcpl.org/readersconnection/
 * Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Reader's Connection blog - Regularly updated features about new books and programs in the IMCPL system. Useful for staying active in the community and other local librarians can coordinate with the IMCPL's programs.
 * http://digilib.bu.edu/blogs/theolib/
 * TheoLib - theological librarian blog. Not regularly updated, but lots of useful resources for theological librarians.

RSS Readers
I am currently using Google Reader, which is functional and basic. The interface is kind of clunky at times, but it does interface with Google, which is good for users who have multiple applications running through Google.