Tuesday 6 December 2011

The usefulness of social media

Here's a very brief case study of the usefulness of blogging and tweeting!  Last month CILIP held an E-books Executive Briefing.  There were several speakers from FE, HE and public libraries.  Unfortunately we were unable to attend, however I was curious to find out what kind of issues were discussed and if anyone had some innovative tips for promoting their e-books.

First I contacted CILIP to see if there was an official write-up of the event or whether any of the speakers had made their slides available.  They pointed me in the direction of Sarah Burton and her blog post: eBooks: Absolutely Fabulous?  She gave a great summary of the event and the speakers.

Her post also mentioned the #ebooks11 tweets she had read on Twitter. Finally I could see the purpose of Twitter! In July I blogged as part of CPD23 about my VERY brief encounter with Twitter and how I couldn't see the benefits of using it. However, the #ebooks11 tweets directed me to another great write-up of the event by Nicola McNee. From both Sarah's and Nicola's posts I have obtained a good overview of the topics dealt with by the speakers and can make a more informed decision about whether I want to contact any of them for further info.

The Twit has now been converted! Whilst I shall never be a regular Tweeter I have proven to myself just how beneficial it can be!

3 comments:

  1. Since starting CPD23, I've been converted to Twitter too! Initially I wasn't convinced, but use it as part of my general CDP and especially for learning about early years library programming through my PLN #FlannelFriday. BTW, I tweet as @Library_Quine.

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  2. Hi,
    As of now you have a new follower on Twitter! I tweet as @rachel_preece. I've only posted one Tweet so far (which is actually a link to this blog). I don't think I'll ever be posting lots of tweets but I'm now beginning to see the potential that it has.

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  3. Welcome to the flock! I love Twitter and have used it since joining the CoFHE LASEC Committee in March. I tweet sporadically as the imaginatively titled @sarahwolfenden but mainly use it for keeping up to date with current issues affecting the educational sector.

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