This is an important post.

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on August 3, 2010

art by Know Hope

A girl that I graduated high school with killed herself this weekend. She was not a friend, just a distant acquaintance, but the event resonated very deeply in me. It’s no secret to people who are close to me that I’ve gone through some very dark times in my past. I have a history of depression, and it runs pretty deep in my family (my uncle committed suicide when I was about 9, and I have a whole slew of close relatives with various addictions, probably at least partially due to depression.)

Currently, I am doing great. I have learned that depression is an illness, and not to be ashamed of it. I’ve learned that by being open about it helps me cope, and whenever I feel the symptoms descend on me, I seek treatment. This means that about ever two years or so, I need to go on antidepressants, for about 8-12 months, until the symptoms run their course. Currently I take Lexapro, but I’ve been on Anafranil, Effexor, Paxil, Prozac & Wellbutrin in the past.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I know, from experience, that depression is a lonely disease. Everyone’s symptoms are a little different, and when you go through them, you think no one quite understands. If you or someone you know is dealing with depression, I’m putting myself out there. Get in touch with me. I will freely share my phone number, and I will gladly talk about it with you or them (even if you just want to ask about side affects of meds.)

More importantly though, I want to share a story. When I was in the trenches of the worst of my dark days, I had a friend (he knows who he is) who made a deal with me. He said, if I ever was thinking of doing anything stupid, or drastic, to call him – anytime, day or night. He told me he wouldn’t judge (and this is important: he really didn’t judge. Not even a little bit;) and he wouldn’t try to talk me out of anything. We didn’t even have to talk about what was bothering me. He just made me promise to call. Afterwards, when I got off the phone with him, I was free to do whatever I wanted. He wouldn’t yell, or call me names, or get angry.

I’m sure I’m not exaggerating when I say that that deal saved my life. Not on any specific, dramatic occasion (that I can remember anyway). But self-injury is a moment. Just one, sad, stupid, desperate, hopeless moment, and any one of them that I experienced could have led to something drastic. Sometimes (most of the time, I think) if you can just get a person past that moment(s), just distract them through it, you can save their life.

I’m urging you: please, if you know someone that you’ve worried about in the past, for any reason, make this deal with them. Make it absolutely clear that you won’t judge them. Make it clear that you won’t try to talk them out of it. That it’s their life, and they are free to do what they want with it. Just ask them to give you one minute; one phone call before they hurt themselves in any way (for me it was cutting, just like an after-school special starring Tori Spelling or Kurt Cameron.) Make them promise.

*A caveat: suicide is a decision made by one person. It’s not anyone else’s fault, and you cannot take on the weight of saving another person. You can maybe talk them through a bad situation or two, but you can’t be there 24/7; you can’t be inside their head. I don’t want anyone to ever think they are to blame for not saving someone’s life if they decide to commit suicide. That’s their decision in the end and you can only do your best for them.

Posted in depression, heavy stuff, suicide prevention | 2 Comments

Viewing e-books on an iPad

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on June 11, 2010

This month, my library purchased an iPad for the staff to try out. We were contemplating initiating an iPad lending program for students, and wanted to play around with one ourselves before committing to such a large purchase. A large part of the discussion about whether or not to invest in the program was if the device would work well as an e-reader for the electronic books in our collection.

With this in mind, the Web Services Librarian, Barbara Arnett, and I decided to make a little video demonstrating how various e-books in our collection display on the iPad. (This was also inspired by conversations with iPad owners on Twitter and Facebook, who did not seem to quite believe me that PDF files did not always display well within a browser.)

The following is the video we made. It’s not fancy, and by no means comprehensive, but was just the best way we could find to truly convey an actual user experience with the device. Neither of us had ever used an iPad before this one, however Barbara had taken it home for the weekend, so she had a (very) little experience with it, and I have had an iPhone for over a year now, so I am familiar with Apple’s touchscreen techniques.

Our findings: For most of the e-book databases, the books displayed fairly well, but the PDFs lost most, if not all, of their functionality. As far as we could tell, you could not search within them, jump to different sections or download them. For the Knovel and ProQuest databases, the PDFs did not work at all (they just opened the first page of the document, and you not view the rest of it…)

We found that you could get around this problem by going onto a regular computer or laptop, accessing the PDF through the database there, then downloading it and adding it to the Bookman app in iTunes. You then need to sync your iPad to iTunes on the computer, and you can access the full PDF through the iPad’s Bookman app. This is a somewhat cumbersome process, especially since most of our e-book databases break the book into sections, so you would have to download multiple PDFs for each book (up to 20 or 30 for an entire book.)

The iPad’s native e-reader app, iBooks, has a very nice display, but I’m not sure how practical it would be to build an academic e-book collection in a propriety, device-locked format…

So there you have it. I know that there’s no love lost between Apple and Adobe, but it would seem to me that if you work at an academic library that licenses most of its electronic content through databases, where that content is available mainly as PDF files, Apple is going to have to work on a better browser-based PDF reader, or it pretty much kills it’s usefulness for us. (Or, on the other hand, perhaps publishers will need to change how the make e-content available…)

Either way, we will not be making any large iPad purchases at this time…

Posted in academic libraries, e-books, e-readers, ebooks, electronic books, interfaces, iPad, library 2.0, library technology | 6 Comments

A rant on institutional Facebook pages…

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on March 2, 2010

Something just set me off. It’s not that rare that that happens, but it is rare that it annoys me enough to post here (not that I’ve abandoned this blog, I just use it mainly as a place to occasionally weigh in on topics of interest to me, not a regular publication.)

There is a hullabaloo going on at MPOW. The school has hired a firm to redesign our school logo, and put up a Facebook poll to allow students, faculty and staff to vote on the designs. I’m not going to put the pics up here, because this post is not about the redesign, the vote, or the wisdom of paying for a design firm to come in and do something you could have had your students do for next to nothing while simultaneously freezing/cutting the budget of almost every other department on campus. ::ahem:: Nope, not about that.

What it’s about is this comment from the institution, posted on their Facebook wall, in response to the widely negative comments and criticism from users:

“We’re pleased to receive so much feedback – that’s why we’ve engaged you in this process. But this is a serious process, and an important institutional initiative. Please engage in your feedback in a constructive and professional manner.”

This entire logo campaign is being run on Facebook. The poll is only available there (it’s also flash-based and requires you to authorize an app to vote, but let’s leave that alone for now…) I feel like we, as an institution, are coming into a place originally built for students, asking for their attention, asking for their patronage, asking to be allowed into their online space, and then telling them how they should interact with us there. That’s not fair, imho.

If we, as institutions and companies, want to go out and “be where the users are”, we have to accept that we can’t always define the rules of interaction there. One of the first things I learned about online communities is that they all have their own (though often unspoken) codes of conduct. You don’t get to communicate with people in what is generally an informal space, and then ask them to be formal. If you want to reach them there, you have to accept that there may be unfortunate consequences. People may be immature and unproductive. (Seriously, if you post a video on YouTube, people will say stupid and immature things about it eventually. Get over it. If you don’t want to deal with that, don’t use these platforms.)

Ok, I’m done ranting. For now.

Posted in Facebook, marketing, online communities, rant, reaching students, rebranding, social media | Comments Off on A rant on institutional Facebook pages…

Rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated -or- Librarian shushes self

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on September 8, 2009

Just back from my lovely three day weekend, and I have to see this in my feeds? Really people? Here I am, sitting at my desk, just trying to do my job, and the internet is already on my back. Well, maybe not my back per se, but our backs, we humble librarians (or information scientists, or information professionals, or… whatever.) Outside of lawyers, whose salaries I consider balm for the irritation their mockery might cause them, are there any professions so abused as librarians? Ok, that’s whiny, and probably not true, but still, I am very, very, very tired of justifying the existence of my profession. We still exist, so, society, there’s your proof. And as long as my job is here for me, in the “real world” or the digital one (you have to read the article to get that one) I’m done justifying it. Seriously. Because we can’t win. People say books are obsolete, so we learn all about new technology, and try make ourselves useful in that way. Then they say we should focus on books. But libraries are getting rid of books, oh no! Then we rally against librarian stereotypes, and there’s backlash for that too (check out the comments if you want to know how people really see us, it will warm the cockles of your “plump, white [and] humorless” heart.)

So you know what? I give up. I’m just trying to do my job here people. I look for ways I can be useful to my community, and then try to go in that direction. I have tattoos, not to buck a stereotype, but because I want them. In fact, I got one in college, before I even thought of becoming a librarian, so there! I’m not so sure about this whole ‘any press is good press’ idea anymore, and I’m wondering if we should all just shut the frak up. Seriously. Stop giving interviews, stop writing fluff articles for the general press. Because no matter what we say, they’re gonna pick on us. We can’t win this one with words. You know how we can win? By just continuing to be useful. By assessing our communities and being what they need us to be, not what the press wants us to be. I know there are times when we need the press, like to rally support for libraries in need, but otherwise let’s just lay low and be helpful. After all, we’re not the only industry struggling with obsolescence, right? Maybe they’re just trying to create a diversion…

(Oh, and as the assertion in the original article that all the content in paid databases will be available for free in a few years, I snickered at that. Better not tell Elsevier!)

Posted in books, career, customer service, libraries, library and librarian perceptions, library technology, online presence, professionalism, rant, rebranding | 3 Comments

Libraries kick ass

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on August 31, 2009
Do you love your library? No? What are you, a communist?! Oh wait, libraries are kinda socialistic in nature, so don’t answer that question. Still, whether or not you’re a communist (I’m not judging), libraries are very cool. They have books, and computers, and helpful people, and those are all nice things, no?

And exactly where is this going, you ask? Well, way back in the beginning of August, Louisville, Kentucky got a lot of rain, (like a ridiculous amount of rain) and their main library was flooded. And when I say flooded, I don’t mean a few inches, I mean this:

(Picture from www.louisvilleky.gov, click to enlarge.)

So that sucks, right? And just to ensure the maximum amount of suckage, they were storing $50,000 worth of brand new computers there for a branch that hadn’t opened yet.

So, because this whole thing sucks a lot, and because libraries are awesome, you must make a decision. Are you on the side of suckiness, or the side of awesome? Because if you are on the side of awesome, you should make a small (or large, that would be ultra-awesome) donation to the Library Society of the World’s Louisville Free Public Library fundraiser, which at the very least will bring a smile to the faces of the poor people who work there and are dealing with this big ol’ suck-fest on a daily basis. This is only a small contribution, but when you’re in a bad situation, kindness (and especially the kindness of strangers) can make a huge difference in giving you the strength to push on and persevere.

For more information about the drive, and the person who started it (librarian Steve Lawson): check out this blog post, although it refers to the blogathon that this post is part of, so I hope I’m not getting you caught in some sort of recursive loop. My sincerest apologies if that occurs.

If you’d rather just send money directly to the LFPL Foundation (www.lfplfoundation.org/), here’s the info:

The Library Foundation
Attn: Flood
301 York St.
Louisville, KY 40203
(502) 574-1709

PS- Thanks to Steve Lawson and Andy Woodworth for organizing this effort, you both are obviously on the side of awesome. For more info on the LFPL blogathon: http://lfplblogathon.pbworks.com.

Posted in fundraisers, LFPL, lfplblogathon, library society of the world, LSW, natural disasters | Comments Off on Libraries kick ass

Twitter for Libraries preso follow-up

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on July 31, 2009

Ok, I haven’t listened to the recording yet (and am dreading it), but I have to say that presenting strictly in an online format at yesterday’s Handheld Librarian conference definitely threw me off a little, so I’m sorry if I sounded super nervous (it always makes me uncomfortable when a presenter sounds nervous.) Anyway, I underestimated how much I rely on reading people’s expressions to direct my talks (bored, confused, nodding in agreement…), and the radio silence (and relative chat silence) kind of left me flailing a bit. Because of that, I feel like there were some questions/issues I didn’t fully address, so I just wanted to do a follow-up post to clarify and expand on some of those issues.

First of all, in case you missed it (it’s ok if you were in Joe Murphy’s SMS talk, he’s teh awsum), here are the slides: http://www.slideshare.net/val_forrestal/twitter-for-libraries-handheld-librarian-709

One of the biggest concerns people had was: What should libraries be tweeting about? I tried to express that that really depends on your audience, and you have to cater to what you think they will find interesting/helpful/informative, but I understand that getting started can seem a little overwhelming, so here are some good posts that talk about how precisely libraries can use Twitter:

Those pretty much cover the spectrum of what tweet from our library account (@scwLibrary). After the conference I was kicking myself for not just going to our page so I could show everyone what we tweet about (and that page is less controversial than my own Twitter feed, which I felt really guilty about showing everyone because of privacy issues for the people I follow – because some of their feeds are private/protected, and so I had to just show it super fast and then leave the page, which was probably dizzying for everyone, kind of like this sentence.)

Another thing that came up was finding the “correct” hashtag for a topic or event. I still maintain that the best way to do this is to a.) try searching some possible hashtags by guessing and seeing which is the most popular; or b.) just ask the twittersphere (ex. “hey does anyone know the official hashtag for the Handheld Librarian conference today?”). Your followers or people searching for the same event/topic by name will usually let you know the answer. However, there are places where you can “register” a hashtag, and it’s possible that people do use these as hashtag directories, even if they are not widely adopted right now, so I’ll mention a few:

(For some really good info on the history and usefulness of hashtags, see here.)

Speaking of hashtags, another thing I completely forgot to mention: there’s a fairly new hashtag going around for recommending librarians to follow. This is an off-shoot of a popular trend called “follow friday”, where people recommend their favorite people to follow every Friday. Anyway, if you’re looking for librarians to follow to get you started, do a Twitter search for #followalibrarian (or just click on the handy link I made for you there, heh…)

Someone also asked for examples of how people are using Twitter in educational/classroom settings. I think this post has some great advice/links for how instructors can use the medium: http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2009/07/21/100-serious-twitter-tips-for-academics/

You can also follow KSU professor Michael Wesch’s blog, Digital Ethnography (he often experiments with using social media in his classes), or @itsanno on Twitter (she mentioned recently that she will be using Twitter with the students in one of her upcoming classes.)

Ok, so this is a long post, so I’ll wrap it up now. I think at some point I will do a follow-up to this follow-up, with some tips for more advanced users. With 200 people in a presentation, it’s really hard to know how much time to spend on the basics (as I’m sure there were some beginners there) and the advanced tips (for you “power users”). Some future topics I’d like to cover:

  • Twitter integration w/blogs, Facebook, websites, etc.
  • Mashups (using social media aggregation sites like FriendFeed or Netvibes)
  • Twitter mobile apps (which I really wish I had covered, seeing as this was a conference about mobile technology!)
  • Twitter for reference

Is there anything I missed? Any lingering questions/comments/doubts? Let me know here in the comments, or on Twitter (@val_forrestal).

Posted in Handheld Librarian, hhlib, library 2.0, micro-blogging, online presence, presentations, Twitter | Comments Off on Twitter for Libraries preso follow-up

I don’t want to be a reference and research services librarian anymore!

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on July 23, 2009

Well, I think I’ve done it. Given ridiculous restrictions on what words I could use in my new job title (web and digital are out, because we already have a ‘web services librarian’ and plan on hiring a ‘digital initiatives librarian’), I think I’ve finally come up with a title that works. The thing is, I feel this new title actually helps me out in terms of focusing on what I really do here, what I am good at, and what I can bring my workplace that is unique and necessary. Ok, so here goes:

Communications and New Media Strategies Librarian.

There you have it. Wordy, sure, but aren’t most library-related titles? I’d actually love it to be ‘Communications and Digital Strategies’, but as I mentioned before, I can’t use the word digital so that it can be used in a title for a job that doesn’t actually exist yet. But don’t get me started on that, this is a positive post, dammit!

Aaaaanyway… The reason I’m mentioning this here at all (especially since I haven’t actually pitched this to my boss yet, though she knows I want a new title, and is open to it) is that it really helped me rethink exactly what it is I do here. I feel like I play with technology all day, trying out new tools (read: web 2.0 crap) and sometimes I feel like it’s not important or appreciated at all. But that’s not really what it’s all about… Technology is just a medium, not a message. Sure, I’m good at researching and using new media, and that’s necessary for what I do, but the most important part is the message.

The message is that the library is not dying; that it’s a vibrant and useful place, full of helpful people and services. So that’s my job, that’s what I love doing, and what I am good at: evangelizing on behalf of the library. Getting the word out to everyone in our community, however possible, about all the great things we can do for them, and that they can do with us. The technology just helps me do that, because you need to get your message out wherever you can, to reach people wherever they may be.

The funny part of this whole thing is that I feel like I’ve come full circle career-wise. I was a mass communications/advertising major as an undergrad, and got my first masters in media production, and those are areas that are intimately linked to what I do now, which is, in some form, marketing. So I feel like this new title and (semi-)new role really make sense for me. I know this stuff, and I’ve been using that education all along, I just didn’t realize it at the time.

So yeah, this makes me very happy, and I hope my boss goes for it, because I really feel like I can be an asset to my library if given the go-ahead to move full-force in this direction.

Anyone have any suggestions/advice regarding how I can convince my boss this is a good idea, and that marketing, especially with social media, is vital for libraries at this point? I have some pretty good points worked out so far for the pitch, but I could use all the ammunition I can get!

Update: I totally forgot to mention the “you can’t say no to this idea” phrase I will use in my pitch: building and engaging a community around your brand. Um, doesn’t every organization need someone to do that? Oh, and that community will advocate for us. I think that pretty much hits all the buzzwords directors love to hear, no?

Posted in career, library 2.0, marketing, online presence, social media | 2 Comments

Social Media Snobbery (or, Twitter is a tool, but you don’t have to be.)

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on May 11, 2009

(This article was cross-posted over at LISNews.)

If someone corrects me one more time when I say that I “twittered” something (“um, you mean you tweeted?”) I am going to scream. Really. Right at them. And is the term “social media” passé already? I un-followed the person who tweeted that about thirty seconds after I read that tweet. See, the thing is, I really love Twitter. I follow smart people, who have interesting discussions all day. It’s wonderful. And for the people in my life who say that it’s sad that I have to find those kinds of relationships online, I say: “well why can’t you be more interesting then? Why do you make me go outside our friendship to find satisfying, intellectual conversation? YOU forced me into this!” Ahem. Sorry. Anyway, my point… Ah, yes: Twitter is just a medium. It’s just another method of communication, and in the same way it drives me bonkers when people say it breeds stupidity and hysteria (more so than any other medium? Really? Cable news anyone?…) it also drives me crazy when people act like it’s an exclusive club. So if I don’t get the terminology right, or I don’t use the right hashtag, or if I say I just use the Twitter website instead of the Twitter app du jour (Tweetdeck, Tweetie, Seesmic, take your choice…) I’m persona non grata?

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s got to be rules, right? Seriously, if you only send updates telling me about your new blog posts, or trying to sell your services, or to post pictures of your cat (ok that last one I would probably forgive, and actually secretly enjoy) I will most likely not follow you. As with any community, online or not, it is wise to spend some time getting to know the culture and attempting to fit in to a certain degree. But if no one ever goes out on a limb, there will be no innovation, no growth in the community. We wouldn’t have retweets, or #followfriday, or any other cool uses for the services that weren’t imagined within the first weeks of its debut.

Do you remember when “web 2.0” was all the rage? And do you also remember how anyone who actually worked in any way with web 2.0 was no longer allowed to call it that lest they incur the derision of all their web-savvy colleagues? If you tell me that I can’t use “social media” anymore either, I’m running out of names to call what I do. Seriously, I’m about 5 minutes away from calling myself the “kewl stuff on teh intarwebz” librarian, and nobody wants that. Ok I’m lying, I want that, I totally do. But I can tell you right now that my boss isn’t going to go for it, so can we all chill out with the social media snobbery already? Maybe all the Twitter/Facebook/FriendFeed/whatever-haters will stop picking on us so much if we stop being so darn obnoxious to them… although probably not.

(For anyone not in the super-cool Twitter club already, here’s a cheat sheet to all the Twitter-related stuff mentioned here: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/the-ultimate-guide-for-everything-twitter/. Oh, and I’m val_forrestal on Twitter, and I promise not to make you feel stupid, even if you still call it “web 2.0”.)

Posted in LISNews, micro-blogging, rant, social media, social networking, Twitter, vexation, web 2.0 | Comments Off on Social Media Snobbery (or, Twitter is a tool, but you don’t have to be.)

A snarky librarian by any other name is still a snarky librarian

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on April 4, 2009

So, yes, I’ve changed the name of the blog, how nice of you to notice! Honestly, I had grown tired of the whole “info babe” moniker (I think I thought it was cute at one point, but it just seems a bit silly now, and I don’t really think of myself as a “babe”…) but I thought I was too entrenched in my little social networking world under that username, and I figured I would never get rid of it. But after a particularly good session on social network profile management at last week’s Computers in Libraries conference (especially the talk by Greg Schwartz) I decided to make the move to use my real name for all my online identities (val_forrestal or vforrestal).

Another reason for this decision also stems from the conference. I was meeting in person people who I had only previously known through online connections, and I find it incredibly awkward to have to follow my introduction with “you might know me as the info babe?” Ick. And I’m really working on networking and presenting these days (how tacky of me to admit, I know. For shame!), so I’d like to be able to make a more professional impression. I guess I can also use that as a lead in to mention that I’ll also now be blogging LISNews.org, so keep an eye out for me over there!

Oh, and if you’re wondering where the new blog title came from, it’s from the headline I gave my Shovers and Makers profile (which I think I mentioned in the last post, but if you feel so inclined and have not yet done so, you can find here.) I don’t know where I came up with it, other than to say that for some reason I enjoy the word ‘ubiquitous’, and that the time I spend wandering around the vast realms of the internet is nothing short of ridiculous.

Posted in 2009 Shover and Maker, cil2009, Computers in Libraries, online presence, personal branding, professionalism, rebranding, social networking | 2 Comments

I’d like to take a moment to whine about all your whining. Thank you.

by Valerie Forrestal Posted on March 20, 2009

I feel like much ado has been made lately about Twitter. I shouldn’t even tell you that Twitter is a micro-blogging service, and instead imply that if you don’t know what it is, you live under a rock and should be ashamed of yourself. But the truth is, if you don’t know or care what micro-blogging is, I would much rather you didn’t know about it, because then you couldn’t possibly complain about its existence.

I’ve been using Twitter for awhile now (not sure about how long, but long enough to have posted 328 updates…) When I first learned about it, I didn’t get it either. It seemed silly to me that I would want to post/read status updates all day. So, for awhile, because I thought it was stupid, I just didn’t use it. Imagine that. And then at some point I gave it a try, and believe it or not, I managed to find some value in it. I subscribed to the updates of other librarians, and they posted links to interesting things: articles, videos, websites, etc… and that was cool. Plus it created a network of people in my field who could be tapped for impromptu surveys (who’s using what technology and how successful has it been?) Sure, there’s some lots of “getting my morning coffee”/banal chatter too, but you learn to filter out the noise after awhile.

Recently I also started up a Twitter account for my library (http://twitter.com/scwLibrary), and on there I (we) can subscribe to all sorts of science, technology and engineering people and organizations, so I get fed all kinds of great sources in that area. I can also use that account to broadcast (retweet) those links as well as interesting ones I’ve found myself. I can also use it as a quick way to post brief communications about the library (see: stapler crisis ’09) that don’t warrant a blog post or website announcement.

Right. So all I’m saying is that I have found some value in the service. I’m not an evangelist for it though (as I matter of fact I don’t even recommend it to people unless I think it would serve a specific purpose for them) because I realize that to a lot of people it just doesn’t make any sense. And that’s fine. But I feel like the haters reeeeeeally enjoy hating on this one (check out this video, which, I have to admit is kind of funny, but also pretty insulting.)

Still, web 2.0, or whatever you crazy kids are calling it these days, is all about trying new things, and if you don’t like them, or see a purpose for them, you don’t have to use them. I just don’t quite understand the culture of tearing down things we don’t understand, or don’t think we need. It’s so damn hipster if you ask me… Anything mainstream is evil and stupid.

Still, I find Twitter to pretty much be what you make of it. If you and your friends use it as a way to just keep track of what you’re all up to, then those “mundane” updates can actually be a way to get more insight into each other’s lives, and to effortlessly “keep up” with each other (and also make the whole thing look kind of stupid if you’re basing your opinion on the updates of people you don’t know or care about.) If you use it in a more professional context, it’s actually a wonderful way of communicating amongst colleagues and peers, and a great way to tap into a potentially extremely useful collective mind. (I also thought this was another interesting take on what’s so cool about Twitter, found, fittingly, via a tweet from Connie Crosby.)

(UPDATE: I just wanted to add this link to a recent ReadWriteWeb post on Twitter, that elaborates on the potential of Twitter way better than I did here…)

(UPDATE 2: Ok, and here’s another good link: The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter)

Posted in micro-blogging, reaching students, Twitter, vexation, web 2.0, websites | 2 Comments