This guest post comes to us from Natalie Binder. It was originally posted on her blog, The Binder Blog. Natalie is a master’s degree student at Florida State University’s School of Information and Communication (FSU-SLIS), with concentrations in technology and special collections. She currently works at a public library as a cataloger and IT specialist.
Joining a Twitter chat is a great way to actively engage with what’s happening right now in the field, and gain some valuable information and connections. We encourage anyone who can to join us for the inaugural #libchat this week!
If you’re a librarian or bookseller, library paraprofessional or student, you’ve probably experienced the rush of energy & productivity that accompanies a trip to a conference or trade show. Networking! Blog posts! New projects! How do you find and maintain that energy at home? You join a Twitter chat, of course! Starting Wednesday, March 16, from 8-9:30 EST, and continuing every Wednesday, #libchat will host a meeting of the minds on books, libraries and technology. Think of it as a library conference at your desk.
How #libchat works
Libchat is modeled on other great Twitter chats like #journchat and #pr20chat. If you’ve never participated in a Twitter chat before, here’s how it works:
Before and during the chat, tweet questions (without the hashtag) to me @nataliebinder. I’ll tweet them on the #libchat hashtag, something like this:
nataliebinder: Q1 Does your library lend ebooks? Why or why not? #libchat
To participate, just reply with the question number, your response, and the tag “#libchat.” For example:
you: Q1. We love ebooks! #libchat
Services like Twitterfall, TweetGrid, or TweetChat can make it easier to follow a chat. Try some different models to see what works best for you.
Who should come to #libchat
Librarians, library and information students, booksellers, vendors, book critics and everyone who loves libraries and books. Twitter chats are a great way to meet new people and score some new followers & friends.
Potential #libchat topics
- Digital rights management.
- Libraries and the digital divide.
- Advocacy and budget negotiations.
- Library school.
- Employment and the MLIS job market.
These are just some of the issues we could explore in our first #libchat. If there’s anything you want to ask your friends and colleagues, comment on this blog post or tweet them to @nataliebinder, and I will add them to the list of #libchat questions. At the end of the session, you can also tweet your library-related resources, products and blog posts on the hashtags #libchat and #libpitch. Hope to see you there!
Categories: Social Media
HLS 
I used to participate in a Twitter chat for academic advisors (my former career) and really gleaned a lot of value from it. Not only are the topics usually of the moment, but you start to get a sense of who is out there, and that was incredibly helpful for me being new to the field. #libchat is such a great idea, I’m surprised no one has started it or anything similar yet! Natalie is a regular participant in #journchat, and I’m really excited to see how #libchat will develop under her guidance. Hope to see you all on the Twitters tomorrow night!
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Something I would like to try. My first attempt did not work. I’ll not give up. You may see me on twitter soon.
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I’ve participated here and there in chats for educators and booksellers when they’ve been on a topic I could contribute to, but have never regularly participated. I’m excited to see how this develops!
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I am SO excited for this! Just put it on my calendar since I probably won’t make it this week (birthday party).
I’ve never participated in a Twitter chat, so this will be fantastic. I wonder if it would also be a cool way to introduce Facebook ppl who don’t have/rarely use Twitter to its wonderful world?
We had such great discussion about the uses of FB and Twitter a couple weeks back when Nicole had her post.
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hello I want to say that I really liked your article and I could really identify with what is expressed
Now I have a better idea about this, thank you very much
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I’ve attended a few of these chats. It’s a good way for me to get a peek into library land.
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