Using ALA Connect with Your Existing Social Media Tools

One in a series of introductory screencasts created by the ALA Emerging Leaders Group I FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://connect.ala.orgALA recognizes that many of its members are well-versed in online social media tools. Connect isn't intended to be a replacement for your favorite social media network, but it makes it easy to share information with your networks with just a few simple clicks.

September 15, 2009

One in a series of introductory screencasts created by the ALA Emerging Leaders Group I
FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://connect.ala.org

ALA recognizes that many of its members are well-versed in online social media tools.

Connect isn’t intended to be a replacement for your favorite social media network, but it makes it easy to share information with your networks with just a few simple clicks.

For example, I just notice here that the NYC Librarians Meet-Up group is having a meet-up this Sunday at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. I can easily share this information with my network on Twitter, Digg, Facebook, Delicious, MySpace and more.

To do this, I simply scroll down and locate the “share” button at the bottom of the lefthand menu. When I click, I see a number of options. I’ll choose twitter, since I have an account for my work at the Metropolitan New York Library Council.

I’ll wait a moment while Connect contacts Twitter, and I see that the information is added to my text box. I’ll add a comment, click update, and the link is added to my Twitter stream. You can follow the same steps to send information from Connect to any of your favorite social media networks.

I can also bring RSS feeds from various sources into a community that I administer in Connect. For example, I have set up a community in Connect for librarians that are members of the Metropolitan New York Library Council. If I want, I can have our METRO twitter feed display in the sidebar of our community page.

First, I go to Twitter and copy our RSS feed from my updates.

Next, I go to the edit tab on my community page. Scroll down to the external “RSS Feed to display in sidebar” box and paste that URL. Scroll down to the bottom, and click submit. And now the feed from our tweetMETRO profile will show up on the right-hand side of this community page.

For more information about ALA Connect, visit the help community or use the “contact us” form if you have questions.

Music: Open Gates by Crepusculum, available at www.archive.org.

One in a series of introductory screencasts created by the ALA Emerging Leaders Group I FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://connect.ala.orgSo say you're a dog-loving librarian who likes to knit and watch Lost, and you're looking for other librarians who share your interests. But how do you find them?Sure, you could try using your expert web-searching skills, and maybe you'd even find a hit or two. Here's someone who enjoys Lost, knitting, and is a librarian, AND loves dogs. It's a perfect score.

Profiles and Networks: Finding People on ALA Connect

One in a series of introductory screencasts created by the ALA Emerging Leaders Group I FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://connect.ala.orgUsing ALA Connect, ALA members can create a personalized network with colleagues, friends, classmates, and others around interests, issues, events, and more.Each ALA member has an ALA Connect profile, always accessible from the left sidebar. Your profile is already populated with membership information from the ALA membership database.

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Using ALA Connect with Your Existing Social Media Tools

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Dog Loving Librarians Who Knit and Watch Lost: Creating Communities in ALA Connect

Profiles and Networks: Finding People on ALA Connect