Keeping in touch: the way you want

Librarians have a long tradition of communicating via email lists. We're one of the oldest professions (but not the oldest!), and we've been on the internet for longer than most. The rise of social media has just served to add to the number of ways we like to talk to each other, and we're keen to explore all of them.

Ahead of the New Librarians Symposium in September, we asked you how you like to keep in touch with ALIA new graduates. Here's what you said:

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We asked this question on the blog and Facebook, so it's hardly surprising that many of you preferred using those media in which you answered the question. But it's important to remember that many of you also chose more than one option, so really a range of communication methods seems to suit you best.

Across both surveys, about 15 percent of respondents mentioned an interest in communicating with us via Twitter. We don't have our own Twitter stream at the moment, but given the overwhelming success of new librarians tweeting for #tweetaugust, we'll keep it in mind. Don't forget that ALIA has its own Twitter stream to keep you up to date with both national and international library news.

Online communication is really just a placeholder for when we can't interact in person. We're holding more and more face-to-face events each year across the nation. If you're in Brisbane, next up is the Queensland Newgrads event on 24 August. And in September, new librarians will flock to Perth for the exciting experience of NLS5. Don't miss out!

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#tweetAugust : Get Ready to Tweet!

#tweetAugust starts on Monday the 1st of August!

Take the challenge to tweet once a day for a month! If you don’t think you can manage this - don’t despair – just try your best and get involved! If you haven’t used twitter before this is your chance to give it a go and see what all the fuss is about!

Why #tweetAugust?
Twitter is an excellent medium to connect and keep up to date with people and information. Getting involved in the #tweetAugust event will extent your PLN (personal learning network) and give you the opportunity to connect with library folk across Australia (and maybe further) and develop your professional online presence. Unlike blogs, tweets can be composed in a couple of minutes (including a non-smart phone) and can be quickly scanned and read - #tweetAugust doesn't need to take more than five minutes a day and that can be while you wait for the train or in the supermarket queue!

What to tweet about?
Anything you want! New technologies, exciting ideas, interesting facts, philosophies on our profession, daily gripes (often amusing and definitely welcome, but remember we aren’t talking in a closed room!).

Remember:
Make sure you remember to add the hashtag #tweetAugust to every tweet. By adding this tag you create a searchable link which we can all follow.

To get the ball rolling, here are some of the NGG teams twitter usernames:
@libodyssey
@acrystelle
@karina_tumon
@rombloggy
@MsBecstar
@melchivers
@YasmineShaheem
@kanji04

See you Monday on Twitter!

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