Social SoftwareIn-Practice Multi-professional Learning Pilots (IMPL)

Bertha Low

IM&T Co-ordinator

West Midlands Library Services Development Unit

Workforce Deanery

bertha.low@wmdeanery.org

IMPL Pilots

• On-site training sessions

• Support of a contact library

• IMPL Website http://impl.wetpaint.com/ a collaboration of health library staff in the West Midlands

Agenda

• To introduce a selection of Web-based knowledge management software which can support IMPL

Objectives• To give an overview to web-based knowledge

management technologies, incl. RSS, weblogs, wikis, and social bookmarking

• To provide hands-on experience to these technologies• To explore examples of learning projects using

technologies• To discuss potential barriers of using technologies in

in-practice multi-professional learning

(1) Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking

• Practice of …– storing bookmarks of Internet resources– assigning personal keywords (i.e. tags)– sharing bookmarks and tags with other users

• Tag clouds

Social Bookmarking• Tools, e.g.

– del.icio.us <http://del.icio.us> – Furl <http://furl.net/> – Connotea <http://connotea.org> – CiteULike <http://citeulike.org> – Flickr <http://flickr.org> – Slideshare http://slideshare.net– Plus many more …

Social Bookmarking• Benefits

– BOTH private and public– Social

• Sharing by users, or by tags, or by both– Searchable– Syndication of tags by RSS– Managed environment

• Privacy, groups, moderation

Reference:Hirst T. [2007] “7 practical things: social bookmarking.” Available at:

http://www.slideshare.net/psychemedia/7-things-about-social-bookmarking/1

Social Bookmarking• Activities

– Register with del.icio.us– Install del.icio.us toolbar widget for quick bookmarking– Display your favourite Web pages and click on the

widget– Enter your tags, decide share / not share, and submit

bookmarks– Browse other tags or other users to explore

bookmarks of your interests

(2) RSS

RSS (Newsfeeds)• Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site

Summary • A format for syndicating content on the

Web in XML• Help keeping you up-to-date with the

content from multiple Web sites on a single page or point of access

RSS• Lever L. (2007) “RSS in plain English.”

[video] Commoncraft, 20th April, 2007. Available at: <http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english> [Alternatively http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU]

RSS• RSS aggregators / readers

– Web-based e.g. • Bloglines.com <http://www.bloglines.com/> • Google Reader <http://www.google.com/reader> • NLH My Library <http://www.library.nhs.uk> (require ATHENS ID)

– Desktop e.g.• FeedReader <http://www.feedreader.com/> • NewsDesk <http://www.wildgrape.net/>• Radio Userland <http://radio.userland.com/>

– Plus other ways …

RSS• Subscribing RSS feeds

• Searching for RSS feeds– NLH RSS Directory <http://

www.library.nhs.uk/rss/default.aspx>

– Technorati <http://www.technorati.com/>

– Your RSS aggregator / reader

RSS• Examples

– CMO (DH) <http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Rss/Rss?Feed=DH_076660>

– BMJ <http://www.bmj.com/rss/>– IMPL Web site <http://impl.wetpaint.com/> – PubMed search

– Mayo Clinic Podcasts <http://www.mayoclinic.org/podcasts/> – Cleveland Clinic: HealthEdge

<http://www.clevelandclinic.org/healthedge/>

RSS

• Benefits– Simple to use– New content comes to you when you need

them– Reducing the need to individually re-visit sites

of interest for changes or additions

RSS

• Activities– Register with Bloglines.com– Find RSS feeds for your favourite Web sites– Subscribe to these feeds using Bloglines.com– Start reading them

(3) Weblogs

Weblogs• Online journals with a subject without the need of being

tech-savvy• Dated entries, i.e. posts, are arranged in reverse

chronological order• Categorisation of posts• Tagging the content of posts• Syndication of content by RSS• Readers may leave comments• Posts are archived• Single or multiple authors

Weblogs• Tools

– Hosted, e.g.• Blogger <http://www.blogspot.com>• WordPress <http://www.wordpress.com>

– Locally installed, e.g.• WordPress <http://www.wordpress.com> • Typepad <http://www.typepad.com/> • Moveable <http://www.movabletype.org/>

Weblogs• Tools

– Blog search engines• Google Blog Search <http://www.google.co.uk/blogsearch?hl

=en> • Technorati <http://www.technorati.com/> • Fagan Finder Blogs and RSS Search Engines

http://www.faganfinder.com/blogs/ • Any Web search engines• Plus many more …

Weblogs

• Benefits– Easy to create, maintain and update– Syndicating of blog entries by RSS– Current awareness– Community building (incl. sharing knowledge,

disseminating news, discussions)

Weblogs• Examples

– Personal– Community

• dentalblog.com <http://www.dentalblogs.com/>– News

• North Staffordshire Health Library <http://hlnews.blogspot.com/> – Education

• Clinical Cases & Images <http://clinicalcases.blogspot.com/2005/07/other-cases.html>• 3CsT2 <http://3cst2.wordpress.com>

– A combination of purposes• E-Learning in the Faculty of Dentistry (UBC) <http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/tst/ >

– Plus many more …

Weblogs

• Activities– Choose a blogging tool– Register with the blogging tool– Come up with a title for your Weblog– Select your Weblog template (background)– Start blogging!

(4) Wikis

Wikis• Lever L. (2007) “Wiki in plain English.”

[video] Commoncraft, 29th May, 2007. Available at: http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english [Alternatively http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY]

Wikis• A Web-based application to allow for easy and fast

collaborative development of a website without the need of being tech-savvy

• Any member of a community can add to or edit the work of others

• Discussion attached to wiki pages• Track recent changes by RSS• History of page revisions• Syndication of edits and discussion by RSS

Wikis• Tools

– Hosted wiki farms, e.g. • PbWiki <http://www.pbwiki.com/>• Seedwiki <http://www.seedwiki.com/> • Wetpaint <http://www.wetpaint.com/> • Wikispaces <http://www.wikispaces.com/>

– Locally installed wiki software, e.g. • Mediawiki <http://www.mediawiki.com/> • Twiki <http://twiki.org/>

Wikis• Uses of wikis

– As Web site• IMPL Pilots <http://impl.wetpaint.com>

– As knowledgebase• Wikipedia <http://www.wikipedia.com> • Wikiversity: School: Medicine <http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/School:Medicine> • Wikibooks: Emergency Medicine <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Emergency_Medicine>• EBM Librarian <http://ebmlibrarian.wetpaint.com/>

– As project management tool• ALA 2006 New Orleans Conference Wiki <http://meredith.wolfwater.com/ala2006/index.php?title=Main_Page>

– As collaboration by many• IMPL Pilots <http://impl.wetpaint.com>

– As instruction manuals, subject guides etc.• Dental Education Wiki <http://www.ovidiu.ca/wiki/wikka.php?wakka=GeneralDentistryWiki>

– As staff communication or intranet• University of Minnesota Libraries Staff Website <https://wiki.lib.umn.edu/>

Rothman D. (2007) “List of medical wikis.” davidrothman.net, last update 21st August, 2007. Available at: <http://davidrothman.net/list-of-medical-wikis/>

Wikis• Benefits

– Easy to create, maintain and update

– Anyone can make changes (democratic)

– Searchable and browsable– Syndicating– Fostering collaboration with

communities

• Criticism– Too open– Disorganised– No control

Wikis

• Activities– Choose your wiki tool– Seed your wiki with structure and content – Create documentation and policy for your wiki

(in the long term)

Part 5: Summary

Summary• Buzzwords …

– Web 2.0– Read-write Web– Social Web …

• Simple publishing• Newsfeed publishing• Tagging• Author-and-reader communicating• Collaborating• Sharing

(6) Discussion

Discussion• What are the potentials of social software

in facilitating multi-professional learning in your practice?

• What are the possible barriers of using social software in your practice?

• What would be your next step(s) forward?