Twitter Comes to TPL

On May 11, we are going to have our first staff Twitter class at the Troy Library. Lauren Henderson, one of our Technology librarians and Twitter advocate, will be leading the training.

Why teach about the microblog site Twitter? Two reasons.

First, as a library staff, we need to know the tools our patrons are using. Ten years ago, I would not have expected staff to refer a print reference without having first looked at it. Likewise, today, staff should be comfortable with the sites about which our users ask.

In addition to Twitter, we are having staff classes in the photosharing site Flickr, the chat site Meebo, and the feeder Google Reader.

Second, Twitter is a powerful news site. I was convinced of this when I followed last year’s tragedy in Mumbai via Twitter in real time. As the news information industry recreates itself, the real-time reporting of Twitter should be a major component.

There are many who disagree, however, and dispute Twitter’s influence.

I believe Twitter is real. Here is an interesting article from TechCrunch on why Twitter is important.