Yesterday I did a lot of reading and then I followed with a lot of research and writing. I’m preparing for my Pre-Conference Workshop at the KLA Joint Spring Conference. I’m excited to be talking about one of my passions, the need for libraries to be more business-like, starting with a business plan.
So as I was finalizing my outline and beginning the notes for this presentation, I realized I wasn’t finding everything I wanted. I never expected I would so quickly get used to real-time search, but I have. Listservs always give you 30 or more Out-of-Office replies and you have to wait for something useful to be sent back to you. (Especially if you are working in the eastern time zone in the evening.)
But Twitter is immediate and Linked-In provides a different kind of reaction to a real-time/inquiry. I’ve yet to benefit from a Linked-in search but this topic might be worth the expenditure of effort to explore the possibilities.
Now, my question to Twitter wasn’t answered and this morning’s Twitter Search reveals that I was just hoping for a lead. However, my question is out there and perhaps by the end of the day I’ll have been successful in getting some responses.
What surprised me about this use of Twitter and Linked-In is that it is a new search method for me. 6 months ago it would not have occurred to me to seek real-time search results through a social media venue. Now, it’s one of my first desires when I search certain topics.
The reality is that I would still limit my use of any social media results to things I could verify or that came from people I knew and trusted. The librarian in me just can’t ignore the need to verify sources.
Real-time search will grow in importance. For some interesting commentary on the business of real-time search check out this post and this one. Stephen Arnold usually has his finger on the pulse of big search events. Watch his blog for more on this issue.
Are you using real-time search? How? And BTW, if you are a reader from a “special” library, corporate, firm, medical, non-profit, government etc. and have a business plan for your library contact me, I’d love to talk with you.
Constance Ard March 3, 2009
