There is an excellent blog from Librarianinblack on the Ten Social Networking Tips for Libraries which has generated a lot of comment in the blogasphere. To test the Tangle online discussion forum software what are your comments and views on the following ten tips? Refer back to the original Librarianinblack blog post for details.

1. Do your research. 2.Keep your information current 3. Use a photo of a real live person 4. Feel free to have an alias 5. It's not all about all your friends 6. Suss it up 7. Turn on notifications 8. Have fun 9. Know no fear 10. Deleting accounts is okay.

I particularly like have fun and know no fear. I believe a lot of librarians have concerns about privacy. We experienced a reticence by librarians to blog at Swinburne (23 things) because they didn't want people to know who they were. Once they gave themselves permission to use an alias the blogged away.

We do leave digital footprints but I think being fearless about having an online identity or a professional online identity is a good place to start from. I like the have ago attitude displayed by the librarian in black's list.

Great advice. Says its OK for libraries to try things and fail, which I think is very important for librarians to know. People are still reluctant to put their face on things, we got around that by using avatars that have a remarkable resemblence to us. Currency can be an issue, particularly if there is only one person involved - a team helps, but you still need someone to drive the process.  The best thing about it is that it is fun.  If it ever stops being fun, then something needs to change.