On Rheingold’s essential book and a couple others not to miss

While authors like Nick Carr warn us of the long-term dangers of the time we spend online, Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs, the man who coined the term virtual community, acknowledges the issues and presents strategies for successful digital citizenship in the broadest sense, for mindful use of technology.

Rheingold believes that we must be empowered digital participants rather than passive consumers.  That the emerging digital divide is between those who know how to use social media for individual advantage and collective action, and those who do not.

Boulle, Michelle.  Mob Rule Learning: Camps, Unconferences, and Trashing the Talking Head. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2011.

This first major explanation of how the unconference movement is changing the way professionals network, learn, and grow. Boulle examines the drawbacks of traditional conferences, and makes the case for taking the power away from the talking heads and valuing collective intelligence.  She shares strategies for planning and executing successful camps, presents case studies, and applies the new unconference philosophies to the classroom.  This is an important book that will help us spread word of important options for professional development in our schools.

Tomaiuolo, Nicholas G. UContent: The Information Professional’s Guide to User-Generated Content. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2012.

UContent offers librarians quick professional development on a movement that has forever transformed how we search for and use Web content.   Tomaiulolo covers such timely topics as blogs, wikis, self-publishing, citizen journalism, tagging, folksonomies, social bookmarking, cybercartography, and custom search engines.  This is a primer for new and retooling librarians on mining, participating and teaching about participation in new information landscapes. The author promises to update his moving-target content with a website.