Thing 13: ALA Connect

ALA Connect

ALA Connect is a virtual, collaborative, online workspace created by ALA to help facilitate online committee work and give the membership a professional networking space. What's great about this space is that it's a singe virtual location where members can collaborate and work on division, round table, and committee projects with a large array of tools at one's fingertips, such as: online documents, blog-like posts, group calendars, polls, chat rooms, discussion forums, RSS/Email alerts, and the ability to connect with your existing social media accounts.

If you are a current ALA member, you already have an ALA Connect account. Follow this link to get started.

Not an ALA member? No worries. Here's a quick video on how you can join and get your own account:

OK, so now you have your account, time to poke around and see what you discover.

Here are a few things you can do:

- Edit your profile and upload an image. To edit your profile, click on "My profile" (left hand menu under your name), then click on the "Edit" tab.

- Create a network. Find friends, colleagues, classmates, etc. and connect with them.

- Find Groups or Communities that interests you and join them.

- If you can't find a Group/Community that peaks your interest to join, create your own and invite others to join.

Using ALA Connect with Your Existing Social Media Tools

This week you've been looking at a lot of social networking sites and tools. And while Connect might seem like another one, it's not really meant to take the place of your favorite social media network. Instead it's meant to make it easier for you to share information with your networks, all with a few simple clicks.

ALA Connect offers a lot of great virtual opportunities for librarians of all types. Here members of the library community can meet and mingle virtually, discuss library-related topics and issues, share ideas, collaborate in communities, and come together to do the work of the Association. I hope you've enjoyed getting to know ALA Connect and will be a frequent user in the future!