The 5 Weeks to a Social Library course is a completely free and completely online course devoted to teaching librarians about social software and its use in libraries. Eventhough the course is limited to 40 participants (already chosen), everybody may access the course content.

The course will cover Blogs, RSS, Wikis, Social Networking Software and SecondLife, Flickr, Social Bookmarking, and Selling Social Software at your Library.

Week 1: Blogs and Week 2: RSS and Social Bookmarking are available already. In David Rothman's blog he mentions Melissa L. Rethlefsen's screencast to demonstrating some of the cool things that can be done with RSS on a Library’s Web site. *small note* You might have to watch the screencast from home if your institution blocks blip.tv.

For anybody who is interested in how these technologies can be used in libraries, I would recommend checking out 5 Weeks to a Social Library to get some ideas.

Labels: RSS feeds, Social Software, Technology