The purpose of this master’s report was to investigate how Chinese students who were learning English used Web 2.0 tools for informal learning and to construct a model of informal learning in the Web 2.0 environment. I conducted a pilot study with 32 Chinese students who were learning English and tried to understand how they used Web 2.0 tools as informal learning tools to improve their English. Furthermore, I discussed the main challenges of informal learning in a Web 2.0 environment from the learners’ perspective and from a technical perspective. Then I proposed a model of informal learning in a Web 2.0 environment which may improve learning in an informal learning environment, and provide learners a possible learning method. It is hoped that this model will help students better master learning methods of informal learning in the Web 2.0 environment and lay a good foundation for lifelong learning. / text

Today’s organizations can not avoid social media. Previous research focuses on how organizations should communicate in general, and not how communication between organizations and customers is expressed to build customer engagemant and relationships. Social media provides an unique oppurtunity to create customer engagement through the interactivety possibilities of the medium. This study aims to expand the research field with the pourpose of studying how Swedish companies perceive social media as a communication tool to engage and build relationships with their customers. This research takes on the organization’s perspective and intends to answer how organizations communicate to build customer engagement and customer relationships. In order to answer the main question, nine qualitative interviews were conducted with nationwide Swedish companies that work with social media. In addition to the interviews, a feasibility study was implemented in the form of a netnographic observation of participating organizations’ social media accounts. According to the theoretical framework, the excellence theory is not supported in this study, since the participating companies prefer to exercise two-way assymmetrical communication in social media. The stakeholder approach is used by the organizations since they strive to keep the customers satisfied with the communication. The research did not reveal that they communicated according to the interactive communications model, however, their communication did show similarities with Shannon & Weavers model of communication. The study also showed that, according to Evans model for engagement, the organizations focus lies on the second level of engagement, curation. Thus, the organization’s investigated in this study communicate through creating content correlated with customers demands in order to create customer engagement and relationships, and to set the agenda for the dialogue.

Online aggregation is a new trend in today’s world. It is developed from an IT concept to a much broader idea that applies to a variety of areas such as information, human capital, social power, and so on. The power of online aggregation has not only changed the way of business, but also affected the process of social development. The current study identified three models of online aggregation and provided examples of each. Some future implications and downsides of online aggregation are also discussed in this paper. / text

Den här uppsatsen tar sin utgångspunkt i att utvecklingen inom IT gått otroligt fort det senaste decenniet. Sociala medier har blivit ett av de främsta användningsområdena för Internet och de populäraste idag är Facebook, Twitter och bloggar. Uppsatsen vill titta närmare på just bloggar och hur dessa används utav chefer för att utöva ledarskap. Lite mer precist handlar det om hur chefer påverkar och influerar sina medarbetare genom vad de publicerar i sina bloggar. Omkring detta presenteras sedan ett antal teorier som utgör ett ramverk för att förstå ämnet men även för analys. I analysen används sedan LMX-teorin, som handlar om utbyten mellan chef och underordnad, för att tolka de blogginlägg som valts ut. Den metod som tillämpas i denna uppsats består utav en innehållsanalys där 10 olika chefs bloggar studerats. Totalt har 475 unika inlägg analyserats utifrån LMX-terorin. För att få en relevant mängd data har bloggarna studerats 3 månader tillbaka i tiden eller 30 inlägg som minimikrav. Urvalet utav bloggar baseras på vilken frekvens som dessa uppdateras och vilket innehåll som återfinns. De bloggar som behandlas i uppsatsen är enbart publika dvs. tillgängliga för allmänheten. Bloggarna analyseras först statistiskt (kvantitativt) för att ge en övergripande bild av utfallet. Därefter presenteras bloggarna enskilt och analyseras genom att citat läggs fram som tydliga exempel för hur författarna tolkat blogginläggen. De tjänar även syftet att visa på vilka olika sätt chefer kan uttrycka sig och uttrycka ledarskap genom sin blogg. Slutsatsen som dras är att bloggar används till viss del av chefer för att påverka medarbetare och författarna diskuterar i slutet om potentialen som finns med bloggar. Efter slutsatsen diskuteras även uppsatsen och författarna ger sina synpunkter på det hela.

This paper is an introduction to wikis for health librarians. While using wikis in health is now well-established, their gradual rise is similar to other Web 2.0 tools like blogs and RSS feeds. The same principles of collaboration, knowledge-sharing and socialization apply to wikis. Easy-to-use, interactive and built on open platforms (though not all are free), wikis offer a number of marketing and teaching opportunities for health librarians. Ironically, due to the prominence of Wikipedia - which paved the way for the broader acceptance of Web 2.0 technologies - wikis are moving beyond the collaborative writing of encyclopedia entries. Wikis are now used for all kinds of projects, from managing internal library content to revising important reference sources, such as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). That said, some physicians and librarians express grave concerns about using wikis to create reference works; particularly, how questionable authority and editorial controls may result in medical errors. We argue that wikis were not necessarily meant to replace trusted print and digital information. When used responsibly as part of an overall content management plan, wikis can enhance our traditional collections and services. The authors predict that wikis will continue their rise in medicine through 2008, which will lead to other creative uses and applications in health libraries.

Although social searching is not a new phenomenon, its features of collaboration, conversation, and interaction in a social space among users make it an imperative element of Web 2.0 technologies. The emerging popularity of folksonomies with users generating their own labeling system has allowed social searching to distinguish itself from traditional search engines such as Google and Yahoo. This paper discusses a number of social search tools, including Google Custom Search, Del.icio.us, Youtube, and Flickr, tools that the authors find useful for the practice of a health information professional.

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This article provides an overview of the Tools for Outreach and Teaching Series (TOTS) at UBC Library. The series was created by three UBC Librarians to enable library staff to learn from each other about social software and other emerging technologies that might be useful in their work.