Whose got talent? or linkedIn = professional Facebook!

Having looked at what LinkedIn has to offer by looking for people already using it and perusing their profiles, it does seem like Facebook but for professionals.  Instead of finding your friends, you find work colleagues and like minded professionals.  This is no bad idea, as it helps to create another network and work related community, through which to share ideas, keep up to date and keep in contact with useful people, who may help you to further your career on a professional level.  This however is maybe where it falls down as not all of us are used to putting ourselves "out there" on a professional level and saying "look what I can do"!

Where do go from here?

This is also where I wonder what relevance it has for librarians and providing services for students.  Its useful for librarians, yes on a personal level, but surely the advocacy of using LinkedIn by students whilst at University, would be better coming from Careers advisers.  I'm not saying that it isn't useful for students to join and start creating useful contacts, just that it isn't necessarily a Librarians role to point students to it.  Although I realise as librarians we need to be aware of professional skills, where to find information and helping to equip students for when they leave.

This leads me to pose the question about our role in the library. There does seem to be more blurring of our boundaries and what we do.  We've certainly taken on larger teaching/training remits in academic libraries, providing search skills and use of resources workshops. Is LinkedIn something we should be inputting into training sessions for 2nd and 3rd year students as part of a "professional themed" workshop session in collusion with the Careers services?  The information world is certainly growing and we need to be part of it, but how much?