It could be worth discussing this on the LGA Knowledge Hub--there is a
social media group and some other discussion on Skype. There is also a
useful list of reports on social media in local govt that you might use as
tools of persuasion. How about this quote from a SOCITM report (see below):-
'Public sector heads of ICT should be taking the lead in encouraging
councils to embrace social media and not be party to moves to block staff'
What does you head of IT think of your being blocked? Is s/he a member of
SOCITM?
The social media page of the Local Government Library Technology (LGLibTech)
website: http://lglibtech.wikispaces.com/Social_media_Web2.0 lists a couple
of reports --one by SOCITM itself
1. Local by social. How local authorities can use social media to achieve
more for less.' By Andy Gibson. Nesta. March 2010
'The problem for councils though, is that not engaging now represents a far
greater risk than engaging. Citizens will still use these networks to talk
about you, whether you add your voice to the conversation or not. Citizens
will expect their council to engage with them on their terms, via their
channels, and to be openly available online,” he added. “In fact, it is
becoming increasingly clear that if councils don’t use these tools, the
citizens will do it for them, and bypass the council entirely.” '
2. 'Social media: why ICT management should lead their organisations to
embrace it'
SOCITM January 2010
'Public sector heads of ICT should be taking the lead in encouraging
councils to embrace social media and not be party to moves to block staff
from using these important new tools for business, says the latest report
from Socitm Insight. In fact, according to a survey of IT managers published
in Social media: why ICT management should lead their organisations to
embrace it, many councils currently take a cautious view of social media'
Two years on from those reports it is surely a good time to be challenging
IT depts
Ken
Ken Chad Consulting Ltd
Tel +44 (0)7788 727 845. Email: [log in to unmask]
www.kenchadconsulting.com
Skype: kenchadconsulting Twitter: @KenChad LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kenchad
Higher Education Library Technology wiki: http://helibtech.com/
My presentations on slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/kenchad
-----Original Message-----
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Brown, Alan
Sent: 11 September 2012 11:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Macmillan (Dear Zoo) Skype event - summary of responses.
Towards the end of Aug I posted the following question
--snip--
Will any library be able to participate in this event that was promoted by
the reading agency? Our ICT dept will not let us install skype on any
library computers, and I wondered if any authority has been allowed to do
this. When the question was asked on these lists last year, there were a few
responses, but they were all "we are not allowed to install skype". I would
be interested to hear from libraries that have got it as I would like to put
a case together for it to be installed on some PN machines.
--snip--
I received responses from 10 authorities, only one of which had been allowed
to install skype in a "Public ICT Training Room" and they said they had a
struggle with their ICT to do it. (the term battle was used).
All the rest got a firm NO from their corporate ICT support.
One other authority said they were participating using non networked
training laptops that connected to the internet via an external 3g dongle.
One other one suggested the 3g route but they did not have time to set up an
event this way.
2 authorities have used skype on their public wifi network (one a corporate
network, the other external), but they didn't participate.
Generally these were staff members own computers.
One response suggested using skype as a portable app (installed on a USB
Key)
I had another response that noted that a neighbouring authority had a public
skype terminal in the library, but I do not know how this was connected.
I am not surprised that most of the library authorities had said that their
ICT dept will not allow skype, from what I understand it is a application
that is expressly forbidden as part of our authorities agreement to connect
to the Government Connect secure network. I don't know the details but I
believe it was quite a difficult trade-off to provide public internet access
and a connection to Government Connect on the same physical network
regardless of how it is set up e.g. VLANs etc.
I am not sure if the Dear Zoo event was specifically aimed at libraries but
our librarians wanted to participate. It would have been helpful if the
organisers / promoters could have checked whether the technology was allowed
in libraries. One of the responses stated that they were using alternative
communication software (Microsoft Communicator) we are allowed to use webex.
I don't know if the event would have been possible using one of these
alternatives, but for us we were not able to participate because it used
skype.
regards
--
Alan Brown
Library Systems Liaison Officer
Bury Library Service
Resource Services
Textile Hall
Manchester Rd
Bury BL9 0DG
0161 253 5877
http://www.bury.gov.uk/libraries
http://library.bury.gov.uk
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