Just when I had a handle on things, I heard the term micro-blogging. Huh? What is micro-blogging?

According to wikipedia:
Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web.

If you have heard of Twitter then you have heard of micro-blogging. I have always called it Twittering. I guess it is similar to using the term xeroxing when you are using a copy machine.

I mentioned once before that I really haven't thought of a reason for why Twitter would be used in the medical library world. It doesn't mean that I am against using it, it just means that I am not creative. I need somebody who can think out of the box and provide examples or real use in the medical or medical library world.

Leave it to John Tropea at Library clips to write a very lengthly post describing various micro-blogging applications and how he uses them.

First he looks at more traditional methods of communication such as Email, IM, Blog, Lifestream, and MyBlogLog. Then he goes on to describe his use of micro-blogging applications such as Pownce, Tumblr, Jaiku, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo Pulse, and many more. According to John not all micro-blogging services are the same. He uses "Pownce for informal private groups, Twitter for blabbing, Facebook for close friends, and Tumblr for spontaneous blogging."

Of all the applications he describes I think Pownce might have the most potential for use in medical libraries and the biomedical profession. Pownce is centered around sharing messages, files, events, and links with already established friends. I can see this working well within a research group or a library setting. According to Rafe Needleman, "If you're starting from zero, give Pownce a serious look, especially if you're thinking of using it in a work setting. With Pownce, you can easily set up a group of contacts, and use the service to keep co-workers up to date on what you're doing as well as the latest versions of documents you're working on. Also in Pownce, replies to particular nanoblog entries are easily tracked in their own threads, on their own pages. If something you write starts a discussion, it's much easier to keep track of what people are saying than it is on Twitter. Again, this is a great feature for business users."

For those of you where IM is blocked, you might look at Pownce as a method to communicate to staff.