Pinterest

What it is:

Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” that allows you to organize and bookmark images and interesting websites that you find on the internet.

How it works:

  • Find an interesting webpage or image
  • Click on the “Pin It” button located on your browsers bookmark bar
  • Choose an image to represent your pin
  • Choose the board you want to pin it to and write a short description
  • Pin it and share!

Pinterest has an excellent Getting Started page.  Take a look at their video which shows you how to install the Pin It button.

For a look at what other people are doing on Pinterest take a look at the following video which is also an excellent tutorial.

 

 

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Some things to consider before doing a lot of pinning:  Organization is key with Pinterest as it can be difficult to edit.  If a pin is posted to the wrong board, for example, you will have to delete it and then repin it to the right board.  Or if you want to organize books you might want to decide when you are creating your boards if you want all of your books on one board or if you want to organize them by subject on separate boards.

Another thing about Pinterest is that the main screen can be a bit overwhelming at first because of the sheer amount of stuff that is arranged on the page.  Once you get an idea of how to navigate this becomes easier, especially if you visit people’s individual pages or boards,  instead of the main page.

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Why it’s useful:

There is no denying Pinterest’s current popularity.  If you are a Facebook person then you have probably seen your friends sharing multiple Pinterest posts a day.  Librarians can use Pinterest to create boards that would appeal to a variety of people in their community.  A certain collection could be highlighted such as this example from a librarian’s Miss Representation board.  If you notice, the librarian has included each book’s call number in the description section of the pin.  One of her pins leads to a website which is related to her collection.

Here is an example of a public library using Pinterest.  They currently have 135 people following them.

Pinterest can be used for more than sharing images with others, it can also be used for collaboration. An example of Pinterest being used as a collaboration tool for teen programming can be found here.  They are also linked to Facebook.

Take a look at this article by Edudemic about 20 Ways Libraries Are Using Pinterest Right Now.

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Create:

1.     For the first step of this module create a Pinterest account.  Pinterest accounts are by invitation only and there are two ways to get one.  Request an invite at the Pinterest website which unfortunately has a one to two week waiting period.   Or to get in immediately ask someone who already has an account to send you an invitation.

2.     For the second step add the Pin It button to your browser.

3.     For the third step of this module please create at least three boards.

4.     For the fourth step please pin at least eight items to any board(s) of your choice.

5.     For the fifth step find at least three people or communities to follow.

6.     For the sixth step of this module repin at least one thing.

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Reflect:

Write a blog about your experience.  Was Pinterest easy to use?  Do you think that it would be useful for your library?

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More to explore (Optional):

More exercises:

  • Add more boards and pins to your page.
  • Explore Pinterest and find more people you would like to follow.
  • Utilize Pinterest’s collaboration capability and create a board to use for collaboration and invite others to join your board.  Or join an already established collaboration board.

 

Here are some links to what people are saying about Pinterest:

5 Ways to Use Pinterest in Your Library

5 More Ways to Use Pinterest in Your Library

Pinterest and Libraries

What is Pinterest and could my library use it?

The Pinterest Grenade

Pinterest

Pinterest and Education

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This Learning 2.0 module was originally designed and implemented by students in Dr. Michael Stephens‘ Transformative Literacies class in the Spring of 2012 (LIBR 281-12).  This class is part of San Jose State University’s School of Library and Information Science curriculum. It was authored by Wendy Hoag for Crandall Public Library/Group 2. It is available for use for other libraries or institutions.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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