May 11, 2008
Week 15
O.k this is just getting silly! It was just a 12 week course and now I am up to Week 15. But this one is really just for my Library friends so they can see Kia's friend's latest You Tube clip. We think False Start are awesome! Hope you enjoy it. (p.s I love youtube)
May 05, 2008
Week 14
You're Right! There definately is not a Week 14 but new sites keep getting sent to me and they are well worth looking at so this is where I am putting them. Thanks GM. http://explorediscoverplay.ning.com/
April 12, 2008
Week 13
O.k so there isn't really a Week 13 but a colleague sent me some web-sites that she found while working on her Librarianship studies relevant to the course and this seemed the most logical place to put them and my thoughts on them so that I could share the sites at my workplace. Thankyou KF.
The first article I read was in regard to Sirsidynix which to me was like trying to read a foreign language and when they started quoting API this and API that I got a bit lost until I consulted the friendly librarian available at the end of the phone, thankyou GM, I was told that it is of course Application Programming Interface, which I should have known but you know what it is like when you feel completely over your head anyway, things you should know fail you as well. This article talks about Web 3.0 as well quoting the Croquet project that involves multi-user virtual world applications with avatars and furniture. This just about pops my head because I was struggling with 2.0! A little warning when I went into the links for Enterprise portal Solution and Horizon Information Portal I sort of got stuck in so much as I was not able to Back out and had to change screens etc to get out of it.
Another article I read was written by Jack M. Maness also about Library 2.0 theory this was an interesting article speaking about all the things we looked at in the Library 2.0 course over the past 12 week. It was encouraging that I could understand this article and I thought it had some relevant thoughts on the subject. One paragraph that particularly caught my eye was the following :
"Libraries may do well to continue adopting this technology as it evolves, as it allows reference services in an online media to closely approximate the more traditional services of the physical library. The time will almost certainly soon come when Web reference is nearly indistinguishable from face-to-face reference; librarians and patrons will see and hear each other, and will share screens and files. In addition, the transcripts these sessions already provide will serve library science in ways that face-to-face reference never did. For the first time in the history of libraries, there will be a continuously collected transcription of the reference transaction, always awaiting evaluation, analysis, cataloging, and retrieval for future reference."
This made me think of the "My Tutor" program that we have recently made available to our Student Public at our Library. The My Tutor peole are taking advantage of this technology and in the future why not us in the Library itself.
The scariest thing about these two articles to me was that they were both written in 2006 which puts me at least 2 years behind in what is happening out there and that is an huge head start for this type of rapidly advancing technology.
The third article I read was a blog about Learning 2.0 and talks of the 23 Things, which frightened me at first because I thought it meant there were 11 more weeks of learning out there to be done to really complete the Library 2.0 course. However, the 23 things basically include all the applications we have done using some different web-sites in some cases but still included flickr, del.icio.us, and Library Thing to name a few. The 23 Things were to be learnt in 9 Weeks for this course. The most interesting thing I found in this article was that Melbourne's Yarra Plenty Library had been one of the first libraries to take this course on board. And again it was 2006 that they began. The course was offered as Daily Lessons so they obviously had time on their hands. I wish I had known about this blog when I was working through the course.
The first article I read was in regard to Sirsidynix which to me was like trying to read a foreign language and when they started quoting API this and API that I got a bit lost until I consulted the friendly librarian available at the end of the phone, thankyou GM, I was told that it is of course Application Programming Interface, which I should have known but you know what it is like when you feel completely over your head anyway, things you should know fail you as well. This article talks about Web 3.0 as well quoting the Croquet project that involves multi-user virtual world applications with avatars and furniture. This just about pops my head because I was struggling with 2.0! A little warning when I went into the links for Enterprise portal Solution and Horizon Information Portal I sort of got stuck in so much as I was not able to Back out and had to change screens etc to get out of it.
Another article I read was written by Jack M. Maness also about Library 2.0 theory this was an interesting article speaking about all the things we looked at in the Library 2.0 course over the past 12 week. It was encouraging that I could understand this article and I thought it had some relevant thoughts on the subject. One paragraph that particularly caught my eye was the following :
"Libraries may do well to continue adopting this technology as it evolves, as it allows reference services in an online media to closely approximate the more traditional services of the physical library. The time will almost certainly soon come when Web reference is nearly indistinguishable from face-to-face reference; librarians and patrons will see and hear each other, and will share screens and files. In addition, the transcripts these sessions already provide will serve library science in ways that face-to-face reference never did. For the first time in the history of libraries, there will be a continuously collected transcription of the reference transaction, always awaiting evaluation, analysis, cataloging, and retrieval for future reference."
This made me think of the "My Tutor" program that we have recently made available to our Student Public at our Library. The My Tutor peole are taking advantage of this technology and in the future why not us in the Library itself.
The scariest thing about these two articles to me was that they were both written in 2006 which puts me at least 2 years behind in what is happening out there and that is an huge head start for this type of rapidly advancing technology.
The third article I read was a blog about Learning 2.0 and talks of the 23 Things, which frightened me at first because I thought it meant there were 11 more weeks of learning out there to be done to really complete the Library 2.0 course. However, the 23 things basically include all the applications we have done using some different web-sites in some cases but still included flickr, del.icio.us, and Library Thing to name a few. The 23 Things were to be learnt in 9 Weeks for this course. The most interesting thing I found in this article was that Melbourne's Yarra Plenty Library had been one of the first libraries to take this course on board. And again it was 2006 that they began. The course was offered as Daily Lessons so they obviously had time on their hands. I wish I had known about this blog when I was working through the course.
April 06, 2008
Week 12
The Last week, yay! 34 hours later I am at the end of the Course. Wrap up, social networks and catch up. Myspace is often spoken of in my house. My teenage daughter communicates constantly with her myspace friends. Bebo and Facebook are also commonly used terms. Proboards is a different format and was not mentioned throughout this course but seems to be constantly used by teenagers as a commonly used communication tool. Livejournal is another website commonly used by young people, it was a shame we did not get a chance to look at these websites as they seem to be the new way. Which just goes to show us that no matter how much we try to keep up there is always something new to learn!
The types of sites mentioned in Week 12 don't really afford themselves to a simple format to communicating unless there is a pre-specified group, myspace sites are quite labour intensive to set up and there are better ways for library staff to communicate to their colleagues or to the Public. Livejournal could be used as a Blog style site and Proboards could be a useful message board.
Well that's it for me. Week 12 complete!
The types of sites mentioned in Week 12 don't really afford themselves to a simple format to communicating unless there is a pre-specified group, myspace sites are quite labour intensive to set up and there are better ways for library staff to communicate to their colleagues or to the Public. Livejournal could be used as a Blog style site and Proboards could be a useful message board.
Well that's it for me. Week 12 complete!
Week 11
Google docs seemed to be the most useful of all the online applications and tools that I looked at for this week. Slideshare looked useful as well to store Powerpoint presentations but I wouldn't have use of this at this time, having seen it though I know it is there if the situation ever arises.
I sent a book review I had written by Google docs to the email address provided. For awhile I seemed to be going in circles with the process but then it all suddenly became clear and I will be able to do this in future. In my work situation Google docs will be very useful just for this purpose, sending book reviews I have written to the Library IT people so that they can be published with all the others in our Staff Review publications. It is envisaged that very soon in the future Google docs will be used to forward Staff Rosters and Leave Calendars so that all the Staff have access to them. I liked that Google docs allows the sender to either allow or not allow editing to the document by the recipient.
I also noted several useful websites from the slideshow offered on the Slideshare presentation that will be useful in the future such as the tadalist that looked like it could be used similar to wiki as explained in Week 5 in that lists can be created and shared.
I sent a book review I had written by Google docs to the email address provided. For awhile I seemed to be going in circles with the process but then it all suddenly became clear and I will be able to do this in future. In my work situation Google docs will be very useful just for this purpose, sending book reviews I have written to the Library IT people so that they can be published with all the others in our Staff Review publications. It is envisaged that very soon in the future Google docs will be used to forward Staff Rosters and Leave Calendars so that all the Staff have access to them. I liked that Google docs allows the sender to either allow or not allow editing to the document by the recipient.
I also noted several useful websites from the slideshow offered on the Slideshare presentation that will be useful in the future such as the tadalist that looked like it could be used similar to wiki as explained in Week 5 in that lists can be created and shared.
Week 10
I used big huge labs to create a mosaic of these cute dogs, I tried to use photos my daughter had stored on photobucket but the system would not let me. So in that way I found this process somewhat rigid and confusing. Once I got going though it was o.k, I created the mosaic and put it into My Pictures and then just Uploaded the Image and Here It Is!!
I have often used Mashups not knowing that this is what they are called. Google Maps is a common one that I use, looking at holiday accomodation, finding addresses of business' and locations for trips away. I think Google Maps would be a useful Mashup for the Library to show the location of special holiday activities that are being provided outside of the Library venue. It would also be useful on the Library website to show the location of Branches.
Another Mashup application that is useful is linking Amazon to the Catalogue to show book reviews and using http://www.imdb.com/ linked to the catalogue for dvd reviews to give the Public extra information at this particular access point.
Week 9
Podcasts on your computer are like listening to radio on your Television Set, I wasn't quite getting its advantage. Unless I was missing something on my computer. Podcasts onto MP3 players, transferred to mobilephones etc of course make more sense to me and perhaps that is their point. Podcasts could be useful in the library arena for sight impaired people to have access to catalogue entries. The British Libary podcasts of Author reviews were interesting and could be linked to catalogue entries to give more information about certain items, however some to the podcasts on that site were around 83 minutes which would be time consuming. I was impressed with the library news on LibVibe which could be linked to a Library Blog to keep the public informed of current events. Podcasts could be effective in many ways on a Blog to break up the format of how the Library communicates to the Public. The Denver Public Library Picturebook reading podcasts were very cute and beautifully presented with the cover of the book shown to promote the item. There is also a gorgeous little song podcast on that site. I can see that this would be an excellent service to be able to provide to house-bound mums with small children and parents in outlying areas of a Library region who would not have regular access to the Library and its Children's Services. Worthington Library also has good podcast site called Programs to go: kids. Poetry or Magazine Articles or short text of this nature could also be provided in this manner.
Week 8
So this week we looked at Answer Boards which was interesting, however I have never had a problem finding any answers I need before just by googling my question and had not used Yahoo!7 Answers or anything like that previously. I do not work in Reference so am not really in a position to know what benefit it would have for the library for our Reference Librarians to respond to questions on Slamming the Boards or sites of that nature. The only response I can give to that question would be that having given a qualified answer to a question on a site like this perhaps it would save staff-time across the board because people would find the answer online and would not be walking into their local library asking the same question world-wide, then again that could be more of a disadvantage because those people are now not coming to their local library and are therefore not taking advantage of all the other wonderful services available to them at their Library. The other positive idea for Reference Librarians to respond to Slamming the Boards questions would be for practice, honing skills and getting a feel for what kind of questions the Public are asking out there in cyber world.
For the question - in what ways might your customers like to rate or review items in the collection or services you offer? I think customers might like to review books read and a Library Blog would be a great place to do that. I was really impressed with the David Lee King site that we looked at in Week 6 where there was an Anonymous Book Review link. I thought at the time that it would be a really fun and impacting way for the Public to be able to interact by reviewing what they had read.
For the question - in what ways might your customers like to rate or review items in the collection or services you offer? I think customers might like to review books read and a Library Blog would be a great place to do that. I was really impressed with the David Lee King site that we looked at in Week 6 where there was an Anonymous Book Review link. I thought at the time that it would be a really fun and impacting way for the Public to be able to interact by reviewing what they had read.
March 29, 2008
Week 7
Working with del.icio.us was interesting. Again I appreciate that I am undertaking this course at home in my own time as I find it takes me a long time to complete the projects. I got into a bit of a tangle signing into del.icio.us at one point but found that I could delete the first registration without any problem and was able to re-register properly the second time. Because I do Beading as a hobby I put in my Favourites List of Bead Supply Companies which will be useful to me to be able to pull up this list quickly to show friends at work or at their homes. Perhaps my list will be useful to other Beading people who use del.icio.us and perhaps I will have access to other sites that I have not previously found.
In the Library arena I can see that del.icio.us would be really useful to Staff who travel to different Library branches to work as they would be able to pull up their Favourites wherever they may be working. If I have understood this function correctly, the Library could have links to del.icio.us tags for subject headings on the catalogue supplying the public with access to websites applicable to the subject required.
Library Thing looks really useful for a small catalogue collection and it gives so many opportunities for more information about book titles, I can see that alot of home book collectors would be able to avail themselves to this website.
In the Library arena I can see that del.icio.us would be really useful to Staff who travel to different Library branches to work as they would be able to pull up their Favourites wherever they may be working. If I have understood this function correctly, the Library could have links to del.icio.us tags for subject headings on the catalogue supplying the public with access to websites applicable to the subject required.
Library Thing looks really useful for a small catalogue collection and it gives so many opportunities for more information about book titles, I can see that alot of home book collectors would be able to avail themselves to this website.
March 22, 2008
Week 6
So this wasn't work, this was fun. I was having such a good time looking through rock videos trying to choose something to add to this weeks Blog that quite some time passed and eventually my teenager looked across from where she was doing her homework and quite sternly said to me "Mum are you doing your homework or Just Listening to Rock Music?!" Chastened I quickly selected a favourite band to add.
The video I have chosen to embed in my Blog this week is of the New Zealand band False Start. It is their first official music video, Mall Goth. Check out this band, they are brilliant and they come out to Australia a couple of times a year.
There were so many applications for YouTube style video in library blogs that came to mind as I looked through this week's lesson. A colleague sent me a wonderful YouTube video by email and it can be viewed here. Also look at the other videos on offer on this page. There are some good Library themed ones.
In the Explore section of this weeks lesson I was really impressed with the David Lee King site under the search term Book Reviews in YouTube. The Anonymous Book Reviews looked like alot of fun and an excellent activity for the teenage section of the library. I can imagine it really taking on as a hands on, be involved activity on a Youth Blog for the library. The Guides to using Library Reference and Research Assistance was another application that I thought could be really beneficial to promoting the library to young people using technology that is relevant to their generation.
So far I have only spoken about the YouTube videos I accessed and this is because I found it so much more useful, quicker and easier to find relevant videos. The Google video site seemed less responsive and was limited in what it found especially when I asked the search to limit to Google hosted videos.
So that is it for Week 6 and so we move on to Tagging so lets learn something new.
The video I have chosen to embed in my Blog this week is of the New Zealand band False Start. It is their first official music video, Mall Goth. Check out this band, they are brilliant and they come out to Australia a couple of times a year.
There were so many applications for YouTube style video in library blogs that came to mind as I looked through this week's lesson. A colleague sent me a wonderful YouTube video by email and it can be viewed here. Also look at the other videos on offer on this page. There are some good Library themed ones.
In the Explore section of this weeks lesson I was really impressed with the David Lee King site under the search term Book Reviews in YouTube. The Anonymous Book Reviews looked like alot of fun and an excellent activity for the teenage section of the library. I can imagine it really taking on as a hands on, be involved activity on a Youth Blog for the library. The Guides to using Library Reference and Research Assistance was another application that I thought could be really beneficial to promoting the library to young people using technology that is relevant to their generation.
So far I have only spoken about the YouTube videos I accessed and this is because I found it so much more useful, quicker and easier to find relevant videos. The Google video site seemed less responsive and was limited in what it found especially when I asked the search to limit to Google hosted videos.
So that is it for Week 6 and so we move on to Tagging so lets learn something new.
March 21, 2008
Week 5
Moving into my 6th hour for today, trying to catch up a couple of weeks of the course. So far all very interesting and quite challenging to someone not very computer literate.
Wiki and Wikipedia, I thought I had a handle on this one, having used wikipedia a few times to quickly look up into about authors, movie stars and other general information at times. I was surprised at the difference in format that it can appear in and the useful purposes it has been put to.
I was impressed with the Antioch University of New England site that used wiki to list staff training and support for their library. It immediately struck me that it would be very useful for the library I am currently working at for staff training where new staff members are shown procedures in a team situation and it becomes confused who has shown the new staff member what. It would be so useful to have a site like this one dropdown on the computer screen so that training completed could be quickly noted so all know what has been shown and what needs yet to be done.
I was impressed with the SJCPL Subjects Guide wiki that provided a staff only time cost to provide a library site. I was always under the impression that a Library site would be a costly undertaking and yet this library has been able to produce something quite functional through the wiki page.
The Mint Museum, North Carolina site looked great, I thought all wiki style pages looked the same so I was impressed with its presentation.
The Booklovers wiki looked terrific it would be great to have a link to it on a Library web-page or Library Blog so that the library public could find it. Again the format was different to how I thought wikipedia type pages were set out. Colour and page layout looked impressive and far more professional than I had imagined.
Wookieepedia was more in line with what I considered a traditional wikipedia site to have as content and to look like. I perseived that wikipedia pages were for a groups of people with a shared interest such as Star Wars to share information and in a way debate what would be considered facts for their interest.
It was great to be able to show my teenager a web site that they did not know about with pbwiki.com that appears to provide many useful functions that I am sure will be accessed by said teenager in the future.
So it has been terrific to learn something new about a web feature I have used a few times and now I have even more to explore in Wiki and Wikipedia.
Wiki and Wikipedia, I thought I had a handle on this one, having used wikipedia a few times to quickly look up into about authors, movie stars and other general information at times. I was surprised at the difference in format that it can appear in and the useful purposes it has been put to.
I was impressed with the Antioch University of New England site that used wiki to list staff training and support for their library. It immediately struck me that it would be very useful for the library I am currently working at for staff training where new staff members are shown procedures in a team situation and it becomes confused who has shown the new staff member what. It would be so useful to have a site like this one dropdown on the computer screen so that training completed could be quickly noted so all know what has been shown and what needs yet to be done.
I was impressed with the SJCPL Subjects Guide wiki that provided a staff only time cost to provide a library site. I was always under the impression that a Library site would be a costly undertaking and yet this library has been able to produce something quite functional through the wiki page.
The Mint Museum, North Carolina site looked great, I thought all wiki style pages looked the same so I was impressed with its presentation.
The Booklovers wiki looked terrific it would be great to have a link to it on a Library web-page or Library Blog so that the library public could find it. Again the format was different to how I thought wikipedia type pages were set out. Colour and page layout looked impressive and far more professional than I had imagined.
Wookieepedia was more in line with what I considered a traditional wikipedia site to have as content and to look like. I perseived that wikipedia pages were for a groups of people with a shared interest such as Star Wars to share information and in a way debate what would be considered facts for their interest.
It was great to be able to show my teenager a web site that they did not know about with pbwiki.com that appears to provide many useful functions that I am sure will be accessed by said teenager in the future.
So it has been terrific to learn something new about a web feature I have used a few times and now I have even more to explore in Wiki and Wikipedia.
Week 4
It is just as well that I am doing this course at home in my own time as hours slipped past today as I added feeds to my Blogline account. I didn't know anything about RSS - Real Simple Syndication until today and am looking forward to my selected updates. Of course my first added feed was the Powerhouse Museum - photo of the day site. I also added the ABS Blog for Librarians, the Sydney Morning Herald Undercover Blog and 2 fellow colleagues learning with the NSW Libraries 2.o. One colleague seems to be working at the same pace as me and I thought it would be good to check in on their progress the other seems to have a real handle on the technology and I am interested in their comments. I also added several suggested sites on the Blogline sign up page, Book reviews, movie info and Librarian links.
RSS feeds would be useful in the Library arena set up for the public to keep them informed on current affairs, for students with relevant subjects and for the staff on many trade issues. The ABS site, book review sites and link to other libraries to be kept informed of what's new in the library world would all be useful ways for RSS to be used within the Library and information industry field.
RSS feeds would be useful in the Library arena set up for the public to keep them informed on current affairs, for students with relevant subjects and for the staff on many trade issues. The ABS site, book review sites and link to other libraries to be kept informed of what's new in the library world would all be useful ways for RSS to be used within the Library and information industry field.
Week 3
Well Hello fellow Blog colleagues! Having had a couple of weeks away it is good to get back to 2.o. So Week 3 is Flickr, this has been great. I also looked at photobucket which looked really useful too. There are so many facinating images to view on Flickr and what a great facility, with 3 photographers in the house I can see that it is something that will be useful on a personal basis to begin with. No more multiple discs around the house with backups of photos. For the library I can see it will be very useful to find images for promotional purposes, library enquiries and storing library photographs.
I really liked having a look at other library buildings, signage etc.
The photograph that I chose to put on my Blog was taken by a friend of my daughters, by a woman who lives in Manila. It is amazing to be able to share these photographic gems with people we have never met but know through the world wide web. The particular photo I have placed on my Blog is one that I found inspiring with its use of colour. It is actually stage lights that were being tested that the young woman photographed in this creative way.
Well I look forward to my next lesson and will post my next blog then.
February 23, 2008
Week 2
This is my first experience with blogging. Learning with the NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0 course will be a great start. Setting up the site has been challenging but I am looking forward to learning more and becoming better at facing the challenges of the internet. It will be an advantage to know more about blogs, websites and other functions of the internet as they are the way of the future and have many possiblities for libraries.
I have been searching through the web looking for blogs that can help inspire me in my own but its probably best to just do what seems best in my own opinion.
As a library technician I can see that branches of libraries each having their own blog, or creating linked ones, would be a great way to keep everyone informed of what is happening in our branch.
For a public access tool blogs could be useful to let the library clientel know of upcoming events, new booklists and any changes within our branch.
I have been searching through the web looking for blogs that can help inspire me in my own but its probably best to just do what seems best in my own opinion.
As a library technician I can see that branches of libraries each having their own blog, or creating linked ones, would be a great way to keep everyone informed of what is happening in our branch.
For a public access tool blogs could be useful to let the library clientel know of upcoming events, new booklists and any changes within our branch.
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