This week's activities have prompted me to sign up for Facebook, a site which I have been meaning to check out for many months now. So many of the Young Adults and people in their twenties who visit our library use this sight (or Bebo or MySpace) and I have been really curious as to what all the hype is about.
So I am really grateful to this Libraries Learning program for prompting me to look more into social networking sites as I think there will be much value for me in understanding how they work. Yes, I can see the obvious benefits of a Library using MySpace or Facebook for communicating with users, posting information about upcoming events, posting photos of exhibitions, receiving feedback from the public and having more of an online presence, but personally I think one of the greatest benefits will be knowing how to use these sites so that I can talk to the youth in our library and not appear completely out of touch. In this way I can work towards breaking down the stereotype of the dull and boring librarian. How nice it would be if we were all seen to be cool and 'in thek know', and able to speak the language of the majority of our online users. As I explore Facebook some more over the coming weeks I will defintely share what I have learnt with fellow colleagues and encourage them to also find out for themselves why these sites are so popular.
One other thought I had was that with such a focus on web 2.0 technologies and meeting people in the online environment, I suppose we need to be mindful that we do not neglect all of our valued customers who prefer to visit the library in person, and that we make as much of an effort to be innovative in the way that we engage with them in all of the activities we offer.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wow something for free!!!
Well I've just discovered Google Docs for the first time - Wow! I can't believe the range of tools available - all for free. I'm kicking myself because not so long ago I purchased some software to use at home that operates like Microsoft Office (but costs around half the price). Now I wish I had of known about Google Docs - I could have been word processing to my little hearts content... without having spent a cent.
The number of tools available in Google Docs that could be used in the Library environment is amazing. I can easily see our Branch staff using the Event Management tool to plan some of our larger promotional events, the team holiday calendar to plan annual leave, and a yearly calendar along with notes relating to the activities we have planned for our @ your library months. I think Google Docs would be great for giving input to, and editing draft versions of Dress Codes, Annual Plans, Customer Service Charters etc especially for country libraries where staff in branches might be spread many kilometers apart. Rather than waiting for all branch staff to come together in one place, the use of Google Docs would make creating these documents quite a simple process I would think. I can also see advantages in using the online 'to do list' personally as I won't have to try and keep track of the endless lists I have scrawled down on little bits of paper.
I also converted a doc file to a pdf file, which I was very pleased about, as sometimes community organisations ask for copies of promotional flyers to be emailed to them as pdf files. Now that I know how easy this is, I can do it myself, and not rely on others to do it for me.
I love Libraries Learning 2.0. This is great stuff... I'm very sad it's coming to an end soon.
The number of tools available in Google Docs that could be used in the Library environment is amazing. I can easily see our Branch staff using the Event Management tool to plan some of our larger promotional events, the team holiday calendar to plan annual leave, and a yearly calendar along with notes relating to the activities we have planned for our @ your library months. I think Google Docs would be great for giving input to, and editing draft versions of Dress Codes, Annual Plans, Customer Service Charters etc especially for country libraries where staff in branches might be spread many kilometers apart. Rather than waiting for all branch staff to come together in one place, the use of Google Docs would make creating these documents quite a simple process I would think. I can also see advantages in using the online 'to do list' personally as I won't have to try and keep track of the endless lists I have scrawled down on little bits of paper.
I also converted a doc file to a pdf file, which I was very pleased about, as sometimes community organisations ask for copies of promotional flyers to be emailed to them as pdf files. Now that I know how easy this is, I can do it myself, and not rely on others to do it for me.
I love Libraries Learning 2.0. This is great stuff... I'm very sad it's coming to an end soon.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Mashups
I can certainly see the relevance of mashups in our libraries for local history projects in particular (like mapping significant historical buildings or adding voice threads to photos of items in online exhibitions). I can also see how Big Huge Labs could be used for creating cool promotional items. I really enjoyed this website and will revisit it to explore it further. I can't believe how easy it was to create my cool little calendar below. Prior to NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0 I would never have known that tools like this are freely available on the net.
Because Readers Advisory work is the favourite part of my day as a Librarian I started thinking how mashups could be applied to RA. I would love to see a mashup that maps books set in different countries, as I sometimes have inquiries from people who have travelled or lived in a particular country who want to follow up with a book set in that same country. Another mashup might map authors from various countries - in RA work you often have people wanting Australian or English or Indian authors etc so again I think this sort of thing would be interesting to look at on a world map. Maybe they already exist? I know I don't have the technological know-how to create one yet but maybe with a little bit more exploration and research I can give it a go!
Because Readers Advisory work is the favourite part of my day as a Librarian I started thinking how mashups could be applied to RA. I would love to see a mashup that maps books set in different countries, as I sometimes have inquiries from people who have travelled or lived in a particular country who want to follow up with a book set in that same country. Another mashup might map authors from various countries - in RA work you often have people wanting Australian or English or Indian authors etc so again I think this sort of thing would be interesting to look at on a world map. Maybe they already exist? I know I don't have the technological know-how to create one yet but maybe with a little bit more exploration and research I can give it a go!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Podcasts
The use of podcasts in our library would be great for notifiying parents of school holiday program activities. We currently use mailing lists and send out many flyers advising parents of the different activities - this takes a lot of staff and volunteer time maintaining the databases, folding flyers and stuffing envelopes. How easy it would make things if we could just direct people to our website with a link to a podcast. I'm sure most of the parents and children would really enjoy receiving news and information in this format.
I think podcasts would also work really well with the general adult population for short broadcasts of news about events at the library (similar to the podcast from LibVibe). We already have a regular spot on local radio which reaches a lot of the older people in our community - I suppose it wouldn't be difficult to record this same information for a podcast.
I would be very interested to read any comments from library staff who have embraced web 2.0 technology at their libraries, and in particular how the older generation have responded to it - I could imagine that older people with some grasp of Internet technology might enjoy listening to a podcast, but posting photos to Flickr, or contributing information to a Book Lovers Wiki... I'm not so sure???? I would be very pleased to read this is not the case, but my feeling is that it might be predominantly children and teenagers in your community that have responded to your library blogs and viewed your YouTube videos etc. Any thoughts???
I think podcasts would also work really well with the general adult population for short broadcasts of news about events at the library (similar to the podcast from LibVibe). We already have a regular spot on local radio which reaches a lot of the older people in our community - I suppose it wouldn't be difficult to record this same information for a podcast.
I would be very interested to read any comments from library staff who have embraced web 2.0 technology at their libraries, and in particular how the older generation have responded to it - I could imagine that older people with some grasp of Internet technology might enjoy listening to a podcast, but posting photos to Flickr, or contributing information to a Book Lovers Wiki... I'm not so sure???? I would be very pleased to read this is not the case, but my feeling is that it might be predominantly children and teenagers in your community that have responded to your library blogs and viewed your YouTube videos etc. Any thoughts???
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Answer boards
Wow - aren't these great tools and what an amazing variety of questions. Answerboards seem like a great way to promote the skills of librarians - I thought this was especially evident in questions like the one posted about landscaping. Some of the answers from the general public (like "lots of pink flamingos" and "plants bushes and stuff") were just comical and useless to say the least compared to the considered answer of the librarian, complete with internet links which would have real benefit for the person posing the question. I also liked the suggestions from the librarians to "visit your local library." This would certainly bring public libraries into the forefront of people's minds (oh yeah, haven't visited the library in a while.... maybe I should go and see if it has a book on...). A suggestion like this might also draw people into the library who wouldn't normally visit.
There would certainly be benefits to the general library community for librarians like myself to "slam the boards", but I don't know that management would allow me the time for this type of activity, given that people from all over the world might be reading my answers (and not necessarily the people in my local community). In other words there may not be any direct outcomes for our library service. And in a branch library where we need to be multiskilled to cope with all of the different roles and responsibilities we have, I honestly don't believe we have enough time to slam the boards (especially if it doesn't result in some measurable outcome). In my own time though, yes, I would be encouraged to have a go at answering some questions and promoting our professional skills.
Our library is currently undergoing a review of our website and I would love to see some of the web 2.0 technology that we've explored in this program utilised. I wonder where one would start though - the development of a wiki, posting photos of items in the local studies collection to Flickr, saving Reference favourites to Del.icio.us., podcasts of our school holiday program activities... hmm.. would be a hard decision when it is all so exciting and when it has so much potential for reaching so many people out there in cyberland.
There would certainly be benefits to the general library community for librarians like myself to "slam the boards", but I don't know that management would allow me the time for this type of activity, given that people from all over the world might be reading my answers (and not necessarily the people in my local community). In other words there may not be any direct outcomes for our library service. And in a branch library where we need to be multiskilled to cope with all of the different roles and responsibilities we have, I honestly don't believe we have enough time to slam the boards (especially if it doesn't result in some measurable outcome). In my own time though, yes, I would be encouraged to have a go at answering some questions and promoting our professional skills.
Our library is currently undergoing a review of our website and I would love to see some of the web 2.0 technology that we've explored in this program utilised. I wonder where one would start though - the development of a wiki, posting photos of items in the local studies collection to Flickr, saving Reference favourites to Del.icio.us., podcasts of our school holiday program activities... hmm.. would be a hard decision when it is all so exciting and when it has so much potential for reaching so many people out there in cyberland.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Delicious... and no I'm not talking about food
Have a look at some of my favorite websites on Del.icio.us
How wonderful is the AskNow's use of Del.icio.us to bookmark useful websites for answering reference questions! I could very easily see this site being used in our library for the same purpose. In the last twelve months or so our PC at the Information Desk died and there was some difficulty retrieving our "favourites." I guess with the use of Delicious this wouldn't be a problem. It would also be very handy to be able to access favourite websites from multiple computers at the same time (convenient if the Information Desk is being used). And it would save time adding favourites in one place, rather than having to update several PC's.
Now that I know about Del.icio.us I will also use this site for my personal use. In the last few days I added favourites to my work computer, and then did the same at home. Now, thanks to this wonderful thing called Del.icio.us, it will be a much simpler process.
I found adding the link to Del.icio.us quite straightforward - I found the Blogger Help pages gave clear instructions. Just click on this link for help....
How wonderful is the AskNow's use of Del.icio.us to bookmark useful websites for answering reference questions! I could very easily see this site being used in our library for the same purpose. In the last twelve months or so our PC at the Information Desk died and there was some difficulty retrieving our "favourites." I guess with the use of Delicious this wouldn't be a problem. It would also be very handy to be able to access favourite websites from multiple computers at the same time (convenient if the Information Desk is being used). And it would save time adding favourites in one place, rather than having to update several PC's.
Now that I know about Del.icio.us I will also use this site for my personal use. In the last few days I added favourites to my work computer, and then did the same at home. Now, thanks to this wonderful thing called Del.icio.us, it will be a much simpler process.
I found adding the link to Del.icio.us quite straightforward - I found the Blogger Help pages gave clear instructions. Just click on this link for help....
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
And for all the other chocolate lovers out there
.......try this recipe for chocolate brownies:
Wow - what an exercise. I found embedding a YouTube video easy but embedding a Google video was a completely different story. Couldn't find the "Embed Video" link for the life of me. Consulted Google help and comments from other NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0 participants but still couldn't find that link that I needed. Then suddenly it appeared next to the video clip. Not sure why - think it must have appeared after the clip had finished playing.... this is the only explanation I can come up with. From there it was easy.
How cool was the video "QandANJ: Now Your Library is Open Late Night Too." Very clever. I think it would be very cool to post videos of our library activities on YouTube. I'm sure videos of our most successful library events would appeal to some of our non-library users and encourage them to come along and take part in some of the fun themselves. Videos of storytime, school holiday activities (eg. Jam sessions, Trivia Nights), family fun days, and other @ your library events (eg. Library Lovers Day, Murder Mystery Nights) would surely draw more people into the library. Who wouldn't want to be a part of fun like that! Video might also be a good medium for instructing users how to use the catalogue and databases etc but YouTube mightn't be the best medium for this. I tend to think the more novel videos like the State Library of Queensland building project would be better suited to YouTube or Google video, and to breaking down stereotypes of libraries as boring places.
Wow - what an exercise. I found embedding a YouTube video easy but embedding a Google video was a completely different story. Couldn't find the "Embed Video" link for the life of me. Consulted Google help and comments from other NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0 participants but still couldn't find that link that I needed. Then suddenly it appeared next to the video clip. Not sure why - think it must have appeared after the clip had finished playing.... this is the only explanation I can come up with. From there it was easy.
How cool was the video "QandANJ: Now Your Library is Open Late Night Too." Very clever. I think it would be very cool to post videos of our library activities on YouTube. I'm sure videos of our most successful library events would appeal to some of our non-library users and encourage them to come along and take part in some of the fun themselves. Videos of storytime, school holiday activities (eg. Jam sessions, Trivia Nights), family fun days, and other @ your library events (eg. Library Lovers Day, Murder Mystery Nights) would surely draw more people into the library. Who wouldn't want to be a part of fun like that! Video might also be a good medium for instructing users how to use the catalogue and databases etc but YouTube mightn't be the best medium for this. I tend to think the more novel videos like the State Library of Queensland building project would be better suited to YouTube or Google video, and to breaking down stereotypes of libraries as boring places.
Go Wikis!
At last I know what a Wiki is!!! I've used Wikipedia many times but never realised it was a "Wiki," or how easy it is to edit Wikipedia articles. I was very surprised to learn that anybody can edit without having to even log in.
Also found it very interesting that the German language version of Wikipedia was more accurate than the leading German language encyclopedia!! This made me stop and reflect on the times that I have neglected to use Wikipedia as an information source for library patrons, given that I didn't think that it was reliable. Perhaps now, instead of being so quick to reject it as an information source, I can show patrons information contained in Wikipedia (along with other sources) and explain some its strengths and weaknesses. I also really enjoyed the "Information Today" article for all of the different viewpoints it highlighted.
I would like to try creating a Wiki for our book club though I'm not sure how receptive the predominantly older people in our book club would be to posting book reviews on a Wiki themselves. (Yes I know, very stereotypical but I do believe this would be the case). Maybe I would have to post the book reviews on the Wiki myself or introduce it to our young adult library members who may also like to post book reviews during school holidays. I like the idea of a Wiki for staff use too, especially for event planning where people in different branches could brainstorm and post their ideas for others to build on. A Wiki, used as a repository for policy and procedures and other documents for staff use, would also benefit staff at smaller branches who may not have access to a common drive. I guess the possibilities are endless.....
Also found it very interesting that the German language version of Wikipedia was more accurate than the leading German language encyclopedia!! This made me stop and reflect on the times that I have neglected to use Wikipedia as an information source for library patrons, given that I didn't think that it was reliable. Perhaps now, instead of being so quick to reject it as an information source, I can show patrons information contained in Wikipedia (along with other sources) and explain some its strengths and weaknesses. I also really enjoyed the "Information Today" article for all of the different viewpoints it highlighted.
I would like to try creating a Wiki for our book club though I'm not sure how receptive the predominantly older people in our book club would be to posting book reviews on a Wiki themselves. (Yes I know, very stereotypical but I do believe this would be the case). Maybe I would have to post the book reviews on the Wiki myself or introduce it to our young adult library members who may also like to post book reviews during school holidays. I like the idea of a Wiki for staff use too, especially for event planning where people in different branches could brainstorm and post their ideas for others to build on. A Wiki, used as a repository for policy and procedures and other documents for staff use, would also benefit staff at smaller branches who may not have access to a common drive. I guess the possibilities are endless.....
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Feed Me..... Chocolate!
Well, I was surprised to find that it was quite easy to set up my bloglines account and RSS feeds - I simply pasted the URL of some general library-related blogs into the reader... so this process seems to have been pretty straightforward.
I'm still pondering how beneficial RSS feeds will be to me.... I wonder whether they will contribute to a feeling of "information overload"..... as a result of all of these snippets of information coming directly to me everyday - they seem a bit like subscribing to e-lists I think. I suppose the key will be to set up feeds from a few quality sites rather than feeds from a great number of blogs and sites which contain information and updates that mightn't be very useful to me in my day-to-day work. I'm keen to follow through and explore this further though, as I'm sure that with some more experience using RSS feeds I'll probably become more accepting of this new technology.
Oh and by the way... an interesting article I stumbled across which I thought was very relevant to Week 3's learning was Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services by Darlene Fichter at http://www.infotoday.com/mls/nov03/fichter.shtml - I'm going to have a look at some of the libraryland blogs listed - when I can find some time!
I'm still pondering how beneficial RSS feeds will be to me.... I wonder whether they will contribute to a feeling of "information overload"..... as a result of all of these snippets of information coming directly to me everyday - they seem a bit like subscribing to e-lists I think. I suppose the key will be to set up feeds from a few quality sites rather than feeds from a great number of blogs and sites which contain information and updates that mightn't be very useful to me in my day-to-day work. I'm keen to follow through and explore this further though, as I'm sure that with some more experience using RSS feeds I'll probably become more accepting of this new technology.
Oh and by the way... an interesting article I stumbled across which I thought was very relevant to Week 3's learning was Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services by Darlene Fichter at http://www.infotoday.com/mls/nov03/fichter.shtml - I'm going to have a look at some of the libraryland blogs listed - when I can find some time!
Loving It!
I found this great picture of the water fountain near the Sydney Olympic Park on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/serdar/78791452/
The image brings back some wonderful memories of the time I visited the Sydney Olympics. I was lucky enough to be a spectator at a volleyball match - it was fascinating to see the athletes in action and the atmoshpere in the stadium was just electric. It was also really amazing to think that I was watching the world's best right infront of me!
As for my learning this week, I have thoroughly enjoyed Week 3's activities and I am now considering how our activities for our library promotions in September might be able to tie in with Flickr (like the photographic competition for teens at Lansing Pubilc Library). There are obviously so many opportunities for libraries to promote themselves and their collections with these types of photosharing tools - opportunities which I really had not considered much before so this training is really 'broadening my horizons'.
I've also enjoyed learning how I can apply this knowledge in my personal life - I love my digital camera and I would love to share some of my photos with family and friends on Flickr. I too, have reservations about making them accessible to the public though.
Now... here's hoping my image from Flickr uploads to my blog...
The image brings back some wonderful memories of the time I visited the Sydney Olympics. I was lucky enough to be a spectator at a volleyball match - it was fascinating to see the athletes in action and the atmoshpere in the stadium was just electric. It was also really amazing to think that I was watching the world's best right infront of me!
As for my learning this week, I have thoroughly enjoyed Week 3's activities and I am now considering how our activities for our library promotions in September might be able to tie in with Flickr (like the photographic competition for teens at Lansing Pubilc Library). There are obviously so many opportunities for libraries to promote themselves and their collections with these types of photosharing tools - opportunities which I really had not considered much before so this training is really 'broadening my horizons'.
I've also enjoyed learning how I can apply this knowledge in my personal life - I love my digital camera and I would love to share some of my photos with family and friends on Flickr. I too, have reservations about making them accessible to the public though.
Now... here's hoping my image from Flickr uploads to my blog...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Welcome to my blog!
I am looking forward to this journey into the Public Libraries Learning 2.0 program so very much. I can't wait to learn about all of the technologies that I see and hear others using, especially the young teens in our public library. I feel so 'behind the times' when it comes to knowing about things like podcasts, Flickr and social networking sites and I am very excited about the opportunity to become familiar with all of these sites and technologies and to be more 'intouch' with our younger generation and their activities on the internet.
I loved the examples of blogs provided - I haven't really explored any blogs before though I had a basic understanding of the concept of blogging. Now having seen a couple of library blogs I am going to search for some more that relate to books and reading promotion, as this is my greatest passion. What a great opportunity for an online book discussion for all of our patrons who are unable to access our regular daytime book club!
I loved the examples of blogs provided - I haven't really explored any blogs before though I had a basic understanding of the concept of blogging. Now having seen a couple of library blogs I am going to search for some more that relate to books and reading promotion, as this is my greatest passion. What a great opportunity for an online book discussion for all of our patrons who are unable to access our regular daytime book club!
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