THE END

WEEK 14!!!!!

Discover:

Just a quick message about the discover section. I am very much going to miss the videoclips from the Commoncraft people. They are so enjoyable and make things very easy to understand.

Explore:

The article is quite interesting and it brings up some quite good points. I Especially like the idea of the ability for social networks to utilise customer feed-back for development and innovation.

I very much linked the British Library’s Facebook account. The person who runs the sight makes their status updates entertaining to read and this gets people interested.


Social Networking

Facebook could be a good way of letting the public know about what’s going on at the library.

For example: Facebook offers an ‘Events’ application. In this someone (the Library) sets up a page for an event that is being held, and sends out invitations to people. This enables fast communication about up coming events.



WELL, I think that just about does it. I don’t think I have missed anything, but I shall go back and check over it all just to make sure.

The End of Week 13!!

I am so on a roll at the moment. I am so close to getting this course done. But first I have to finish of week 13.

Question:

In your blog consider possible applications for this in your work.

Answer:

I recently wrote procedures on how to do a particular aspect of my work. I could see how Google Docs could have been handy, as it would have allowed my supervisor and myself to work on the document together and not worry about the half-a-dozen attachments we sent to each other.

I have also heard of the system being used as a timline for particular projects. I like this. I haven't personally had to manage a project which involved others, however this is a tool I would consider using if I had to.

Just out of interest:

I set up to share a file from Google Docs with slnsw2.0@gmail.com . I am not sure if I have done it correctly.

Please let me know if I havn't and I shall attampt again.

Hello, hello.

Bellow should be the mashup I attempted last week as part of the Discover section.

I think it’s fairly self evident that it represents Honour & Integrity…. Na just kidding it’s Team work. It’s actually very hard to find an image that represents Integrity.
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I though that this week I will attempt to be adventurous. So below is me grappling with the Adventure section.




To the side is my adventure mashup. However I’m having a little trouble considering how I could use mashup’s in my work for the library. Personally I do not think at the moment I would be able to apply it to any of my daily tasks.



In a more general sense however I see how mashups could be used by the library for marketing and client education.

For example offering my mashup as an interactive feature on the Library’s website could get people in and at the very least looking around at the rest of the library’s website.

What I have just realised however is that the up coming marketing plan for the Library in 2010, OUT (???), utilises mashup’s. The alphabet that has been created out of images from the library’s collection is a wonderful example of a mashup and it looks quite cool when it’s in use!!

Week 12

Week 11.

Discover:

I’m a little bit amazed at the range of pod casts available. It’s even more amazing that they are available for free, there’s hours on entertainment here for me!!

Explore:

The Cheshire Public Library offers a space for young people to showcase new talent, discuss views and generally have a space in which to hear and be heard.
This would actually be a very important thing for the library to take up as one of the focuses of the Mitchell collection is to depict the everyday life of people in NSW. This type of endeavour would enable the views about everyday life to be captured for the collection. More importantly however it may be a way to get younger users into the library.


ASU Libraries host a number of 1 min clips which introduce users to different parts of the library and different services offered by the library. These are very informative while still being entertaining.

I think I may have suggested once before that our library should produce short engaging video clips which introduce people to the library. Now I am sure of that, especially after watching ASU Library’s information

Week 10

Week 10.

Very sorry for there being such a long break between posts… Wow I just looked at the date for the last post… 28th of May. I can’t believe I have left it that long.

Anyway, back to business.


Discover:

Answer Board Librarians

This is a wonderful site.

This type of system could be implemented at the library. If the library were to host an Answer board most of the library’s straight forward IR’s could be channelled through the Answer board.


Explore:

Consider is there a role for our library in “slamming the boards”?

The role of the state library in “slamming the boards” should be one of leadership in providing examples to other libraries and librarians in the new emerging formats that information requests can be made.

In what ways might our customers like to rate or review items in the collection or services you offer?

I have had the experience of helping clients and you offer what you think are the answers that they are looking for, however they give off signals that the information you are giving them is not quite right.
(This can be for a number of reasons, you misinterpreted the question, the client didn’t phrase it well, or they are actually not quite sure what they are looking for.)
However when this happens I try to clarify what they are after, but sometimes the client thanks me and moves away rather then repeating or clarifying their query.

Answer boards provides space and time for the client to consider the answer and decide on whether it answers their question.
It is also an easy way of getting that all important feedback about the quality of the reference request answers we are providing.

WEEK 8

Ok I could go home, but it’s raining quite heavily outside so I figure when would there be a better time to sit down and try to nut out the rest of the weeks lesson.


Del.isio.us

Discover #1
• So far for this week I have talked about Del.isio.us and its applications.
• I haven’t been able to add a link to my Blog but I shall be enlisting Newbie to come and show me how it’s done.
(Update: thank you very much to Newbie who came and showed me how to get the link happening It is now up and running on the blog).


Technorati

Discover #2

I had a go at searches. To be honest with you I found the results page a little bland. I didn’t know if the results had finished coming through because I didn’t think the background had fully loaded. Mind you I guess this is more of a visual thing.

In relation to other things, I found it helpful that the words the I had searched were highlighted underneath each result and showed which context they were found in. It helped me to understand why things had come up as results.

Oh and about the flicker images coming up as results to the search, I was more impressed with YouTube clips coming up. For some reason I didn’t really expect YouTube to come up.


LibraryThing

Oooooo…… For a time I really loved a very similar function on FaceBook.


(One week later)


I found that creating an account was a little difficult. It was very hit and miss in regards to finding a free user name. As you can imagine on a site like this “Bibliophile” was already taken.

Finding books that I have read was fun. However it was a little frustrating that I was unable to find several books, (all of which are classics!!!) that I tried to search for. It may have been that my spelling was a little off or a missed typing a letter, however I have found that searches which offer ‘auto spell check’ for search terms help curve user frustration.

There you go I just retried my search for “the hitch hiker’s guide to the galaxy” this time making sure that I didn’t leave out the all important second ‘a’ in ‘galaxy’. And in stead of receiving no hits, I received 67.

Apart from that I quite like LibraryThing. I might even have a play with it when I get home.

Finally I think I have concluded week eight.

Told you...

There you go that's proof that I have been trying to have a go at week eight for a while. After I posted the other day I started clearing out my folders and found this draft for a post that I worte on the...6th May (I had completely forgotten about it):

Week number 8.

Explore:

It wasn’t very hard to set up the account, although it would be nice to be able to install the tool bars.

I totally agree with the suggestion that this would be a wonderful way to store information for research advice.
It would save the librarian time in searching, they would be able to go straight to helpful pages. I can’t think of many other applications for the library though…

However if we compiled a list of helpful resources I suppose that we wouldn’t be able to make it public (?).

Sigh

Week eight….

I have attempted to do week eight several times now and I keep hitting a brick wall. So I am now going to make my self sit down and do it.

Nope still confused. I’m not sure how to get the Del.isio.us thing working on my blog.

First of all I just want to say… go the jitter bug dancing.



I did as the first discover activity for week 7 suggests, go and search for the library on YouTube.


I’ll tell you what I learnt… I would have so liked to be around when jitterbug was cool, cause that dancing looks like fun!!


Anyway on to more serious concerns.

Explore:Blog about your discoveries in both YouTube and Google video [hint try searching Mosman Library]. What possibilities can you think of for your organisation?

I like the guide to using the library. That is something that I think the State Reference Library could do with. A step-by-step video which walks clients through the process of finding the catalogue computers are, how to request books and where to pick them up.

I suggest this simply because when I work at the request desk I often have to go through my spiel (sp?) several times. Maybe if this information is online (and somewhere easy to find online) then clients would come to the library a little more prepared.

Another possibility would be maybe producing a video which introduces some of the staff to clients. Say grab a Librarian from Mitchell, one for SRL, a Library technician, Library assistant, and someone from security. Have each person introduce themselves and their role. Have them talk about how they are there to help the public and where you are likely to find them in the library (e.g. behind the desk, out roving, or at the entrance.) If this were posted on both the state library’s website it may give the library a more personable appearance.


Just to wind up I want to try the Adventure module and embed a video clip.

Here goes….. (Oh and I thought that I should include this video, because the start shows what I’m like when ever I go into the Mitchell reading room!!
However, I will warn those who are faint-of-heart not to watch from about half way through. While I sat there cringing I was also thinking… I know I’m going to end up doing something like that in the future!!!)

Woops sorry I should have put in a bit of an introduction of that post.

This is in answer to the Explore questions for week 6.

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

They appear to be a handy way to look at all the news that I want to catch up on. With the benefit that I don’t have to go to each individual site to see what is new. This is especially handy because I get frustrated when I go looking for something new and it turns out that there is nothing new. It saves me a lot of time.


What sites did you select for your RSS reader?

Ahhh….ABC News
Beyond the Button
Powerhouse Museum
Talking pistures (which I found on the SMH list)
and “nsentance web 2.0’s” blog


How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work?

I’m not sure about this one… I guess that it makes it possible to get the most up to date information.I think I’ll have to think about it


How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
By providing it the library would enable clients to find out what the latest news from the library is… Closures, events, etc. but they could also provide space for people to comment about material that they have used at the library.


Did you find any good examples of other library, or other relevant, blogs?

While I didn’t have a look at it when I added the RSS feeds, LibraryBytes is a really interesting blog. Not only does it offer information about new things, but it puts up thoughtful images, interesting video’s, and other such odds and ends. I think this is different to the other major blogs that we have looked at because it offers subscribers a rang of things. This blog keeps things interesting.

Which week are we up to now… Ahhh.. week 6.

Wow almost half way.

I am proud to announce that I have managed to do the RSS thing and I am now following several blogs through Google reader.

You know it really makes me wonder how my Boss’ think that I’m going to get any work done now that I have such easy access to news blogs and the like.

Mind you I did read in Mx (yes I do read that) the other week that employees who spend up to something like 20% of their time online surfing the net, are more productive, then those who don’t.

So hopefully catching up on Blogs counts as surfing the net.Any who, I shall make a more serious post when I have a bit more time (I have to run off and get my flu jab now!).

I thought that I better stop in and let you know that I have managed the first task with the RSS feeds

Hello again.

Well I do hope to complete week #4 today so I shall get down to it.

I must say though that in selecting the third Wiki to look at I realised that with a blog name like mine (Bibliophile) I could not go past the Book Lovers Wiki from the Princetown Public Library.

…


Well I’ve had a bit of a look at it and to be honest it seems a little anticlimactic.

The Wiki appears to be fairly small.

Conversely as the product of a public library I can understand that it would be better for it to be small and reflective of the community, rather then become a major Book reviewing site. I suppose that this Wiki serves as a reminder that Wiki’s are useful as both vehicle of mass and community centred communication.

Well that’s that task done! (Thankfully).

Now on to the next bit...

... I'm not sure if I can bring my self to edit the State Library Learning 2.0 Wiki.

Week #4



Right Wikis… Well I use Wikipedia whenever I have a general quarie, but apart from that I didn’t realise that there was more to wiki’s then just being a giant online dictionary / encyclopaedia.

I love the fact though that the German Wikipedia was more accurate then the german encyclopaedia.

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I so need to leave a post-it on my desk so that I can remember where I am up to with this program.

So anyway,

Discover task:

Wiki No. 1

Mint Museums etc…

I found it a little off-putting at first.

At the bottom of one of one of the info pages it said something along the lines of “you don’t have permission to comment on this page”. I got a little annoyed at first cause I thought ‘what was the difference between this and a normal web page?’. If the general public can’t comment and make changes to the pages then how is it different from a having a group run website?’.

However once I scrolled back to the top of the page and saw the option to edit the page I realised that the site just wants to to log into it’s system so as to stop bots (computer programs that sign up to systems or spread spam automatically) and the like.

I think my first reaction highlights the problems with facing a new incarnation of technology. Until you become familiar with them the new system it is very easy to get frustrated with it.


Wiki No.2

Wookieepedia

What can I say about wookieepedia?

Well it has enlitened me about the fact that there seems to be more to the Star Wars story then just the movies (which is kinda disturbing).

I like the Wiki though, it is easy to move between pages of information (via the hyperlinks) and I like pages that work like this.I think that’s one of the reasons the main Wikipedia pages is so popular. If you find the entry that you were looking for you can look at related pieces of information (with out having to go old school and look up information one topic at a time).

I think it resembles the way our own knowledge retrieval system (our brain) works. Our knowledge is part of a broader structure, this is part of that which is related to this’ and hyperlinks show and enable this. Where as word set down on a page are (as the Web 2.0 introduction video says) liner. Which I don’t think is how our mind functions (well my mind anyway… you know it probably explains why I’m so scattered most of the time).


Anyway must rust off for Mitchell training so I shall have to look at the third site next time.

Team Work!!!

Image of Energy

Hello Hello!

Well I have looked at flickr, which I must admit was quite interesting. I am having a serious think about joining and putting some of my photos up there.

I’ve been a good student too and gone in search of an image which reflects the library’s values. I picked the idea of Energy, though I realise now that they probably meant for us to look for energy and teamwork together… well if I get energised by my photo that I’m about to post then I may go and have a look for “team work” themed image.
You know now that I have looked at it again I am a little more energised, so I might go and find another image this time of tem work.

Oh yeah... I found it straight away. I think we all feel like this at times!!! I'll put it in the next post.

Hello! Hello!

Well this is my first post.

I have had a blog before but not one hosted with blogger. That account has long fallen into disuse (I wonder if it is still running?) so I will attempt to keep this one up to date.

I’ve had some experience with the web 2.0 features that this program will be going through, but I am far from an expert so I hope the next few weeks will be informative and interesting.

That’s about all for now,