And finally ... an unexpected delight was some of the security words generated when commenting on other blogs. A few of my favourites were:
hydromas
askind
mommulco
puffleen .... and the very last one for my very last post -
hunpoo
Boi
Sunday, December 19, 2010
At last ....
At last I've come to the end of the course. It's been a bunch of fun, I must say. It took a while to get my head around doing more assessment tasks just a few weeks after finishing uni for the year, but I have to say the last couple of weeks have been very valuable.
From being an occasional (very occasional) Facebooker, lapsed rss user and poor e-mail correspondent I have become a confident blogger and complete Twit!
I can see the value for many of the tools we've experienced for promoting library participation, reader services and our own professional development and am very glad to be working in a profession that is constantly looking forwards.
Information is our business afterall and using, finding, facilitating, navigating, providing etc etc information in all its myriad forms is what we do best. It's essential that we know what's available, how it's used and how best to use it as part of our work.
So thanks for the course, thanks to everyone for the fun blogs, tweets and videos you've all contributed. It's been fun. I'm now off to tweet my excitement at finishing, update my Library Thing book list, look for a new social bookmarking spot to go to, check for new feeds and pods and generally hangout in web2.0sville. See you there!
From being an occasional (very occasional) Facebooker, lapsed rss user and poor e-mail correspondent I have become a confident blogger and complete Twit!
I can see the value for many of the tools we've experienced for promoting library participation, reader services and our own professional development and am very glad to be working in a profession that is constantly looking forwards.
Information is our business afterall and using, finding, facilitating, navigating, providing etc etc information in all its myriad forms is what we do best. It's essential that we know what's available, how it's used and how best to use it as part of our work.
So thanks for the course, thanks to everyone for the fun blogs, tweets and videos you've all contributed. It's been fun. I'm now off to tweet my excitement at finishing, update my Library Thing book list, look for a new social bookmarking spot to go to, check for new feeds and pods and generally hangout in web2.0sville. See you there!
Library Cache
Geocaching looks like a hoot and it's now on my list of things to try. When I get a phone with GPS functionality ... hmmm, I have a friend with a new i-phone. Could be a nice day out/adventure.
For libraries it could be used to get people in initially or to visit some or all of a libraries branches - perhaps other than their home library. But having done it once participants will probably know what to expect or where to go in subsequent forays into the cache. So it could be a limited activity to be used occasionally.
On a smaller scale caching could be used as a school holiday activity in a larger library (with enough room to spread out)- particlularly fun if puzzle solving is involved.
If the library is in an area with a particular interest it could be undertaken in conjunction with the local business or community groups using a multi-cache (didn't know that word before this morning!) allowing stops as significant places - e.g. the library. Perhaps a heritage walk organised to highlight local landmarks as well as the local history collection.
Geocaching should be added to the fun promotional activities libraries undertake ... we're all about promoting community involvement and learning (and fun!) and offering people different ways being involved can't hurt.
For libraries it could be used to get people in initially or to visit some or all of a libraries branches - perhaps other than their home library. But having done it once participants will probably know what to expect or where to go in subsequent forays into the cache. So it could be a limited activity to be used occasionally.
On a smaller scale caching could be used as a school holiday activity in a larger library (with enough room to spread out)- particlularly fun if puzzle solving is involved.
If the library is in an area with a particular interest it could be undertaken in conjunction with the local business or community groups using a multi-cache (didn't know that word before this morning!) allowing stops as significant places - e.g. the library. Perhaps a heritage walk organised to highlight local landmarks as well as the local history collection.
Geocaching should be added to the fun promotional activities libraries undertake ... we're all about promoting community involvement and learning (and fun!) and offering people different ways being involved can't hurt.
Life in the pod ...
I discovered podcasts a couple of years ago and have found them incredibly useful. The thing I like most is being able to choose the time, place and subject of your listening/viewing. It's great to have a few things on the mp3 player or phone to watch or listen to when things get a bit boring. Like using public transport or (for me) going for a walk. With an interesting podcast I can just devour the miles. What I'd really like is waterproof player I can use when swimming - great exercise but unutterable dull!
My fave pods come from ABC Radio National - you can access The Philosophers' Zone from this blog - it's worth going to the website and browsing the programs. They're only 1/2 hr or an hour long, there's bound to be something of interest and with podcatching the show can download without any effort. Whack it on the player and you're away. Fantastic!
Libraries could offer podcasts of speakers or authors or storytellers etc who present at the library for those that aren't able to attend sessions or if sessions are filled. Audio versions of blogs or other info on the site could be podcast for sight impaired users to listen to. Local government could podcast procedings of council meetings, perhaps, and access to these might be available from the library site.
But like anything we do, it needs to be measurably effective and well used enough to justify the time and cost involved in setting up and maintaining it.
My fave pods come from ABC Radio National - you can access The Philosophers' Zone from this blog - it's worth going to the website and browsing the programs. They're only 1/2 hr or an hour long, there's bound to be something of interest and with podcatching the show can download without any effort. Whack it on the player and you're away. Fantastic!
Libraries could offer podcasts of speakers or authors or storytellers etc who present at the library for those that aren't able to attend sessions or if sessions are filled. Audio versions of blogs or other info on the site could be podcast for sight impaired users to listen to. Local government could podcast procedings of council meetings, perhaps, and access to these might be available from the library site.
But like anything we do, it needs to be measurably effective and well used enough to justify the time and cost involved in setting up and maintaining it.
Victor's Song
Hmmm - hoping this will work. I've found the embedding instructions a little sketchy but I can see You tube stuff on other blogs so it shouldn't be too difficult to master.
This is a scene from my favourite movie of all time - Local Hero. You'd have thought 25 years later something else would have taken it's place on my fave spectrum but no. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and I'm a giant dag who loves bad karaoke. What can I say - I just love the old guys in the corner!
This is a scene from my favourite movie of all time - Local Hero. You'd have thought 25 years later something else would have taken it's place on my fave spectrum but no. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and I'm a giant dag who loves bad karaoke. What can I say - I just love the old guys in the corner!
So online video for library use, I'm not sure yet. Having a snappy quirky or funny video with a tour of the library or instruction/information could get people in and it's fun - lets face it. But I'm not sure the space and time it takes up are valuable - at the moment. Videos would need to be short, very informative, relevant and above all - entertaining. People are inundated with stuff on screens and in video form. Finding something that stands out in a positive way would be the big problem. Not every amateur video producer creates outstanding memorable (for the right reason) video. And not everyone thinks the same thing is entertaining - case in point - Victor's Song which I happen to love.
Hope you enjoy Victor.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Facebook Follies
Having raved about Twitter I find I'm less enthusiastic about Facebook as a personal use site.
I've had an account for about 12 months and find I rarely use it - too much junk on there that's more than 150 odd characters.
Having said that, I can see the value for libraries having a presence on Facebook.
Just the sheer volume of people who use it and are comfortable accessing information and keeping informed through Facebook is a pretty compelling reason to use it to promote library stuff. Facebook can serve as a forum, an information provision tool, a reader advisory source and a promotional site - all FREE!
Readers and interested parties are familiar with its look, how it works and can contribute to or take from it as much or as little as they like. It's not a huge time consumer to maintain once set up and I think it's both cost and time effective as a service for us to offer. It's there, lots of people know about it, so why not use it?
I've had an account for about 12 months and find I rarely use it - too much junk on there that's more than 150 odd characters.
Having said that, I can see the value for libraries having a presence on Facebook.
Just the sheer volume of people who use it and are comfortable accessing information and keeping informed through Facebook is a pretty compelling reason to use it to promote library stuff. Facebook can serve as a forum, an information provision tool, a reader advisory source and a promotional site - all FREE!
Readers and interested parties are familiar with its look, how it works and can contribute to or take from it as much or as little as they like. It's not a huge time consumer to maintain once set up and I think it's both cost and time effective as a service for us to offer. It's there, lots of people know about it, so why not use it?
It's official - I'm a Twit
I wonder if Twit is the appropriate title for those who use Twitter. Frankly I don't care - I'm hooked.
One of the reasons I don't keep in touch with my mates regularly via electronica is that opening and scanning my e-mail or Facebook pages for relevant stuff is a bit of a time waster. I always manage to put it off for a couple of weeks and if I'm not going online for any other reason .... I just don't do it!
Now, through the marvel that is Twitter, I can rattle off a quick message and keep in touch between e-mails and phone calls. Quick and easy - and fun! Who wants to write a whole e-mail about one's thoughts on the state of Australian Cricket. Limiting the characters means I get succinct thoughts out to my masses of fans.
On a less than personal note, Twitter can be used by libraries to keep library communities abreast of events, titles, programs and even send reminders. Something like "Don't forget we'll be closed between Christmas and New Year. Have a safe and happy holiday "
As professionals who are continually networking we can send links to relevant info quickly without interrupting the recipient. We can comment on issues that affect us and communicate with a large group of our peers. It's there easily accessible for interested parties who are following our organisation. I like the function to have tweets to your phone - keeping up to date wherever you are!
Yes, I am a Twit - and proud of it!
One of the reasons I don't keep in touch with my mates regularly via electronica is that opening and scanning my e-mail or Facebook pages for relevant stuff is a bit of a time waster. I always manage to put it off for a couple of weeks and if I'm not going online for any other reason .... I just don't do it!
Now, through the marvel that is Twitter, I can rattle off a quick message and keep in touch between e-mails and phone calls. Quick and easy - and fun! Who wants to write a whole e-mail about one's thoughts on the state of Australian Cricket. Limiting the characters means I get succinct thoughts out to my masses of fans.
On a less than personal note, Twitter can be used by libraries to keep library communities abreast of events, titles, programs and even send reminders. Something like "Don't forget we'll be closed between Christmas and New Year. Have a safe and happy holiday "
As professionals who are continually networking we can send links to relevant info quickly without interrupting the recipient. We can comment on issues that affect us and communicate with a large group of our peers. It's there easily accessible for interested parties who are following our organisation. I like the function to have tweets to your phone - keeping up to date wherever you are!
Yes, I am a Twit - and proud of it!
Friday, December 17, 2010
I love Library Thing - No, Really I Do!
An air of calm has descended and all is right with the world. I have a widget - Yay!
Library ****ngthang!
I have spent hours (well tens of minutes) searching for my favourites/interests on Library Thing. And checking out the likes of random others. Much fun to be had - only to be frustrated by not being able to get a widgethingy on my blog so I can show all my fans my favourite stuff. Perseverence and patience required. My cause is not helped by using an unfamiliar computer with Safari for its browser. Where did all my tabs go??? Moving from page to page is not easy. >: /
Library thing must seem like a blissful place for library types. We could put up a wishlist with titles our readers request or we could add our new items. Put a widget on our webpage to display them. Just as we put up a board in the library with staff reads or list staff picks on the web page, we can offer suggestions by listing our choices via the widget. And let's face it - it's just plain fun to use.
As for delicious - that's a nice tool. As a presenter of Storytime I often ask for crafty/kiddy sites that my colleagues may have visited so using this I could find 'em easily - and put up a few of my own faves for others to peruse. Noice.
We can share information about relevant developments in professional issues with our colleagues. Using Delicious, one person can undertake research and share it with lots. Also noice. But as Delicious enters it's denoument we'll just have to find another bookmarking site to use. I like the sound of "reddit" but have yet to try it.
Library thing must seem like a blissful place for library types. We could put up a wishlist with titles our readers request or we could add our new items. Put a widget on our webpage to display them. Just as we put up a board in the library with staff reads or list staff picks on the web page, we can offer suggestions by listing our choices via the widget. And let's face it - it's just plain fun to use.
As for delicious - that's a nice tool. As a presenter of Storytime I often ask for crafty/kiddy sites that my colleagues may have visited so using this I could find 'em easily - and put up a few of my own faves for others to peruse. Noice.
We can share information about relevant developments in professional issues with our colleagues. Using Delicious, one person can undertake research and share it with lots. Also noice. But as Delicious enters it's denoument we'll just have to find another bookmarking site to use. I like the sound of "reddit" but have yet to try it.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wonderfull Wiki World
And so the world of wiki has been opened up to me. The only other experience of wikis I've had is the ubiquitous Wikipedia (haven't we all) which I use to find bits of information and advise my daughter NOT to use for school assignments. (Oh, well - maybe just to find other sources).
So wiki's can be used for updating info among a selected group - for libraries our patrons who might want to include reviews, local information updates, compliments for library staff - in lieu of chocolate? p'raps not.
Or for staff - I'd like to have a wiki for staff picks so we can update regularly with info about the books we're reading.
Or they can be open for all - but I'm not sure how that would work in a community setting like a public library.For a wiki-illiterate like me it seems a bit scary opening up a local page for the WHOLE WIDE WORLD to access. Having said that, interest levels would probably be low among those outside the library's community of borrowers and staff.
The plan now is to explore the wiki world a little more over the summer. Some friends and I are planning the first meeting of a philosophy club (as opposed to a book club) where we can explore some ethical and philosophical ideas at our own pace, in a comfy place, with wine and food (of course!).
In the first flush of wikiexcitement I've created a place in wetpaint where we can write our own ideas, review books, suggest resources, plan and record the outcomes of our meetings. The potential is there to build on our understanding of the ideas we talk about when .... or we could just to review the wine we have with our philosophy.
Hmmm ... I wonder if Voltaire would go with a nice verdelho ....
So wiki's can be used for updating info among a selected group - for libraries our patrons who might want to include reviews, local information updates, compliments for library staff - in lieu of chocolate? p'raps not.
Or for staff - I'd like to have a wiki for staff picks so we can update regularly with info about the books we're reading.
Or they can be open for all - but I'm not sure how that would work in a community setting like a public library.For a wiki-illiterate like me it seems a bit scary opening up a local page for the WHOLE WIDE WORLD to access. Having said that, interest levels would probably be low among those outside the library's community of borrowers and staff.
The plan now is to explore the wiki world a little more over the summer. Some friends and I are planning the first meeting of a philosophy club (as opposed to a book club) where we can explore some ethical and philosophical ideas at our own pace, in a comfy place, with wine and food (of course!).
In the first flush of wikiexcitement I've created a place in wetpaint where we can write our own ideas, review books, suggest resources, plan and record the outcomes of our meetings. The potential is there to build on our understanding of the ideas we talk about when .... or we could just to review the wine we have with our philosophy.
Hmmm ... I wonder if Voltaire would go with a nice verdelho ....
Thursday, December 2, 2010
RSS Blog
I like RSS. I have a couple of pods I've subscribed to in the past using a different aggregator - Bloglines. It was especially good for ensuring I had plenty of listening material to load onto the old MP3 for walking.
This year things have been pretty hectic and I've discovered audiobooks. So less walking and less need for listening so my visits to Bloglines have wained ... well stopped, really.
Doing this course has re-ingnited my urge to subscribe to stuff so I thought I'd have a look at my old account. Imagine my surprise when I opened it to find not only hundreds of items waiting for me to view (ack), but a notice advising me that the whole thing was closing down for good in TWO days. So I noted the ones I wanted to keep up and popped them into the Gmail reader. A couple of my favourites are now on my own blog for all to see. What a great way to make info available to others!
What I like the most about RSS is being able to have everything I might like to listen to, read or comment on in one place so when I have time to sit and go through (I try to do it once a week now, not once a year!) I can see all my feeds and the blogs I like in one go.
The other really GREAT thing is that podcasts which might only be available for a short time are still there for me to download without having to dig around in the bowels of a website's archive to find them.
It also means I get to select the info I want to know about - for libraries patrons that might be new book bulletins or events information - but not info I don't need. So I'd rather subscribe to an RSS feed than an e-newsletter which arrives into my inbox unannounced only to be promptly deleted!
Miss
This year things have been pretty hectic and I've discovered audiobooks. So less walking and less need for listening so my visits to Bloglines have wained ... well stopped, really.
Doing this course has re-ingnited my urge to subscribe to stuff so I thought I'd have a look at my old account. Imagine my surprise when I opened it to find not only hundreds of items waiting for me to view (ack), but a notice advising me that the whole thing was closing down for good in TWO days. So I noted the ones I wanted to keep up and popped them into the Gmail reader. A couple of my favourites are now on my own blog for all to see. What a great way to make info available to others!
What I like the most about RSS is being able to have everything I might like to listen to, read or comment on in one place so when I have time to sit and go through (I try to do it once a week now, not once a year!) I can see all my feeds and the blogs I like in one go.
The other really GREAT thing is that podcasts which might only be available for a short time are still there for me to download without having to dig around in the bowels of a website's archive to find them.
It also means I get to select the info I want to know about - for libraries patrons that might be new book bulletins or events information - but not info I don't need. So I'd rather subscribe to an RSS feed than an e-newsletter which arrives into my inbox unannounced only to be promptly deleted!
Miss
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