Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Moving House

Moved house and made sure everything would be easily found. Just spent all morning looking for the book that had my blogspot details. And where was it? Yes, exactly where I put it and easy to lay my hands on - not in the boxes in the garage, cupboard, study or miscellaneous drawers!!!!! Is this a symbol of self doubt, hmmmmmm!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Small library experience and blogging

Had my first experience of a small community library this week. A very different experience to that of the business-like city libraries. Informal, relaxed - everyone has time for a chat, and obviously news travels in a very personal fashion. It certainly reminded me of what it truly means to be human. We really have become slaves to the business model of doing things and lost some of our humanity and soul in the process. That is not to say that the staff of the city libraries are not friendly but more that everything is driven to fit a business model or system.

While there I learned that at one stage the library was to be closed down but the local community rallied and managed to keep it open. I thought that a library blog may have been useful in this instance for providing evidence of community interest and use of the library. Users could be encouraged to post a comment about why they felt it important to keep the library open, when & why they use the library, and what they value most about the library.

Because I have an education background I notice the homeschooling families coming in and some of their concerns. In particular parents often want reading guidance for their children. This is answered generally by floor staff who may or may not have the knowledge to pass on. I thought a blog for home schoolers could be useful in providing information about where they can find this information - useful reference tools in the library and online. Parents and children could make comments about materials/online sites/books that they have found useful or enjoyed. The library has a lot of useful materials that might be invisible to those who do not know they are there. I have taught for many years and until doing the Library and Information Management Course did not realise how much libraries have to offer - so I can relate to many who come in and have no idea where to look or what to look for.

The other group I have an interest in are the new english speakers. Somehow the library resources need to be made more accessible to this group. Blogging may be okay for those whose skills are up to it but some sort of regular library tour or information session could be useful in libraries that have high migrant populations. Maybe a special stand with "Learn English" and sheets with resources signposted. If near the service area staff could book people in for a library tour. From my experience these people (like all of us) benefit from hands on experiences - physically visiting and handling the materials, being shown the web sites that may be useful to them.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Online applications and tools

Week one of Test Drive 2, Part B surveys a number of online applications and tools

1. Survey Monkey - www.surveymonkey.com - create free surveys in minutes

2.
- Online apps and tools are inexpensive and free - don't do as much as software installed on your computer.
- only need a web browser + internet connection
- Zoho and Google Docs are a suite of online apps (services) that you sign up for and access from their websites. Free to individuals and some organisations. Docs are securely stored online and accessed using a password. = benefits - collect from anywhere and collaborate on docs.

3. Slideshare - sharing presentations and slide shows (www.slideshare.net/)
- add audio to make a slidecast
- Myplick (www.myplick.com/) upload slides and sync with audio.
- Zamzar (www.zamzar.com/) file converting eg. convert doc to pdf.

4. Webconferencing
- Web.Ex (http://webex.com/)
- Saba Centra (www.saba.com/products/central) Apps for hosting a Webinar or meeting with live video & audio, text chat, whiteboards, shared files & - many are costly.
Above apps offer alternatives to traditional meeting programs. = hold meetings between branches, reference consultations, library instruction, hosting Webinars, live interviews, collaborating with remote team members on projects.
- Dimdim (www.dimdim.com/) - open source, free -audio/video conferencing up to 20 people.
- Yugma (https://www.yugma.com/) - web conferencing/skype/ 10 people/free.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Wikis

Wikis - (Hawaiian term for quick)
Wikipedia is an example of this - an open shared space for collaborative editing where information can be changed or deleted by anyone. There is an expectation that this will be done responsibly. Sign up at:
  • pbwiki - http://pbwiki.com/ (for a fee)
  • @wiki - http://atwiki.com/ (free)
  • wetpaint - http://wetpaint.com (free)
Useful Wiki's
  • Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki http://libsuccess.org/index
this looks like a good source of information and features Meredith Farkas
www.libsuccess.org
  • Slq library 2.0: Emerging Media & New Technology Wiki (Wetpaint site)
http://slqlibrary2.wetpaint.com/
  • Blogging Libraries Wiki
www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links
http://wikis.ala.org/alsc
  • Workplace applications
Eg.1 Antioch Uni New England - Library staff Training and Support Wiki
www.seedwiki.com/wiki /antioch_university_new_england_library_staff_training_and_support_wiki/


Eg.2 futurelib - http://futurelib.pbworks.com/Examples
examples of possible next generation catalogs.

  • How to set up a wiki (open or closed models)
  1. install wiki software on a server at your institution (like website+email) or
  2. use service that hosts wiki for you like 'wetpaint'.
  • Useful Application
Could be used by self-help group to post useful sites, contacts and information. This
can be updated by those using the site when and where necessary. Will suggest this to daughter who may be starting up support group for parents of children with autism.

Online Photo Sharing

So we have a number of photo sharing communities:
  • Photobucket.com
  • Smugmug
  • Snapfish
  • Kodak Easy Share Gallery
  • Flickr.com
  • Web shots.com
I will have to set up a Flickr account - this is probably a more useful way of organising, archiving and sharing photos than Facebook which is what I have been using. I am a little conscious of the privacy thing and really do not want to have too much unnecessary information about myself on the net. The facebook friend thing can get a little out of control and occasionally I've had to delete items or persons: you cannot control what other people say.
I enjoyed the 'Burbank Library Bug digital Photo Contest' idea using Flickr.

www.commoncraft.com
This was an interesting site: I like brevity and I thought their 3 minute videos to help educators introduce complex subjects were very clever. Clean and simple - presenters can go overboard with entertaining gadgets and lose their message in the process.

The Commons
Objective to increase access to publicly held photo collections (Flickr/Library of Congress) and use tagging to contribute to information and knowledge. All images must have no known copyright restrictions. I used Flickr to search for photos of Wellington Point for a planned family get together. I wanted to see what sort of facilities they had out there. Found a whole lot of beautiful photos and managed to glean the information I needed.

Creative Commons - www.creativecommons.org/
photos can be shared, remixed, reused legally.

New Blog Address

Well, somehow I had the Licence2TestDrive as my URL. So I had to go to the Settings tab, then the publishing tab to put in a new URL. And in the process I have added to my Dashboard a blog written by my daughter (Bean's Bites) so I can follow her musings. She had access to 'The cutest blog on the block.com' and this provides her with interesting pictures, etc to add to her blog.

I have come to appreciate the usefulness of a blog after coming across a number of music related blogs on the weekend. I watched a DVD (from the local library, of course) of Leonard Cohen's live performance in London 2008. This was a master performance; the musicians that accompanied him were top notch so I began to look for stuff that they may have produced. You Tube featured prominently and I got to hear the Hallelujah song performed by many different artists. But occasionally I found a musician's blog - this featured personal information, musical collaborations, samples, video clips. Very useful!

Business Blog
If using the blog for business you need to register blog with Technorati (http://technorati.com/). Also with Google Adsense bars.
you can earn some advertising money.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Tagging

I wish I had understood this last year when first starting my Library and Information Management studies. The whole idea of social networking was relatively new and the terminology unfamiliar. If only... but now I understand that I can create a place on the web where I can store all those useful links that will be invaluable to me once I get a 'real job'. And I can check out what others may have found.

I have to tell you that I have begun so many of these potential lists in a new book each time, only to lose track of them or misplace the book. Now I have the answer to my problem!

Notes:
Folksonomies and Tagging
producing, commenting and classifying
- tagging allows keywords to associate with online content - thus considered a folksonomy, aka an unstructured catergorisation scheme.
- Library of Congress suubject headings (largest categorisation scheme on planet) is more formalised and considered a taxonomy.

Examples:
  • Del.icio.us http://delicious.com/ Allows save bookmarks to central location that can be accessed anywhere. (I could do this with my library reference material for future use).
It also offers a collaborative online reference where colleagues can add to it.
  • AskNow www.asknow.gov.au/delicious
Uses cloud for access to useful resources on the web ( I like this).
I like: www.bartleby.com/
Great books Online - Quotes, Poems, Novels, classics, etc.
Medical - www.mydr.com.au/
  • Library Thing - online catalogue of your personal book collection = social networking/tagging benefits. ( I have been using Library Thing to keep tabs of what I have been reading because I can rate it, post comments for my own benefit, and have all the publishing information at my fingertips because the site can do this automatically for you. The other useful thing I found was that some small/private libraries can use this as a means of cataloguing their collections.)
  • Shelfari www.shelfari.com create virtual shelf to show off your books + network.
  • Gurulib www.gurulib.com/ catalogue books, movies, music, games and software + connect + share (reviews, etc.)