Social networks

Facebook and its like could be used to wrap up and showcase just about everything that we have covered over the last 12 weeks.

Library serices, service points and specific library groups (like bookclubs etc) could use it to:

• blog about how wonderous we are
• show photos & videos of what we do, what we plan to do, and where and who we are
• create RSS feeds to share new, up-to-date info
• link Wikis etc to relevant areas (like homework/assignment help)
• show our LibraryThing bookshelves for reader advisory
• help others (both our own public and people far away) by using answer boards to solve challenging questions
• have podcasts and vodcasts linked in for even more ways to share information
• create mashups to make it all so very pretty

If of couse Facebook can't show/link to all of these types of things, well it should

Done and cheers

Google Docs and Zoho

Well, this is pretty great - no more attachments to go missing, fail being saved, crash and burn etc. Finaly there is a secure way to share documents with as many or as few as you need

In libraries there are applications for things like online progressive story writing for competitions and writing groups, staff meeting minutes and reports that people can add to as warranted, a fluid Suggestion For Purchase list that can be either restricted to staff &/or be made available to the public...

Actually I really like this last idea - the public could add suggestions and track to see if they were bought and when they have arrived so they can reserve them.....nice possibilities there for a more interactive, customer focussed collection

Sadly the slideshare thingie has been loading for a while now and it seems to be broken. I have had a look around the rest of the site and it's impressive. I guess it could be a type of online PowerPoint presentation?? (I'll check back in with the site later and see if I can load something up to see what it can actually do)

Mashups

Sadly the Star Viewer wasn't working for me today but on the surface it looks like an awesome site - astronomy talks go well in my library and being able to show an interactive site (if it works of course) is a great cross promotion that will appeal to people who like to explore

I thought that my Mashup above should refelect the first Flickr exercise I completed and so I have chosen a mosaic of Dubai's 7* hotels

As you can see it's fabulously colourful (to the point of being garish when the pictures are all together like this) but you have to admit it's pretty spectacular

In libraries Mashups can be used to advertise/show branches and services, to show points of interest for local studies (like London: a life in Google Maps) through a tour of the area, they can be a 'get to know the staff of....' exercise (if people are brave enough to have their names and faces out there) and they can be of great use in online newsletters, events advertising etc

Pod casts and audio

This is fun fun fun

It's great to be able to listen to Triple J's podcasts for interviews I missed

In libraries pods and vods and audio has a role in library and collection orientation, in membership and borrower's rights and responsibilities details and more

An idea that is slightly further outside the box (but not strictly original I am sure) is having pod casts of people reading books, magazines etc for people with vision impairment, with due consideration for copyright of course

Answer Boards

Slamming the Boards is FANTASTIC - more of us should do it

It's a great way to sharpen our skills, advertise libraries and Librarians to the wider community and convince upper upper upper management that we are viable and relevant to today's society

As one of the tags says - The Library is a resource, not a building. Librarians are where you are - online!

I think I'll see if I can gather a group from my library service together to start Slamming

Homework help is the most obvious use for this kind of thing in an internal way - kids could post their questions on OUR website and we would answer them on a rostered basis. This is a more direct technique than having them post on the international Internet sites and enables us to reply using specific examples from our own resources that the kids can then access easily simply by walking into their local branch library

LibraryThing

I LOVE LibraryThing

It's quick

It's easy

It's facinating

So much fun to see what people are reading, get recomendations, chat etc

In library land it's a great resource for BookClubs and reading groups, and as a way to get peer suggestions for storytimes and themed genre / author lists etc

Nice :D

Here's my LibraryThing link
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kleem01

del.icio.us II

and the answer is no...

I must admit that this bit has broken me. I have saved my favourites to del.icio.us but can't seem to link my del.icio.us account to this blog (is it supposed to embed like Flickr does?)

it tells me that I don't have anything bookmarked and yet I can see them there...sigh

I am now moving on to save my sanity, although I will revisit del.icio.us if someone can give me some pointers

here is my del.icio.us address just to prove that I have an account

http://del.icio.us/kleem01

del.icio.us

have I linked it????

that's the question...

_______________________________________________________

After looking at the pages suggested in 2.0 I have to say that I like the Cleveland Library del.icio.us page as it sings to my librarian soul

.... it has a contents page and is organised beautifully ...

I feel that del.icio.us is a slightly less than attractive site and that Cleveland has done a great deal to making their page easy on the eye and on the brain by setting out the list of contents to help people find exactly what they are after

YouTube videos and libraries

Of all that we have seen so far in 2.0 I have to say that video sites like YouTube seem to offer the least to libraries

I am sure that there are many visionaries out there that are now busy telling me about the wonderful applications and opportunities that we can use to promote libraries through YouTube, but all I can see is that anything we do will almost certainly be lost in the millions of videos uploaded yearly, not to mention the issues of privacy and security

On a final note - if we are to use video sites for our libraries please be sure to make the uploads 'cool', clever, vibrant and relevant to the audience. There would be nothing worse than having a video (like certain recent electoral campaigners) that is so bad/boring/sad that our audience is left scoffing at our lame efforts

One of my favourite bands (Oh and because it's a part of 2.0 training)

Wikis for 2.0

Hi again

I am on a roll tonight.....

Wikis are pretty cool. I like that they are interactive and can be used for anything from providing professional information to peers, to being an obsessed fansite like Wookieepedia

In libraries wikis could be used for so many things - progressive storytelling, book/movie/music reviews (like Book Lovers Wiki), FAQ sessions, homework help/assignment help, "If you like, why not try" lists and so much more

I am excited about the idea of libraries using wikis in creative and fun ways, there are just so many avenues for interactive information sharing, online events and more

RSS - no muss no fuss, it's easy

well I have gone through the RSS (or Real Simple Syndication) notes in 2.0 and I have created a Blogline account as directed

it was much easier than last weeks Flickr exercise I must say

as for which feeds I now subscribe to well, who can go past the dry humor of Dilbert, the opportunity to learn a new word with dictionary.com word of the day, the Powerhouse Museum's picture of the day, the Shifted Librarian, and my own guilty secret - a special feed to new release paranormal romance books & authors

I will get serious and add news and information sites etc soon, I am sure........

Lucky last

Burj Al Arab (Bathroom)
Originally uploaded by Sutanto

Just because I can and because this is an amazing bathroom

Another Flickr picture of Dubai just to prove I can do it

The World, Dubai
Originally uploaded by CWCampbell

How cool is this?!?!

If I had to go on a holiday, where would I go?

Dubai-Burj-Al-Arab-Hotel-2F-Lobby,
Originally uploaded by dreamisz

If I had unlimited $ I would have to choose Dubai, the home of the 7* hotels and man made islands representing Earth's landmasses

It looks so opulent; full of colour and facinating architecture, 2 of my favourite things

I have been trying to upload some Flickr pictures to my blog for the 2.0 course and I have had no end of trouble. BUT I will not let technology beat me so here's hoping that you can now see some amazing pictures taken by others as I continue to dream about my fantasy holiday

My current reason for being

In case you were wondering, after reading my first post, the reason I have succumbed to the lure of the blog is because of NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0. This is an online, self paced, directed learning opportunity that aims to keep us librarian types up to date with that new fangled technology stuff

It's a fabulous opportunity, one that I am looking forward to exploring. Even if it means more time spent at a computer and away from all of those books I am yet to finish reading

..........................................................................................................................................................................

hmmmmmm......

After re-reading the above I realise that I sound like a complete ludite and that this training is more important for me than I had previously realised

Looking around it is obvious that if libraries, and librarians, are to remain relevant, vibrant and (not to put too fine a point on it) employed, we need to be using the technology offered in interactive online resources like blogs, facebook, flickr, podcasting etc in our everyday work and if we want to be taken seriously by our library members we had better use it well

Cheers

I have finally succumbed

Well, well, well...

Here I am with a blog...

I have been stubbornly refusing to make one of these things. I don't even have a Facebook page (why would I afterall? I spend seven hours a day looking at a computer screen so why on earth would I go home and do more of the same?!?)

But in the name of learning and development I have done it, I have a blog of my own [sigh]

Give me another week and look for me on Facebook, I'll probably become addicted now ;-)

(PS - disclaimer - spelling is not my strength and I can't get spellcheck to work on this thing today. So, sadly, all errors are my own, though I often wish I could blame someone else)