Libraries are Cool!

Summary of Learning 2.0

2007-11-13T11:21:00.000+11:00

WOO HOO!!!!!

Let the celebrations begin! I've made it to the end of the 23 things, thus completing the Learning 2.0 course.

It has been an interesting experience. Cumbersome sometimes, entertaining most times and on the whole a fantastic learning experience.

I look forward to implementing my new found knowledge in the near future.

Let us embrace technology and go forth and seek knowledge, after all isn't that what all Librarians should so?

Downloadable Audio Books

2007-11-13T11:02:00.000+11:00

Audio Books are always a popular part of our collection, particularly in the Young Adult area. We have recently added ipods with audio books to our collection and they have been quite a hit.

Downloadable Audio books would therefore be something we should definitely investigate for the future.

Sight impaired borrowers, reluctant readers or dyslexics often prefer not having the challenge of to do the reading. People who drive quite a way on trips or people doing their ironing or housework also prefer audio books.

Nothing beats curling up with a book though, there is something different about reading a book than just being a passive listener.

I am very much looking forward to my long service leave over the Christmas holidays when I can do just that!

Podcasts

2007-11-13T10:24:00.000+11:00

Ironic isn't it that we have been using podcasts all the way through the course and yet it is No 21 out of 23 things on the list of Learning 2.0. It's a bit like giving a student their pen licence test after they've written their entire project in pen.
Podcasts are great! They allow people to hear information and music online or download it onto their ipod, mobile phone or computer.

YouTube

2007-11-12T14:45:00.000+11:00

FAR OUT!!! 9 000 years of viewing has been watched on YouTube since it started. That is certainly a lot of use by a lot of people. I love the fact that you can watch old video clips. Take On Me by AHA is one of my all time favourites and to see that again after all these years was quite a treat.
YouTube is certainly hours of fun for the voyeur, music buff or just the curious. I will certainly be spending time there more often.

Web 2.0 Prize winners

2007-11-12T14:21:00.000+11:00

I'm not at all surprised that Google Maps are 1st prize winners for the category of maps in the recent Web 2.0 awards. This is a fantastic facility that will make navigation, and geography much more fun and user friendly.

Keep up the great work Google!

Zoho verdict

2007-11-12T14:12:00.001+11:00

ZOHO Writer : The latest in word processing.

I'd love to be able to access word documents from home and work from the same spot, and anything that takes the monopoly from Microsoft has my vote!

ZOHO therefore has a lot of potential.

WOO HOO!

Wiki wonders

2007-10-30T13:31:00.000+11:00

Wikis are very cool!

The idea that it acts like a giant cyber noticeboard can be very handy. People can add their thoughts and the overall collaboration is a team effort. Great for working out details from remote locations or across the globe.

Very user friendly too. :-)

Web 2.0, Library 2.0

2007-10-30T12:02:00.000+11:00

Technology moves at such a pace that if we as a library don't keep pace we will be left behind in a matter of just years not decades.

Already we have moved in a relatively short time from Microfische and the card system to a cutting edge technology resource centre.

The rate at which technology has advanced in this field has amazed both the professionals in the field and outside observers. Books are no longer the only resource available and in time may only make up a small percentage of what a library has to offer. The article titled "Away from Icebergs" was interesting in that it highlighted 3 key areas of concern for libraries:

* "Just in case" collections

* Reliance of user education

* The "Come to us" model of a library service.

These are all crucial things that need to be addressed if we want to remain at the cutting edge of technology.

It is however worth noting that the Titanic was at the cutting edge of technology for its time. And look what happened to it. Sometimes all the technology in the word isn't worth a damn if it is not matched by common sense, ingenuity and basic problem solving skills. Something that hopefully most Librarians seem to possess.

Online resources are becoming more and more amazing and the ease of providing these services in the patrons home will make libraries a valuable resource for years to come. We just have to move with the times.

Del.icio.us

2007-10-30T11:42:00.000+11:00

Where do they get the names for these things??

The idea behind Del.icio.us is a great one. Although with the constraints our IT department put on our computers it makes it difficult to play as much as I may have liked.

I really like the idea of storing your bookmarks so that they can be accessed remotely. This would be fantastic for those of us that have to work from different computers or take work home. How many times have I thought I have that site bookmarked at home or at work or visa versa. It would also be a great backup for when the computers are replaced, upgraded or just plain crash and you loose all of the wonderful sites you have spent years accumulating.

Technorati

2007-10-29T16:38:00.000+11:00

With millions of blogs being created every year Technorati is a fantastic tool. I put in a few searches and came up with the following results:

Learning 2.0 = 6009 results

Scrapbooking = 12715 results

Rollercoasters = 653 results

There is no way that I could have accessed all of these sites individually. Tagging them makes the search very simple and a great time saver. I can see how this tool would be a fantastic asset to the busy blogger who wants to read like minded blogs.

Rollyo

2007-10-24T12:31:00.000+10:00

This sounds more like something someone would smoke than a search tool.

Very clever little tool though to add to a website. I must admit however that I still find Google one of the easiest to use and best sites on the web, so I think I would still head there first.

Library Thing

2007-10-24T10:18:00.000+10:00

An interesting concept. I love browsing through all the covers and talking to people about similar likings and reading groups. I can definitely see the value of that.

I am however a little worried about the concept of cataloguing our own personal collections. I just think that is a little too neurotic for words. Librarians have a bad reputation as nerds already, if we catalogue our home collections it would just solidify us as the the kings and queens of the nerd world.

Is this a title we really want? Shouldn't we be way cooler than that. I know I try to be.

Online Image Generator

2007-10-23T12:42:00.000+10:00

I have to admit my confusion as to the difference between the flikr week and the image generator week. To my mind they are both using photos be it your own or others to add to your blog.
Once again I am struggling too to find the time to play as much as others seem to be doing. Book sellers, extra Storytimes and a never ending pile of cataloguing makes the two and a half days that I work VERY busy. I seem to be constantly at least a week or more behind. As Ben Cousins big tattoo says though "Such is life". I'll just continue to do what I can, after all isn't that the best we can do?

Bloglines and RSS verdict

2007-10-09T14:08:00.000+10:00

I really like the idea of being able to go to one spot and see if there are new blog entries for a number of people that I read regularly. This is indeed a great time saver and something that I will indeed be using regularly now that I know about it.

I also discovered with the assistance of John (Thanks mate) that I can drill down on the ABC news and only get my suburbs news. This is great as I like to stay informed but never have the time or the inclination to read newspapers cover to cover.

So the verdict : Great!

Now all I need is the time to actually read all these blogs, keep up with my own, continue the course and keep up with all my other work at the same time.

Sometimes I wish I had a timeturner like Hermione in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Mashup Madness

2007-10-09T13:44:00.001+10:00

Mmm if only I looked like that in real life!

I have been playing with Mashups this week. An interesting combination of two technologies. I love the combination on maps and things and could definately see the benefits of this combined technology to really make a website stand out.

Flickr fest

2007-10-01T14:57:00.000+10:00

Well the task at hand is to insert a picture into my blog.

I thought I'd stay with the theme of roller coasters as discussed last week and add this beautiful image. It combines 2 of my favourite things, roller coasters and sunsets. now if we could just add a bottle of champagne and some nice company I would be set!

Another task to be completed is to talk about technology. We all use technology everyday. Be it mobile phones, computers, or simply the barcodes on our groceries. The world is moving at such an incredible rate of knots that in the space of a lifetime we have gone from horse drawn carriages to satellite navigators in our cars.

We need to keep abreast of as much new technology as we can because it passes us so quickly.

If we take the easy option and say "I don't know about that" we will never learn and thus fall further behind. Imagine how daunting it would be to not be able to communicate it today's society. So thank you to my fellow colleagues who have encouraged and helped me as we all embark on this journey together. Learning's much more fun when we can do it with friends.

Being left behind already!

2007-09-25T12:44:00.000+10:00

Memories of being back at school come flooding back to me while doing this course. The good and the bad memories both equally present this week. I remember watching as people got inspired and rushed ahead in their chosen direction be it university, a trade or motherhood. People travel through life at different speeds. Some rush through tasks completing everything before others have drawn their first breath and others plod along and ultimately fall behind.
I am somewhere in the middle and have to fight the sense that this is somehow wrong. So yes some of my colleagues have all the bells and whistles on their blog and some have not written a word. We are all different and it is that uniqueness that makes us special. Otherwise we would be bored with our similarities and end up cloning others rather than being ourselves.

I remember that dauntingly sick feeling of being on a steep learning curve. Like a roller coaster with all of the relevant ups and downs.
Learning is very similar to a roller coaster. It gives you that same rush, the feeling of exhilaration and the sense of accomplishment at the end of the ride. It also gives you that stomach dropping sense of fear that you are not in total control. There are outside influences we have no control over that ultimately dictate our end result. Be they time restraints, work load, peer support or technology they all play a role.
Just like a roller coaster too though learning is supposed to be fun. something we do throughout our lives to make us feel alive.
Hope we are all feeling alive while we learn

Blogging again

2007-09-17T15:23:00.000+10:00

Well doesn't the time fly. It was April when I set this up but now we are in September and the course I am doing requires a blog so "Here's one I prepared earlier!"

A lot has happened since April, I have done about 100 Storytimes, both in the Library and at kinders all over the place. I even had the local Mayor do a Storytime for me recently.
Had numerous school visits, hosted 2 holiday programs with another set to go in a couple of weeks, and enjoyed another successful BookWeek with much celebration and fanfare.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates. It's part of my course so there is bound to be some.

Life as a Children's Librarian

2007-04-12T13:45:00.000+10:00

Life as a Children's Librarian is never dull!
Today I dressed up as a clown for "Wacky Day" and the local paper arrived. Thank goodness they decided that the children at the activity looked far cuter then me in my clown pants.
On other occasions I have dressed as Spot the Dog, a teddy bear, a witch, a farmer, a monster and a spider. Just to name a few.
Another really fun thing I do in my job is buying books. It is great to see kids faces when I take out a whole pile of brand new books for them to borrow, It's like Christmas morning. I can't wait to get the latest Harry Potter novel and have them ready for the first people to borrow on 21st July. We already have 47 holds on this title. At least 30 of these holds will be filled on the first day.
What a great job! Never a dull moment.