Twitter

This is my third attempt at doing this section of the course...as you can see it has been a long time between me starting the course and getting to this second section.

The first time I looked at Twitter I was not very impressed...a lot of the Twitter accounts I looked at were just people saying where they were having coffee or where they were shopping...just a lot of personal information that I really wasn't interested in. This really turned me off Twitter as I thought "I don't have time for this!!!" but on looking at it again for the second and third time, I have come across a lot of links that I have found to be really interesting.

In the library situation I think Twitter could be useful for advertising upcoming events and "What's happening at the library". On a personal level I don't think I will be using Twitter any time soon...it's simply a matter of being time poor. Okay, I have now set up a Twitter account and am following a few people...I am not really that interesting and don't have much to say, so I haven't actually done any tweeting yet!!!

Learning 2.1

Well it's nice to be back doing my blog again. I am so looking forward to participating in this new program and learning some new technologies. As requested I have had a go at changing the look of my blog.
I tried a few different templates but have finally settled on the one I am now using. The problem with using a third party template is that I am unable to change any of the layout elements and am unable to change the fonts or text/ background colours. Still I don't mind how the blog looks as it is. As per usual I went about changing my template 'like a bull at a gate' and did not read things properly, consequently I have lost all of the gadgets I had on my original blog, so I now have to try and remember how to put them all back on. I have however found lots of other gadgets so I might just give them a try instead of the old ones.
I have been reading a lot of blogs by other people, mainly craft and cooking ones, over the past year but am looking forward to reading my colleagues blogs again.
Once again thanks to the PLNSW for giving us the opportunity to learn about these new technologies.

See I told you I'd be back...

Found this file titled 'Web 2.0 Services for Smaller, Underfunded Libraries: 20 Steps to Success" and thought it was worth taking a look- thought I'd share it with you.

This is not...

When I first started doing the program I was really dismayed by how little I did know about all the topics listed - but I believe that now I'm at the end of the program I have become a lot more confident in using the applications and have gained a rudimentary knowledge of all things on the program-but by no means an expert in any of them.

Being a visual type of person I particularly liked YouTube, Flickr, and Mashups. 

There were so many things that I discovered and will need to explore further, that this is really not the end for me.

I am also hoping to go back and do the Adventures as I did not do all of them as I was going through the program. I will also have time to look at some other blogs and comment on them- I always got a kick out of knowing that people had looked at my posts.

The program has made me excited about the endless possibilities of using these tools in both my personal and professional life.

The biggest challenges to incorporating some of these applications into our work environment are

• TIME to build an interactive library (I was unable to do any of this program at work-and I know this is the same for a lot of my colleagues)
• GETTING PERMISSION to incorporate some of these social networking tools into our existing web site (how many times does Web Marshall block just normal queries)
  
• GETTING our patrons to participate and give feedback (it's hard enough to get them to come to talks within the library)

But I think it would be worth trying.

I really can't give enough thanks to the Public Library Services team at the State Library of NSW, who put this program together and gave hundreds of library staff the opportunity to expand and develop their knowledge of Web 2.0.

I look forward to participating in any other Lifelong Learning programs that may be offered in the future.

"If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking" ~ Buddhist Saying

Who needs a Second Life?

I thought I would take a quick look at some articles and videos about Second Life-huh- I have been looking and reading for over a week. At first I thought "what a great idea" and it would really appeal to younger people, but now I'm really not sure. The need for a good computer system and broadband in order to even download the program I think will make it prohibitive to a lot of our clients-even myself. Do I really have time to get involved- the answer is quite simply NO.

I must admit I find it all very fascinating but could also see how much time I could waste in Second Life. Lori Bell, the Director of Innovation for the Alliance Library System, who helped set up Info Island states that "80% of Internet users will be in a virtual world by 2011"-maybe I'm just too old!!! she also states that "We are investigating and offering library services to people who might not otherwise come to the library and we have an international community of librarians and educators working together to provide high quality services" I think that the idea of collaboration with other libraries is beneficial (for not duplicating services) especially as there are now 20 islands within the Information Archipelago providing educational services.

I did not want to get too bogged down in Second Life so I thought I would just quickly look at the contribution that Australia was making, and was interested to have a look at the Australian Libraries building on Cybrary City, it is a two storey granite building surrounded by Eucalyptus trees. The YouTube video I have included is entitled 'Second Life library objects in Australian Libraries Building'

I thought it was also worth reading a paper by Kathryn Greenhill called "Do we remove all the walls? Second Life librarianship."

Don't get me wrong I thought that all the service that were being provided on Info Island were terrific-reference services, computers linked to databases, genealogy area, audio books, theatres, medical library and the different areas for genre sections eg Mystery Manor and lots more...and I loved The C19th library in Caledon and thought that the library in Teen Second Life will be really good for young people BUT I just think it will take many years before we (meaning our library service) will have a place in Second Life-I may be very wrong...let's wait and see!!!

You know the really good thing would be that I could make my avatar look really young and cool...

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else"~ Emily Dickinson

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/cwiebrands/301321430/

Socialising...

Social networks are all about people connecting with their peers, whether it is for finding friends, finding a job or finding a partner via the web. Of course I have heard about social network web sites such as MySpace and Facebook but I was completely unaware of the thousands of others that are out there. I was completely flabberghasted by the number of people who are signed up for these sites, 110,000,000 on MySpace and catching up fast is Facebook with 97,800,000, but there are lots of other sites who have millions of users eg

Flixster-a network about movies has 36,000,000 and Reunion.com-a network for tracing friends and family and for keeping in touch has 28,000,000 and even an Anime and games network Gaia Online has 9,300,000 and there are just so many others...I just couldn't believe it. 

My son's band has had a MySpace profile for many years and this has been a good way for them to promote their gigs, music and merchandise. It has been an effective way for them to showcase the band and to keep up with their fans all over the world as well as the bands that play the same type of music. 

Most of the profiles I looked at seemed to be younger people but I did read that 41% of MySpace profilers were aged between 35-54, so it's not just young people who are using this network. I noticed that some authors have profiles on here as well. 

I was interested to see how some libraries set up profiles and thought that the Hennepin County Library profile was okay but lacked the 'bling' to attract younger readers. The Coshocton Public Library's Animanga Club page was okay but it was limited to club news-ok I know that's why it was set up.

Looking at the American Library Association's page I could see how the library could maybe reach a wider audience by promoting functions and events as well as raising the Library's profile within the community. I wonder just how many friends we would have???

Last year I was asked via email to join a friend in the UK's Facebook- I thought I would have to have a photo of myself put onto the web so I declined- now I know better- maybe I'll see if I can join now!!! From my reading, Facebook will soon overtake MySpace as the largest social network. I looked at the British Library on Facebook and liked the photos and videos that were on there-not too many fans yet. 

I was interested to read the article on 'East Renfrewshire uses Facebook...' and thought the comments by Andrew Thomson were applicable to what could be achieved i.e. "The page can become a virtual meeting point to publicise local events and gauge popular opinion on issues through online discussion...encouraging community spirit and making the organisation that bit more approachable."

Thought I might have a quick look at Ning- I really liked the look of it- it seemed easy to set up and when I went looking further found a network for dogs and one for cats , Dogster and Catster-so cute. As well as one for foodies-yum! I'll need another month to look through all the gadgets mentioned at the ALIA symposium.

What can I say I loved all the bling and the bright look of Rotorua Public Library on Bebo-but that's just me...

Using one of these social networks and linking to our existing web site could be a good idea to showcase what is going on in the library service particularly in the children's and young adult services.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ross/120012157/

GoogleDocs...not gobbledoks

I found GoogleDocs to be very user friendly. The hardest thing for me was actually deciding what document to create. 

I decided to try out a couple of applications ie a presentation and a spreadsheet, and to combine them. I made up a presentation adapted from some training notes from an in-house training session that I attended in 2001. I used the theme template throughout the document, even though I was able to change the background for each slide, simply because I liked it. It was easy to import clipart and provide links. The only thing I found limiting was the number of fonts available.

I have never been very good with spreadsheets, so this was a bit more of a challenge for me, but I think I went alright and was able to link to my presentation.

GoogleDocs could be used anywhere we already use Word, Excel and Powerpoint. The ability to import existing documents and collaborate on documents is an excellent feature. Wiki's used for updating manuals, policy documents and training modules could be replaced using Google Docs.

Letting students know about this site is the only thing I can think of so far for a use by our customers.