#18 Wrap up on Library 2.0

Last exercise in a 9 week journey through a multitude of technological applications. It has been a real life-long-learning experience and it's done lots of things for me, including impressing my 13 year old son with my blog and my knowledge of Flickr, YouTube and Podcasts. It is interesting to know what's out there and to know what library patrons are looking at on the Web. It's also good to have a background knowledge of the applications we have covered. Loved looking at Flickr - it's a great way to share photos, instead of e-mailing them as an attachment to friends and family. YouTube is a fantastic resource for video clips and it's interesting that the site is being used by political parties to get their message across in the 2007 Federal Election. I think Podcasts are useful, especially if you've missed something on the radio or a talk at the Library. I subscribed to 'Book Lounge' to listen to book reviews. RSS feeds are a good idea to keep up to date with subjects of interest. Wikis have their place at the Library also. Some of the Websites that featured in the Web 2.0 Awards were very innovative. Overall, the Library 2.0 experience was a positive one.

Negative aspects were the amount of time spent on the exercises. It was mooted that we would spend about an hour a week on each exercise, but I found that after reading the material suggested and then blogging on my learning experiences, there was a fair bit more time involved. Not sure how the part-timers coped - with desk shifts, deferred enquiries and other projects, there's not a lot of time left for them. Maybe they should have done a scaled-down version.

#17 Library2.0 and Web 2.0

On the homeward trail....
Web 2.0 - The rate of technological change is mind-boggling and the amount of things one can do on the Web are also. Libraries need to keep up and know what is out there and what our patrons want - hence Library 2.0. Looked at Library Labs and went to a session at the Library on the project for federated searching being worked on as part of SLV 21 and it looks good. Some time ago I came to the conclusion that it was a shame that our patrons did not know where to look for anything other than books (and even that not very well) and they certainly didn't understand that there were other catalogues that they could use to find journal articles, pictures, manuscripts, local history, ephemera, etc, etc. In fact sometimes they didn't even realise that the only way any information could be found on their chosen subject was in a journal. It will be terrific to have federated searching in order to get full use out of our very expensive databases and the work that we have put into digitising and cataloguing in the special collections. Clustering facets to help further your research, is a good idea, too.

I've looked at tags added by people using Flickr and Library Thing and many of the tags don't adequately describe the item. Seeking input from library users is good (like the user surveys), however, I wouldn't feel comfortable about patrons adding tags to entries on the computer. I think we still need to keep control of the catalogue.

In conclusion, the way the SLV operates is changing (SLV 21 Projects) and will continue to do so as technology changes over time. It is a given that the SLV will certainly be a very different place to work in the future, ensuring that we will be kept on our toes!

#16 Podcasts

Used Podcast.net to find 'Book Lounge' which contains weekly interviews with authors featuring books from Doubleday Canada, Random House Canada, etc. I subscribed to that podcast via the RSS feed. I listened to a podcast with Mark Haddon, the author of 'The curious incident of the dog in the night-time: a novel', who discussed his new novel 'A spot of bother'. I read the book and didn't think it was a patch on his first novel, in fact, I found the main character, George, somewhat annoying. I suppose it is hard to follow-up a fantastic first novel.

Uses for podcasts in the State Library of Victoria - perhaps a regular podcast on upcoming events, exhibitions, learning programmes or other interesting news.

#15 Video Sharing Websites - YouTube et al

Enjoyed looking at YouTube - looked at some of the 1970s TV commercials - what a hoot!! Things have moved on substantially since then. Library dominos - wouldn't suggest doing that here, but fun to watch. Looked at a couple of interesting music clips and got to hear and see a band that I probably have no hope of seeing in real life. Did a search under "Libraries" and saw a lovely clip entitled 'We love our NJ State Library' with some of the patrons, many African American extolling the virtues of their Library. Why don't we do something like that for the State Library of Victoria? Interview some of our patrons using different parts of the Library and record their experiences and why they are at the Library.

Teacher Tube - I looked at a funny video parodying the Librarian of the past entitled 'The Librarian of 1966' - would have been funnier, but the file must have been very big and it kept cutting out - buffering issues I believe, with bigger files?

Glanced at Science Hack - good to know it's there.



Posted this video clip from YouTube 'John Howard Asleep on Climate Change' as I thought it was particularly clever.

# 14 More Web Tools

Had a look at some of the winners of the Web 2.0 Awards. Again amazing creativity! I liked 'Upcoming' - a site listing upcoming events in terms of music, social and educational events for every State in Australia and some regional areas. There didn't seem to be many events listed, but I expect that will grow as more people become aware of it. I found a reference to the forthcoming ALIA Conference in February next year in the 'Education' section (of course, although sometimes it can be social as well, for networking purposes). Maybe we could have a similar site at the State Library, which features all the meetings on a calendar. Then you could just click on to the site and you would be instantly reminded of your daily meetings or upcoming meetings.

I also liked 'PEERtrainer' - a site that offers dietary and exercise advice and a peer support vehicle for dieting and fitness. Fascinating stuff.

#13 Technology

I love the cartoon - I must admit I was a little bit like that when I did my library course in 1989. I think my hand-eye coordination was not the best, so I can sympathise to a certain extent with people who find the mouse a challenge.

Technology - where would we be without it?

I am very partial to Google and understand it's limitations. Again, don't know where we'd be without such sophisticated search engines. Unfortunately, some people who use Google don't get the results they want, or are happy with substandard results and don't proceed further. Having sat in on AskNow sessions and conducted SLV Chat, I have observed that many people are not au fait with search engines and turn to us to help them. AskNow and SLV Chat are amazing services. I find the idea of instant chat for reference work a very interesting concept. Although, again, many enquirers don't understand the boundaries of this service.

Flickr is amazing - I was particularly taken with a website entitled 'Apartmenttherapy', in which someone has detailed every aspect of her New York apartment, including her shower curtain! The comments on her site were equally as interesting. The first search I conducted on Flickr, was using the search term 'State Library of Victoria' and got over 300 hits - incredible to think that so many people had taken the time to upload their photos of the Library onto Flickr. Some of the images were quite good, too.

#12 Web-based applications (take 2)

Remembered my password and getting good at writing in my blog, though, so must have learnt something from this exercise.

#12 Web-based application

I am trying out Zoho Writer

So far, so good - I can see the point of having access to this function when one is not near a word processor. In fact, I might suggest it to our users if they ask at the desk for word processing facilities.

I've used my first emoticon - wow!! I might get used to it.

Got rid of some stuff that I'd imported by accident - so learnt how to edit once I've published something.

#11 Flickr Mashups

The range of Flickr mashups is mind-boggling and seem to be limited only by the imagination. There are so many things you can do on the computer, if you are so inclined and do them so professionally. It's a wonder that publishers still exist!

The mashup I like the best is the 'Trip Planner' by Yahoo! Travel, which lets you build a travel itinerary with all the attractions marked on a map of the intended destination and then when you return, you can place your photos onto this planner. This would have been good for my last trip, although, not sure if I would be able to find the time to upload my photos onto the planner to complete the job. Good idea, though! You can also read stories and see photos of other people's trips, which might inspire you to go to places that weren't on your original itinerary.

Sorry, can't tackle the optional extras, due to work commitments.

#10 Discover Flickr

Hi, back again in the world of Flickr. This is an image from Flickr that reminded me of my recent trip to Europe. We were in Paris in September, just in time for the rugby match France v Scotland. It was a bizarre scene in Paris as 30,000 Scotsmen, all kilted up, drank and sang their anthem, 'Doh a Deer' over and over again, in various states of drunkenness. There was a whole street cordoned off with the guys (and some women) behind the bollards singing their hearts out outside the pub. Not quite what I expected! Even funnier was the train trip back to England with some of the Scotsmen rather the worse for wear and wearing different footwear on both feet, still kilted up, making the uneven footwear easy to spot. They were everywhere throughout Paris and the Parisians were quite bemused. I think they were generally very tolerant of such behaviour as the Scots were contributing quite a lot of revenue to their coffers.

#9 Technorati and Library Thing

Searched for "Learning 2.0" and read some of the blogs. Found less blogs by searching on tags. Most entries seem to be from American bloggers - hardly surprising, I suppose. Try as I might, I can't really see much application for myself. I searched under a couple of subjects that interest me, but did not find any blogs that excited me - maybe if that was my purpose and I wasn't just looking at the web site for the sole purpose of learning about it, I would find many of the blogs of interest. Like the other things on the Learning 2.0 agenda, good to know it exists.

Used Library Thing and added a few books from my collection. Again, I wouldn't do it for my entire library, unless I had unlimited time and needed the contact with other people who've read the same books. Maybe when I retire. Now, I have barely enough time to read books and have about 20 lined up at home waiting for me on my bookshelves.

#8 Tagging, etc in Del.icio.us

I have used Del.icio.us in SLV Chat and can see the value for our reference service. We have all sorts of useful sites on there, to cover as many Australiana-related subjects. Good to have everything in one place and so easy to access. Also, good for organising bookmarks on a social book-marking site so that these can be accessed from different PC's, eg at work and at home or even when travelling (as we did recently).

I found the site on 'Steve the Art Museum social tagging project' very interesting and also the tags added to the Yarra Plenty Library catalogue records for fiction. Tags may increase access to information for non-library folk. However, I found the tags on the Yarra Plenty Library catalogue record for fiction items to be very broad and not so useful. It is an interesting concept and could work if the tags put on by non-cataloguers are readily identifiable as such. As fiction books do not have subject headings, I can see that it may add value to a record for a fiction item. I found some of the tags on the Technorati site to be odd, eg "Dumbasses". Can't see myself using such a tag.

#7 Finding Feeds

Used Feedster and subscribed to one of the wikis. Feedster was quite comprehensive and easy to use. News stories were good, but I've already subscribed the 'The Age' top stories. Good help page on search tips.

Topix seemed a bit more limited than Feedster, although phrase searching is a good facility.

I searched for a few blogs on Google Blog Search and found some of interest, some opinionated.

Overall, Feedster seemed the best for my purposes.

The good thing is that now I know how to look for RSS Feeds on web sites and have been looking at the sites I requested in Google Reader. An interesting exercise.

I also subscribed to a journal from the Ebsco ANZ Reference Centre.

#RSS and Google Reader

Wow, I've made it up to here. Actually, this is all very interesting. I must confess I had subscribed to an RSS feed about 3 years ago from the BBC's Web site. My supervisor was extolling the virtues of RSS feeds, so I thought I'd try it. I think it vanished off my Mozilla bookmarks during an upgrade - not to be replaced.

In this exercise, I subscribed to the following RSS feeds: Youth Literature, Library Bytes, ABC Unleashed (stuff about the upcoming Federal Election), SLV Media Releases and SLV Fellows Talks (because we've had dealings with a lot of the fellows across the desk and have chatted to them about their work) and the Age top stories. A lot of information, if only I had time to keep up with it all. I think the concept of RSS feeds is good. In a time poor, information rich society, it looks like the way to go. Slices of information on your chosen topic/s, which you can then choose to read at your leisure (or so the theory goes).

The SLV has a number of options for RSS feeds, so members of the public can keep informed on subjects that interest them. Not sure if there's any way to count how many people subscribe - suppose there is, as most things are now electronically counted. Other RSS feeds might work for new books received, learning sessions, tours, events at the Library, etc, etc.

#4 Wiki thoughts

Back again! Remembered my password this time.

Thoughts on Wikis - I liked looking at the 'Book Lovers Wiki' and thought that was a terrific use of a Wiki. I got some ideas myself for books to read. 'Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki' was really interesting and again, I thought this was a good use of a Wiki - very helpful and wide-ranging information for libraries and easy to negotiate.

I think the SLV Intranet would work well as a Wiki. Also, a Desk Wiki would be good. Have to be much better than the system we have now. Of course, editorial control would be an issue.

Meredith Farkas, in her article on the 'Library Success' Wiki, entitled 'ALA Wiki: What I learned and what I'm doing with it', written in July, 2005, contains a number of observations on how to produce a succesful Wiki - all of which sound sensible.

#5 Wikis
May as well add this to the above.

I managed to add an entry to the SLV Desk Wiki and was surprised how easy this was. It reinforces how useful a Wiki would be for desk-related information.

Thoughts on blogging

I found it quite challenging to set up the blog, as I had made an incorrect assumption on the blog address - silly me! I think blogs could be useful for specific purposes or if one was house-bound. It's probably good to know how these things work, but for my purposes, not so sure. I've had a look at some other blogs and found one blog with some semi-naked photos, one blog with family photos and one with the paranoid musings of an angst-ridden 16 year old (not from anyAID bloggers, I might add). A bit off-putting! I find this public sharing of one's thoughts with strangers somewhat distasteful. Could be an age thing.

Above, experimenting with importing an image from 'Google Images' of one of my favourite things in life - a good cup of coffee! I placed the above image on my desktop and then tried to save it into my Blog. But, I actually made it into a giant cup of coffee on my desktop, which might have put me off coffee instead - like aversion therapy. To rectify this situation I had to ask our youngest colleague for some advice. This was readily given and now I know the steps to take without creating gigantic cups of coffee (or anything for that matter).

Just trying it out again!

Hi,

Here I am, joining the Cyber World!