Week 12: Wrap up; social networks and catch up

Finally week 12 I did not think I would make it.

Social networking could be a great tool to interact with our clients. We could use it to receive feedback from our borrowers, suggestions in regard to our collection etc. It could be a lot of work to set up initially but the benefits to our clients would be great. You could also use it to further promote events that you are running and future events, post author talks and library discussion groups.

Cheers Di.

Week 11: Online applications and tools

I did not realise how much free software was out there. It makes you wonder why software companies still produce and sell such expensive products.

I can see the library use for Google docs and other online tools as I am currently doing some work on readers advisory for my library and having all the info in one area that other staff can edit and add to the document makes the process much easier and faster.

Cheers for now

Week 10: Mashups

This week was really fun. I could play with this for hours and not all for work. You can create some get things both personal and professional.

As this blog is for work I had better talk about what it can be use for in my place of work. I have used a puzzle for my training but I like the idea of a calendar as it could be a great promotional tool for the library. You could also use the motivational poster to show the public that the library is not just books as people still have the idea that it is.

Children's services could use quite a few Mashups for everyday activities and school holiday activities. Really the possibilities are endless.

Bye for now.

Week 9: Podcasts and Audio

Well we are near the end I can see a faint light up ahead.

I enjoyed listening to some of the podcasts that the ABC produced. Also I can see how you can use it in a library situation as we are now branching out into the digital age.
Podcasting can be a great tool for people who missed out on events and activities that we have run. Such events as author talks are worthwhile producing a podcast for as not everyone can make it and would still like to hear what the author has to say.

Cheers for now,

Week 8: Answer boards and social searching

This week was easier on my old brain as I did not have to sign up and work out any new user names and passwords.

I thought "Slamming the boards" was a good site to use for people who do not wish or do not have the time to get to their local library. I liked the idea that if you wanted to you could remain anonymous.

I feel all libraries could benefit from Answer Boards as not all our members feel comfortable asking some questions face to face. Where as they could post their question and know that they will still get a librarian to answer. I also think they would like the idea that they could rate or review our collection. We often get customers who like to suggest ideas/items for our collection.

Signatures and Tag Lines are a great idea. It would be nice to see some for Australia instead of America though.

Cheers for now.

Week 7 Del.icio.us and Library Thing

I found that week 7 had a lot of reading to do it is hard to find enough time to get through it all. Setting up a del.icio.us account was not to bad, again the hardest thing was to find a user name that no had used before.
I can see the benefit of this website for both personal and work related areas as you can put all your favourites in one spot and pick it up from any computer. This will save me a lot of time as I have recently got a new computer and I have been writing down all my favourites that had been saved at work and then typing it all again at home.
In a library situation I think this will be very useful tool especially the tagging. Our patrons will be able to find everything that they need all on the one site.

Library thing I feel is going to be a very useful tool for both the professional librarian and the person at home. I like the idea that I can put all my personal book on one site it saves me trying to remember all that I have read. It is also good in that I can easily go to Library thing and find my entry and use this when recommending good reads to my patrons.

Cheers for now.

YouTube and Google video

This week was really fun. It is amazing what you can find on YouTube and Google video. The hardest part was finding a video that I liked to embed in this post.

When I did the search for Liverpool Plains I found a clip on Liverpool Plains Harvest 2006. I gave it a watch and it is amazing that if you add the right music to a video clip you can make even harvesting look like great fun.

I found that Mosman Library are using Google Video well with their author talks there.

The video clip I chose to embed is Tubular Bells. By Mike Oldfield. I find it very haunting and the graphics that come with it are great.

Once a found out that to embed a video you need to embed it in "Edit html" and not in the compose part of you blog it eased my frustration levels considerably.

Cheers for now and happy viewing.