Week 12 Social Networking

So the end is here, after 12 weeks (has it really been that long?) we have finally reached the end of the road....and what a road it has been!

Social networking? We do it all the time and probably don't even realise that we are doing it. I will admit that I hadn't gone as far as thinking about something like that specifically for our library, but it has so much potential! However you come up against the "you can't do that" or "you can't have access to that" problems.

But social networking goes even further than Blogs (I've found Live Journal is a really great way to netword, adding friends is so easy) and messaging. A lot of online games also have a social networking aspect to them as well. Free games like Runescape (you create a character and fight monsters, other players and complete quests, lots of fun!) to sites like Pogo (has things from card games to casino, but it is a pay site) and even WoW (World of Warcraft) all have and rely on a social aspect where people meet, greet and interact.

As for social networking in the Library, it has so much potential. You could get groups of people together who are interested in similar things, eg family history, kids clubs, mystery readers.

Broken Hill City Library has it's own website, which I try to keep up to date, but as with every website it has it's limits. You can't talk to like minded people, it's kind of isolating but it does have most of the information that you need, including what's happening.

So where does this leave libraries? I have always thought that the internet is a great resource for those who know how to use it, and for those who are willing to learn. I do believe it is under used in some situations and abused in others. But it is the way that the world is going. People like the speed with witch it works (most of the time) and with the way things are developing the internet has a great future and is going to be a great way to bring people together. I know using the internet and social networking has broadened my own horizons and circle of friends and allowed me to do things that just wouldn't have been possible in the past. We just have to be able to keep up, or at least not to far behind, and see where the ride will take us!

So here's to all who have completed the Learning 2.0 program, and I hope that everyone got as much out of it as I did. I know I've already employed some of the things that I've learned about in my daily work at our library and I intend to continue to share this knowledge.

Have fun and keep surfing people!

Week 11 Online Docs

So we are just one week away from the end of the course and what fun it has been!

This week we looked at online docs. I've been using Zoho for a while now and have shown it to a lot of people who have been coming through our library (our Word Processor has up and died and our Net Pc's don't have word on them....lots of problems) and I've always been impressed with what it can do. So I was interested to see what Google Doc's was like. I must say I was a little disappointed. Google Doc's looks good on the outside, but when you look closer you're probably better off using notepad. But having said that it is still a good alternative to Office and other programs that you have to have installed on your comp. Google Doc's has the basics for what most people need/want to do, and I will admit that it is very easy to find and start new documents with Google Doc. Zoho can be a little more difficult if your not sure where to look.

I have read a couple of blogs where people are saying that yes online docs are ok but they much prefer to use the programs that are on their computers. While I love having the programs loaded onto my computer, (and I will admit that my home computers have all the programs that I want on them) I tend to use a lot of different computers while I am at work. Sometimes I find it easier and faster to use Zoho for ease of use and time.

As with everything there are fors and againsts for them. Personally I've been using Zoho for a while now, and will continue to do so because of the ease of use and availability (ok so I have a laptop at home, and hey they tend to be small on space!). I'll also probably tell more people about Google Docs (well the ones who want a super basic WP tool).

As for other uses in the library...well I've already set up a Zoho account for our library staff to use, now it's just a matter of getting people to use it instead of fighting over the comps with Office on them!

D'oh! I did it again.....forgot those pesky little tags at them

Week 9 Podcasts and Audio

I was really looking forward to this week, but found myself given a quick lesson in frustration. I love my Podcasts and Vodcasts (video podcasts), but I have come to the conclussion that accessing them is WAY easier and less stressful with iTunes and my iPod. Having said that I will also state that I did get something useful out of this weeks lesson. I now know how to easily add feds that aren't easily tracked down using iTunes (some Australian websites have great casts that aren't accessed through the iTunes search and RSS) and that I can actually access podcasts without my iPod or iTunes (though not as easily).

So I ended up splitting this week into two days, I just got to frustrated using Juice (the program I ended up using to download and manage my feeds on my work computer) and needed to let my mind simmer on how it really worked. After letter it simmer for a night I came back the next day and got it to work soo easily (compared to yesterday). While it works and does the job I still prefer my iTunes. It is just so user friendly. You tell it what you want and walk away from it and the next time you log onto iTunes it downloads what you want really quickly (I used to be impressed with iTunes speed, but after waiting for the downloads on Juice I'm even more impressed) and then you can either watch it on your computer or plug your iPod (or mp3 player) in and it dumps it all on there for you to take away! How easy is that? (In case you hadn't guessed I'm a Mac/Apple fan from way back)

I breifly trawled through some of the Library sites that had casts, only to find that some of them were near impossible to find the cast, while others were simple to find and interesting to see what they were using podcasts for. I loved the idea of using the casts to get readers into a book, or to keep them up to date with what was happening in their library. But I found it really frustrating when the link said that they had podcasts and no matter where I looked I couldn't find it....might have just been me.

Also loved the education casts, I've found a couple that I'll probably look into more when I have a spare couple of hours....ok so maybe I'll get them for my iPod and try learning them while I sleep :oP

As for using Yahoo Podcast Search? Well I guess I must have been doing something wrong because while I could search for audio and video the results that I got were not what I'd call podcasts. Yes I could download the stuff I found (and some if it was from pay sites which I didn't do for this) most of what I found were from file share sites or peer to peer sites. The only way that I could better search for podcasts of any discription was to type in the key words and put podcast or video podcast at the end of the search.

So my conclusion after this week?

I'm sticking with iTunes and my iPod.

Week 8 Explore, Discover and Adventure

Answer Boards and Social Searching, what can you say about that. In short, I think it can be a great resource. But like with all resources available it can be prone to abuse and misuse. I have acutally used Yahoo Answers to answer a reference enquiry in the past because we had exhausted all of our resourses, and though I only got a couple of answers to my question (it really was a strange one) the answers I got were exactly what we were after, so it was all good! But having looked around a little on Yahoo Answers this time I was surprised at some of the answers that were being posted, one or two word answers (ok yes sometimes that is all you need) and sometimes the answers didn't even stand up to the most basic of research. However there are some out there who really do give great answers and they make all the difference!

I love the idea of "slamming the boards", it's a great way of reminding people about libraries and that we don't just have books anymore we have soooo much more! But we need to find a way to get that back out to the people who don't use libraries because they either don't have the time or they think of them as dark dusty places where you have to be quiet (I love that one, definately not quiet here or many other libraries that I've been to recently) that only has shelves and shelves of books that are hard to find.

We have talked about (and been asked about) having an answer board type thing on our web site, and while we have talked about it the one thing that keeps coming back is time. I know that finding time to just keep our website up to date and working is very hard what with all the other jobs that we have to do around here, and the thought of having a "ask a librarian" component is both exciting and terrifying. Simply put we just don't have the time to do it :o(

However having said that we don't have the time, I can see myself spending a little time every month doing my little part "slamming the boards".

For the adventure this week? Well lets just say I used it as a two fold exercise. First up I was putting in my time doing this fun course :oD and then also taking some time to exercise my net searching skills looking for some answers. I had a ball! And ok so I researched a couple of questions that I didn't actually post answers to but still it was great fun doing the research.

Now it's time to start fighting my new addiction........answerboards!


Oh and if anyone is interested the picture was found on Flickr and is by *regina*

Week 6 Explore

There are just so many uses for videos, I was pleased to see the oral history video of Olive Riley. I know that the documentry that they made about her visit to Broken Hill was shown on the ABC a few years ago, and is available on DVD (or was), but having it on the net makes it available to so many people. How much history is out there that can be published like this? Heaps and it is a fun and bite size way of getting the information out there.

Orientation via YouTube? Good idea, but one thing that never changes? The type of video that they make for the orientations......sooooo boring! Althought the library orientation one wasn't so bad :o) but some of the similar videos take you back in a time warp into the days of really really bad orientation videos.

One thing I do like about YouTube and Google Videos is that they give you other suggestions that you can check out at your lesiure if you are still looking for more! Ah the information age...so much information, so little time :oD

I'd love to see more oral history videos posted, reading or listening to them is interesting, but actually being able to see the person who is telling their story and following them through the steps of their story just brings it to life that much more!

Week 5 Wiki's Explore

Wow, well that was fun!

I've just spent some time looking at Learning 2.0's wiki and adding my own thoughts and I've had a ball!

When I was first offered a job at the library my manager said that working in a library is NOTHING like what you expect....and she was SO right! But I've loved every minutes of it and wouldn't change my job for anything! (OK so I've had a goodish day :oD ). But this wiki should become required reading for all those who are starting out in a library or who are even thinking of it because it is so on the money!

Ok so I'm off to play around with the wiki's about Broken Hill and see what I can see :oD