So it's been a couple of months since I finsihed the learning 2.0 course, and boy was I sorry when it was over. I had a ball learning and backing up knowledge that I already had! But now it's back to the big bad world and time to take my new knowledge with me.
But the big question is have I taken the knowledge with me or have I just relegated it to the scrapeheap that can be my mind?
Well the short answer is YES! I have used what I learnt. Since completing the course I've taken the things I've learned and used them in my everyday work, my blog at livejournal is going great (ok so I still don't post a lot but I'm posting different things now as well as the general everyday stuff) and I've been able to answer questions from our customers about different things on the web. It's been great!
So for anyone out there thinking that it's all to hard or you don't have enough time....make some because it is more than worth it!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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
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
Friday, May 9, 2008
Mashups Week 10 Final
Well I've had a little play here and there with mashups. But as far as using them in the library? Well probably not unless I'm desperate for an advertising idea. Most of the mashups I could find were about pic and photos and while that is fun it's not really anything you can't do with the right program on your comp. But having said that I'm glad that I did this week because at least now when someone comes in asking about a mashup or something that will do this type of thing I can now answer them. And trust me they will ask!
So now I'm off to do week 11 and wow has this course been fun and it's gone way to quickly. All going well I should be finished by early next week :o(
So now I'm off to do week 11 and wow has this course been fun and it's gone way to quickly. All going well I should be finished by early next week :o(
Friday, April 18, 2008
Jigsaw Mashup Week 10
I've just got my new toy (a lovely new Canon 450D camera) and was playing with it in the back yard (ok so it wasn't my own back yard) and thought I'd play around with some of the image mashups available on bighugelabs. I can see myself playing with this site a bit over the coming months.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Week 10 Mashups
Not sure if this is going to work.....it should be either a link or a pic of a wallpaper of a Duststorm that we had recently. I took the photo out the front of our library (the storm was winding down as this photo was taken).
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.
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.
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