Thursday, May 22, 2008

Australia's Contribution the the Edinbough Military Tattoo

Thank you to bandsapol (Band of the South Australia Police) for making this marvellous video available.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Blogging - are the possibilities endless?

"Thank heaven for blogging"

Anything that makes adding content to the internet without needing a degree in Html is marvellous. I'm looking forward to learning how. I'm also looking forward to learning how to easily mix mediums to make the site more interesting and user friendly to the viewer. Finding a site with pages and pages and pages of text with nothing to break up the words is daunting. Up to now I thank heaven for the "Find a word" feature on browsers but with this new method of publishing it may become "thank heaven for blogging".

"Lost" letters found on the other side of the world

Hopefully, as blogging becomes more widely known, more will take the plunge and contribute online. Such items as the letters from a World War I soldier I found while browsing a blog will become available online. Seeing items like these that have been locked away for generations in attics available on the net can be nothing but a plus.

Blogging clubs at your library anyone?

I can definitely see a use for blogs in the library forum. Maybe library "Blogging clubs" will begin to go hand in hand with "Book clubs"? Instead of arriving at a library club meeting with the book to be discussed tucked under arm, members will arrive with their laptop ready to "plug" into the library's wireless hotspot and show off their latest finds in creative blogging.

Courtesy cindiann's photostream. I think this is a great image showing libraries as fun and looking to the future. Thank you to Cindiann for capturing this moment in time.

http://l.yimg.com/www.flickr.com/images/context_closed_click.gif



I did not know there were so many interested in this topic too


Blogging to a client audience will, I think, encourage those with specific interests to come out of the wood work to see the latest developments in their field of interest. Blogging to a client audience with special interests will help narrow down the internet for those tentative at starting out and open up opportunities for those with like interests unaware that there are others out there just as interested in their topic.

Beta Bloglines

The five I chose to add were from the Top 1000. I was amazed at the range which seemed endless and many were so specific such as whole bloglines with just recipes or knitting patterns. I particularly liked "Quote of the day" and the latest in current affairs sites.

WIKIS

Being able to comment on information is a wonderful option and also being able to update content and comment from anywhere has several advantages. But I have mixed feelings about wikis in regards to anyone adding anything whether it is authoritative or not. But if the browser keeps this in mind and does not take all information as correct well marvellous. Also the browser has the opportunity to comment which is even better. This fence is getting very high!

ANSWER BOARDS AND SOCIAL CHATTING

Great how librarians from all around the world can not only answer questions but these answers are posted, sourced and rated. Rated answers is also a wonderful feature not only when there are many librarians replying but also if only one has replied. This single reply may not be correct and without another reply with a different answer the customer could easily just take it as so. Rating the reply would help.

The tag lines are very inventive and fun and because of this, for me at least, promotes visiting the site again just to see what new has been added not just as a reference tool. Sourcing URLs means many do not even have to leave the computer to read further.

The question in "Exemplary Answers" -"What type of knowledge base must one have in the field of librasrianship?" brings back memories. When I first started answering enquiries from customers. I was given a complicated not to say difficult enquiry on a topic I knew absolutely nothing about. I still remember the librarian saying "librarians don't need to know a lot and be expert on everything just know a lot and be expert on finding information on everything".

PODCASTS

The ABC podcasts what a wonderful medium for oral history. They are to be congratulated.

Also great for training. Why re-invent the wheel when the time can be used to do something that has not already been done? Even if exactly what you need is not there the option to edit is available.


MASHUPS

Library applications for mashups seem limitless. The "photo wall" could be designed to rotate photographs of many if not all services provided by a library service. Or of specifics like the range on fiction genres or the covers of the latest mystery titles to arrive.

Superimpose an old land subdivision plan over a modern map to work out the boundaries would be a good application for mashups in our Library.


Online Applications and Tools

These applications being available online for free have many applications in a library. The many templates are a bonus. What a range of possibilities!

Wrap up

I have really enjoyed this journey of discovery and learning. I intend to go back through several of the modules as I would like to have put more time into several modules.

Regards, I have still learnt much and have a few applications in mind where I can implement what I have learnt. Thank you for putting this marvellous training module together.

Thank you again from "A Lifetime Learner".