Encore Encore

Well it's been two weeks since I wrote my last post and finished the 'blog' portion of Learning 2.0 (she says gloatingly) but my involvement didn't end there.

Since then I've been 'mentoring' (bribing, bullying, threatening, cajoling - you get the picture) people into starting, continuing, or finishing the program.

It's interesting to see the effect that Learning 2.0 has had on people.


I'ts been called narcissistic (I like to blog - so sue me);

some have embraced it with an almost religious fervour;

others are doing the minimum amount possible (to stop me from nagging them, I guess)


Many people (myself included) suffered from a mid-program slump where the blogs remained untouched for a couple of weeks before finishing strongly with the proverbial 'wet sail'.

Some are finding it very hard going - convinced that it is all too hard for them.

I listened to the podcast of Stephen Abram's talk at the State Library earlier this year - he talked about the hardest thing we've had to learn in the past few years is to double click (actually he said freakin' double click - but you get the picture).

It seems that many people still have a fear of computers and computing despite having used pcs at work for over 15 years - is that the reason people didn't want to web 2.0?

I loved exploring the different tools and thinking about how I'd use them - and not always in a work sense.

Some of the tools I played with in learning 2.0 have become part of everyday life (bloglines, del.icio.us, youtube), others I want to explore more (rollyo).

Perhaps (inhouse) we could look at 'modulising' web 2.0 a bit - instead of completing all 23 things people could opt to complete a youtube module, or a bloglines module - and relate it directly to their library or their position.

Would people find it less confronting if they could complete 4 or 5 tasks, involving say Bloglines, at their own pace and then move onto something else?

Back to Library 2.0 though...I guess what I'm wondering is how can we get library staff to try something that they're convinced they can't do, are sure they don't want to do, and are convinced will bring about the downfall of the free world (and libraries) as they know it?

(Something about you can lead a librarian to a computer but you can't make them blog...)

Roll on Learning 3.0!

Finale

You have reached the last page of the internet.


Please turn off your computer and go outside and play.


Thank you for dropping by.

#23 Give my regards to Broadway

Libraries are not made, they grow. (Augustine Birrell)

How true.

I've enjoyed the learning 2.0 program. A lot of the 'things' I'd used, or heard of, already but I hadn't really thought about how they could be applied in libraryland.

If I have a criticism it is that we really only skimmed gthe surface of a lot of things - I have a list of websites to go back to, to explore in more detail, to play with in library terms, as I could have played with some of these websites (especially youtube) 24/7.

Where to from here?

What tools could we use in the library right now?

Which programs could we put in our 'to do later' file?

Does our website have the capability (bandwidth, download capacity, IT backup) to host all the applications that we want to add?

The Internet adds a whole other dimension to the traditional look and feel of a library; we can reach a much wider audience, and an online program means that users are not bound by library opening hours (for example) when they want access to library information, programs, and services.

It's another way in which we can "provide maximum access to a free and effective public library service to support the informational, cultural, educational and recreational needs of all members of the community on an equitable basis" (City of Boroondara Library Service Collection Development Policy)

The End

#22 Audiobooks (A pirate's life for me)

Worldebookfair

Personally this is not a resource that I would use as ebooks don't interest me all that much. Mainly, i think, because I find it easy to tune out voices and near impossible to tune out music (so maybe if the ebook was set to music... bizarre mental image of me listening to a musical version of Sun Tzu's "Art of war")

Librarily I think these online ebook libraries would be a boon. People could download them from home or from library computers and listen to as many, or as few, as they liked. Especially as MP3 is such an available format now.

I was interested in what, if any, mechanisms are in place to prevent piracy - for example: can I, instead of (or as well as) saving the book to my MP3 player, burn it to cd also? I mean what is to stop me (hypothetically speaking) from downloading something that's on the VCE reading list, burning mutiple copies to cd, and selling them to students?

I had a bit of an explore and couldn't find anything that specifically addressed that issue. Will continue to look (for interest's sake, not for nefarious reasons)!

#21 Podcasts (Listening to you)

I have been looking at the use of podcasts in public libraries for a while now as we are keen to make available podcasts of booktalks and guest speakers on our website.

A few years ago we got a grant to record some book reviews and put them our website and, in a way, that was the forerunner to podcasts. (The reviews were very popular and at one stage were one of the most visited parts of the site)

Podcasts are a great way to introduce people to the range of services offered by the library. It doesn't have to be a podcast of a booktalk, it can be an instructional tool - how to reserve a book; informative - listen to the library guide rather than reading it; find out what's new in library land.

I've added the podcasts of (author) Michael Connelly to my bloglines account. He regularly adds new podcasts to his website - usually of interviews he has done or talks he has given. As he is one of my favourite crime authors I can hear him: read a chapter from his new book; talk about character development in his next novel; or discuss crime fiction with other authors.

I can see a lot of uses for podcasts in libraries, the open up a whole new way for people to access the library and its programs without necessarily having to enter the building.

#20 Youtube (You should be dancing)

This clip combines three of my favourite things

• Rudolf Nureyev
• Swan Lake
• The muppets
  
  
  

Couldn't decide between the above clip or this one

• Rudolf Nureyev
• The Muppets
• Tap dancing

Both clips show that Nureyev, as well as being a stunning dancer also has a wicked sense of humour. It also shows the creativity of the talent behind the muppets.

In a library sense we could maybe film booktalks, storytimes, guest speakers etc. and post them to youtube so that all patrons could view them, not just those who were able to attend.

Would need a video camera of some sort and due care and attention to copyright issues.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools (Eureka)

I used netvibes to set up a personalised start page for my computer. It's a free web start page; the idea being that when you turn on your pc your start page is the netvibes page you have customised.

There are a number of templates you can use (or you can design your own). On the start page you can have up to four columns and a nunmber of browse boxes within each column. You can also add tabs (think tabbed browsing a la firefox, or IE 7) to further customise your page.

In a library setting I think this would be a very useful tool. For example the first screen the user sees on the library pc might include:

• a search box for the library catalogue
• a list of upcoming events (with a search option)
• a list of feeds from the library blog(s)
• todays weather
• todays news headlines
• google search
• link to online databases
• link to ebooks
• podcasts
• youtube
• flickr
• and so much more

As with all this type of thing the hardest part is the setting up - deciding what to put on the page, how to arrange it, and what it should look like. Once those decisions are made it's easy.

#18 Web based Apps (Memory)

I've been using google docs for a while now - mainly the spreadsheet application. I use it to keep track of my to do list. Being web based I can access it from work and/or from home, or from anywhere where I have web access.

I've opened up an account with Zoho and had a bit of a play with its various functions. I really like the look of the planner as it seems to have most of the features I'm looking for - to do list, appointments, notes, I can email stuff to it, and it's free.

Looking at the list of "Web based productivity applications" it seems that if you have access to the internet then there is a huge range of web based applications. No need to carry round a memory stick (or floppy disc) with info that you want to be able to access on different computers. Instead you can have a half finished letter saved in zoho writer or google docs, a shopping list saved on remember the milk or tada lists, a calendar application that sends you an email to remind you of an upcoming appointment and so on.

I can also give other people access to this info if I want to. When planning a family get together I can check my sisters online calendar for a date we're all available, she can do likewise (it reduces the number of back and forth emails as we all try to decide on a date/time.

There is such a range of free, online apps that it makes me wonder if there is any real need to purchase Microsoft Office or similar programs anymore.

#17. PBWiki (I have confidence)

Well, I added my blog to the Australian blogs list at PBWiki.

I was tempted to confuzzle everyone by adding it to one of the library services that had added their logo (- how did they do that, btw?)

I tried to use the WYSIWYG editor to add the link to the blog title but it just kept pointing at me and laughing (or saying error on page - you choose)

I will return to PBWiki at a later stage as I'm determined to do the whole title/link thing or die in the attempt.

#16 Wiki Wiki Wiki, Oi Oi Oi (All that jazz)

In one of my other (non library) lives I am involved in an organisation that used to have an entry on Wikipedia.

The entry (which a third party wrote) contained some factual inaccuracies which we felt obliged to correct. We then (with the blessing of the original author) continued to update the entry regularly with competition results and the like. (This is sorta, kinda, against the Wikipedia rules which discourage autobiographical entries)

However someone took umbrage with the organisation and edited the information on Wikipedia maliciously.

This led to accusations of vandalism, sock puppetry*, and whatever is the internet version of duelling pistols at thirty paces.

This gave me a somewhat jaundiced view of wikipedia and wikis in general.

I can see how useful they could be in a library but the collaborative, anyone-can-edit aspect concerns me especially where accuracy of information is crucial.

Unfortunately what is attractive about wikis (their openness to all, minimal moderation, anyone can contribute to them) can also be what is most dangerous about them, and most open to abuse.

Nonetheless I think a wiki could be extremely useful (and valuable) for a public library - as a form of interaction between the library and the readers, (eg: book reviews, recommendations, suggestions) and the library and the wider world (information sharing, local knowledge etc.)

* Sock puppetry - an explanation. On Wikipedia sock puppeteers are contributors who have multiple logins/ids (and use their multiple ids for evil instead of good). Wikipedia have a 'one vote, one person' ideal but some people have multiple logins so that they can basically vote/comment more than once on a issue in which they have an interest.