Ad Reinhardt - Astract Painting

Ad Reinhardt - Astract Painting
Originally uploaded by Dom Ciancibelli

Since I couldnot post it onto my own blog Ai thought I would post my favourite painting here as a test

#23 Endings or beginnings

What do I think of what we've been doing for the last couple of months? On the whole I've enjoyed it enormously and I have learned a great deal about the tools and resources available. On the odd occasion my 'f' word hasn't been 'fun' but rather 'frustration' - but that is part of learning and thinking things through.

What Helene Blowers and her colleagues at PLCMC have achieved in developing and making available the program is terrific. In due course I would like to go on to or dip into the '43 Things' she has set up.

We've been given a taster menu and the opportunity to develop some knowledge and confidence. The real test for us is to reflect on which of the tools might best assist us to deliver our services and to reflect on how we can maintain our awareness of what develops in the post Web2.0 world. Because I have done the program without much conversation with colleagues I would benefit from a discussion with others who've just completed it to talk about which of the tools we've looked at present opportunities for our services.

I do know that the harnessing of Web2.0 in the library environment has given rise to much spirited conversation around how we skills ourselves, how we allocate resources, whether we are ceding authority by inviting user participation and contributions and therefore dumbing down and so on. It is for this reason that two recent newspaper articles struck a chord. The first piece (Weekend Australian, 18-19 August 2007, Inquirer, p28, Strike up the bank for elitism) (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22262635-28737,00.html) was an edited extract of a speech by Claire Fox to the Centre for Independent Studies Forum and made me stop and think about the professional skills and judgement we do need to contribute and make accessible regardless of the public and user interaction we invite. The second piece was by Rachel Buchanan (The Age, Saturday 25 August 2007, Insight, p7, Black and white and all over?) (http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/black-and-white-and-all-over/2007/08/24/1187462515667.html) who reflected on the role of reporters and media organisations in the Web2.0 world - all very relevant to libraries.

Thanks to Leneve for enabling me to do the program and to Denise and Lynette at Yarra Plenty for looking after us.

#22 Audiobooks

The functionality that seems to be provided by Netlibrary when you access a book (eg annotation, access to a dictionary, access to a pronunciation guide) are all useful and the process for accessing titles (once your library subscribes) seems straightforward. The services would be a particular boon for schools or universities with multiple campuses and remote students.

I have no idea about comparative costs but, if bearable, a service like this if it offered contemporary material in languages other than English might be a useful alternative to public libraries building collections in such languages.

The range of material available on Gutenberg's Audio eBook Collection fascinated me (I must return to hear Benjamin Franklin's Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout and I can't imagine how wonderful it would have been to have access to the Electronic Tools and Ancient Near Eastern Archives many years ago when at university). Would love to know more about the demographic that uses the site. Was delighted to see that poetry can be heard on the site (eg Coleridge and Shakespeare) because often hearing it read well is the way that you develop confidence/interest in reading it yourself.

Very pleased to learn of these resources and will return to them.

#21 Podcasts

This exercise was valuable for me because I didn't realise that there were such beasts as podcast directories. I did look at the three listed as discovery resources - the layout of podcast.net appealed most to me and seemed most useable. The very general headings under which podcasting programs are clumped might be useful as a browsing resource but they cover such variety it is quite stupefying. Things like the 10 most popular podcasts are fascinating but didn't tempt me in the least to sample any.

Podcasts work well as a way of sharing or extending the life of public programs (eg lectures, debates, seminars) conducted by libraries; as we develop audio guides to exhibitions or collection items it would be useful to load those as podcasts; now that Australian poetry pamphlets are digitised we could podcast some of those poems being read to bring them alive. I have been reflecting on whether the podcast at the beginning of each exercise or 'thing' has added a different dimension to learning - I don't think it has made a material difference.

I added the British Library's podcast feed to my Bloglines account.

#8 RSS and newsreader revisited

In the course of exercise 21 have been doing a lot of listening to podcasts and suddenly realised that I'd not made my RSS feeds public - when I did #8 I couldn't quite make it all work. Of course, no guarantees this time either, but maybe pasting this html will achieve the objective....

#20 YouTube

Searched for all sorts of things on YouTube, including unsuccessfully for a video about a monk showing someone accustomed to scrolls how to read a book, spoofing our bewilderment when faced by computers. Couldn't find it. So then I got serious and looked at various offerings retrieved by a search for 'libraries'. One that caught my eye was A Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto, have tried to embed the string using the Edit Html page so will see what happens because I wasn't sure if I should write the rest of the blog entry in the Edit mode or Compose mode (am doing the latter). The Manifesto was very earnest and worthy and I have no idea how the pictures related to the content.

#19 Web2.0 Tools

Selected Yahoo Answers to look at - it is a cluttered site, which does not appeal to me. However, it is a site that gives you a lot of information about how each transaction/question is proceeding and about the standing or rating of those asking and answering questions which is an interesting and accountable way of managing things. Good use of tags and clouds too. I decided I had better leave the site when I became mesmerized by the actual questions and answers rather than looking at the site and its attributes.

So, off I went to Etsy in the retail category - retail being a personal strength. By contrast a very visual site - lots of photos. This makes sense given the purpose of the site. Library sites could do with more visuals because ours are so text heavy. The other thing that appealed to me was the way that the site offered you 'ways to shop' - for example, by colour, by category of item (jewellery, clothes etc), by maker, by how recently posted to the site, by where the vendor is located (yes, there were sellers in Melbourne!) The Library's site divides 'ways' in by research interest (genealogist, media, teacher etc) may be we could add some quirkier ways in to the site/collection.

#18

The applications available are nifty. Zoho Writer is both sophisticated and easy to use to create a document - which I did. Was terribly inventive and just copied a couple of paragraphs of Madeleine Say's article in the recent slvNews. But my attempts to publish the document to my blog were frustrated - it persisted in saying that my username and/or password were not recognized. In exploring Zoho Writer I also thought that some of the templates they offer would be very useful.

#17 PBWiki

Have looked through the Discovery Resources for the exercise - the PBWiki Tips look very useful. We recently went travelling with a group of friends and I was interested that one application for a wiki was planning a trip - this could work well. Another application that was mentioned was to manage your shopping lists - doesn't appeal to me at all. Looked around the Learning2.0 Favourites Wiki - and added to the list of favourite restaurants and to the list of favourite blogs.

#16 Wikis

I thought that the Book Lovers Wiki and the SJCPL Subject Guides were confident, elegant, useful examples of library wikis. The Book Lovers Wiki would work well with the next iteration of the Summer Reading Challenge that the Library ran last summer with terrific assistance from, and participation of, public libraries. The capacity of wikis as internal tools - replacing training manuals, as communal space for project teams etc - is significant and AID is using the technology for the former purpose. The most challenging applications for us might be in the 'annotating the catalogue' and 'creating community wiki' areas. Maybe a wiki for the City of Literature if that comes off?

The discipline or challenge for us is to pick one or two public applications that will serve us strategically and to support them well.

#15 Library2.0 and Web2.0

The five perspectives in the eOCLC Next Space Newsletter were thought provoking (although I disagree with Wendy Schultz when she categorises the library at Alexandria as Library 1.0 - I think the evidence, meagre though it is, points to it being library as Experience ie her 4.0 library).

The Web2.0 principles of simplicity and self service are important opportunities for providing improved services to more people. The principles of user participation and collective intelligence have immense potential - a radical rethink of what we've done traditionally and narrowly with volunteers.

Web2.0 has much to offer slv21 given that the aim of slv21 is to connect users with the Library and its services, collection and resources whenever they need them from wherever they are.

#14 Technorati

The keyword search for Learning 2.0 in blog posts yielded 22,442 results and in blogs resulted in 536 found. Not only was there a discrepancy in results but the link between the posts and Learning 2.0 was tenuous in many of those I opened. Was diverted by the popular blogs (lifehacker, for example) and popular searches (who can go past Paris Hilton?). Read about tagging posts but am not sure I've mastered this.

#13 Tagging, folksonomies and the rest

Using the PLCMCL2 account was an interesting exercise - Del.icio.us would be very useful if you quickly found the people whose tags you want to 'stalk' because you admire their work and research. Otherwise you can swim around in quite a morass. I could see it working well as a tool for relatively homogenous groups of readers/patrons, for example, in the Genealogy Reading Room where all can have access and contribute. I decided not to create my own account - I think I need to explore it further to see if I become a convert.

#8 RSS and newsreader

This could become my life's work - there are an infinite number of RSS feeds it would fascinating to receive. Have set up a Bloglines account, have selected/subscribed to ten newsfeeds and I have tried to find and share my public Bloglines URL. However, no matter which page I viewed I could not find a share tab that looks like the one in the instructions for #8. Have fiddled around and imported the URL below but who knows to what it will link.

Enjoyed the exercise and can think of how to use it personally. From an institutional perspective it could be very useful to push information out.

#12 Roll your own

Am not sure that I've 'got' the beauty or power of roll your own search engines - I think I've rushed through the exploration part. The Quick Quotes Rollyo seems the most interesting to me and I think I will go back to it. I can see that by creating Rollyos for certain subjects or themes it could make for more thorough searching - would it be quicker than a general search though?

#11 LibraryThing

Three or four years ago a friend was really excited because she'd discovered software that allowed her to catalogue her books at home - this was software that she bought and offered to me on disc so that I might do the same (I didn't). At the time I didn't because the prospect of cataloguing books at home made me want to lie down - too many, couldn't see the point. Yes, a catalogue might stop us from buying the same book again but when I compared the cost of duplicating a purchase with the hours of work there was no contest - I'd happily give any duplicate to a friend!

LibraryThing is a great advance on the software application my friend bought - it is free, it is easy to use (certainly for current publications), and it places your catalogue in a communal space that someone else maintains. Does it make me more inclined to catalogue our books - no.

Maybe if we had a very specialised library that would be useful to share I would catalogue the books. Maybe that would also encourage me to catalogue them for insurance purposes. In a public library setting if you had a resident with a specialist library who was prepared to lend her/his books to other library members that might save you from purchasing a book that otherwise you would not. I don't know...

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Lucylearning

Breakdancing outside the State Library of Victoria

Breakdancing outside the State Library of Victoria
Originally uploaded by Khoi Cao-Lam

This was one of the photos that I tried to include in post #5

#10 Image Generators

I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk

Regrettably, the new magazine I created in FD Toys with the headline story of how Famous at the State Library has broken all records got lost somewhere in transmission - but it was fun while it lasted. Also enjoyed looking at all of the images on www.CustomSignGenerator.com but also spent far more time than required on the text generators - I think libraries should collaborate on a customised advice generator.


http://txt2pic.com/signs/comic-strip/creator.asp?title=CHANGE+THIS+TITLE%21&text=Bring+on+the+day+they+can+email+reference+enquiries&tag=August+12%2C+2007&fontsize=14&font=comic&color=black&move=&move2=&cartoons.x=89&cartoons.y=10&cartoon=1940s-mail-woman-wwii&time=043

#9 finding feeds

Used Feedster, Topix, Google Blog Search and Technorati to do different kinds of searches and found Feedster the least useful. Then I did a comparison by searching all for two things. Firstly, jewellery (not very professional I know) and then Premier's Literary Awards. Feedster provided me with the most unusual find in the jewellery search. I discovered Everlasting Memories Incorporated. This thoughtful company creates pet cremation keepsakes jewellery (for example, a pendant in the shape of a bone) which can 'hold the remains of your beloved pet.' In terms of relevant results, and the most of them, for Premier's Literary Awards Google Blog search performed the best.

#7 about technology

The sheer quantity of material posted to blogs and to sites like flickr is sobering (from a preservation and provision of access point of view) and fascinating (what are the human impulses that have everyone hooked? is it about interaction, is it about playing and learning, is it narcissism). For libraries, the first two - interaction and playing/learning - are terrific opportunities. The insideadog blog is clever because it puts Library staff and authors in the space where young readers are - it is topical, it is searching, it is irreverent. Should we have a blog for first time users of the Library - something that complements all of the printed and web material we put out. It could be written by those who remember what it was like to be a first time user with advice from Library staff. The next time we have a large event, for example, the next public library professional development day or family history feast, should the podcasts be complemented by blogs from participants? I don't mean that we create endless numbers of blogs - but that we experiment to see in what circumstances they are useful.

#6 more flickr fun

Can't decide if the myriad applications available are astonishing or bewildering. Was looking at the librarian trading card - I think I have go back because I can't see the point of it - and posted one to the blog entirely by accident. There are times when this reminds me of maths classes - sometimes you get to a result without the foggiest notion of how you did it (and certainly without the ability to replicate it) and at other times no matter how hard you try - not a single thing happens!

The range of stuff on FD Toys is amazing. Many of these applications would be very useful for marketing/pr purposes. When we were growing up, at the beginning of each year my parents went through the laborious process of deciding which family photo might be made into a card to send far flung relatives with the latest news - they would have loved these tools!

my trading card

my trading card
Originally uploaded by DawnOfTheRead

#5 flickr

Have spent a long and circuitous time looking at flickr. Looked at the photos of library signage - enjoyed the ones that are done with a sense of style, humour and elegance; disheartening to see the ones that are just tacked up and are all about what you can't do. Looked at photos of Alice Springs - because I go there soon. Did flickr help me imagine what I might see - yes; plan what I'm going to do - not really because there is so little context. I looked at the photos of the State Library. If the photos are anything to go by the building and the spaces appeal to people and look wonderful. What appealed to me most was the photo of breakdancing on the forecourt because that is the sort of photo the Library itself is least likely to take and yet is a record of how the space is used. Was touched by the photo of the homeless man who is often on the forecourt. Technically it is not a terrific photo - for example, his head is cropped. But he is such a feature of the forecourt he deserves to be recorded but the photo does it only partially. There is no context - who is he, what has led to him being at the Library. I walk past him most days and now I want to know.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jachichi/92126283

None of the exploration (of the flickr account) and scrupulous reading of all of the instructions (about the flickr blogging tool) has helped me to work out how to add the image to the blog.

This is a trial post, because having created a blog (modest thought it may be) I couldn't access it again. It sounds like that was almost obligatory as we play with this technology.

Creating a blog

Well, a blog created. Have often said that I didn't find the creativity queue when my DNA was being constituted and, at the moment, faced with the many ways that this blog might be titivated I can't think of one I'd wish to pursue.