Monday, 17 November 2008

Summary of 23 Things exercise

I began this learning process wondering how I was going to ever find the time to complete it. It has not been a quick learning exercise, some weeks have required a lot more time than others but each week has been a struggle to complete the required exercises. I think it helped that I was already familiar with some of the technologies, I already have my own personal blog and that really helped me to get through some weeks much faster. Also, being the first participant was very motivational, I felt the pressure to get through and test the exercises so that others could follow.

I’ve enjoyed this activity immensely. It’s so interesting to see the interactions that are possible between these different new technologies, and play with them. I think that has been the best part actually, playing with them. It’s my favourite learning style after all…

Looking back at my blog, it looks like I’ve meandered a little off topic, there’s pictures of cars and dolls and a meme in there amongst the exercises. Not very library of me. But very me. I hope you don’t mind these occasional excursions, I think they very much assisted my learning process.

It’s hard to pick a favourite exercise – I was quite rapt with the Flickr tools, and very keen on Library Thing. It’s just been so great to see what is out there. I very much enjoyed customising my blog and playing with all the features.

I hope that all the other participants are able to soldier on and get through. It's so very worthwhile once you get there.

Friday, 14 November 2008

NetLibrary e-audiobooks

I registered with NetLibrary and searched for audiobooks. There are a lot of interesting titles, both professionally and personally. Sadly though, because UniSA doesn't purchase audiobooks from NetLibrary, we won't have any to download and play with!

I located a list created by East Baton Rouge Parish Library of free e-audiobooks. I was particularly keen on the Project Gutenberg audiobook titles which are available, there's heaps of great literature there and with so many download options.

Podcasts

Today I visited Podcast Alley. I didn't really like it to start with, mostly because the podcasts that interested me hadn't been updated in a while. That is usually something that kills my enthusiasm. Then I found one called Library Geeks and I decided perhaps it wasn't so bad after all.

I ask you, given the description of the Library Geeks podcast - 'Welcome to Library Geeks, where librarians, geeks, and geek librarians geek out about libraries.' - what's not to like!

I also found one for collectors of Blythe dolls and added both to my Bloglines account.

The Yahoo podcast link from 23 Things didn't work, so I went to Yahoo and searched for it and it appears to have disappeared.

Thursday, 13 November 2008

Time for YouTube

There's such a variety of videos available on YouTube. Some are clever and informative, others seem to be the result of a drunken night out!

I've played with YouTube before, but not embedded video in a blog before. It was hard to know what to embed, so I've gone with two very different options.

Firstly, the new ad from UniSA (because I saw it on telly this morning and thought it was a bit groovy)



and secondly, James May's expedition in a Bugatti Veyron at 253MPH. Because I like it!



Annoyingly some of the videos I really liked and wanted to embed were restricted. So you could watch them on YouTube, but couldn't embed them anywhere.

Monday, 3 November 2008

Web 2.0 Award Winners

I was quite excited about this list of winners, there looked like some interesting names and categories. In actual fact, it wasn't really exciting at all. There were some familiar names like Delicious and CitySearch, but I thought some of the others were a bit dull.

I liked Biblio - very much like Abebooks but a site with much greater functionality. I particularly liked the browsing function and that they have created lists of author biographies and bibliographies. I love VuFind, it's being worked on here at UniSA Library at the moment and it's an exciting piece of software. The example of VuFind in action at the National Library of Australia looks great! It will be wonderful having that kind of flexibility in our catalogue. I was sorry that Library Thing only got an honourable mention - that site is a lot of fun. I don't know why I'm so interested in cataloguing my books at home. It's a little sad, I admit, but I think it would be heaps of fun :-)

Zoho Writer

I enjoyed playing with Zoho writer. It's quite an odd tool in some ways.

Really when you think about it, Microsoft Office has been becoming more and more webified so it should be a more natural progression than it feels. I do think it could be quite useful though so I'm adding it to my Delicious

I'm curious though. What if my network connection crashes and I lose my internet partway through a document. Autosave perhaps? Might have to explore that more...

I attempted to publish the document directly into my blog, but I kept getting error messages. There were also some times where I'd click on a button to change font, or even the publish button, and nothing would happen for some minutes. I suspect being dependent on internet access could actually be quite problematic. A cute and nifty tool - but I think there could be problems.

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Playing in the Sandbox

I accessed the PLCMC Learning 2.0 wiki and created an account so that I was able to login and edit the Favourite Blogs page. I needed to link the PLCMC Learning 2.0 wiki to my login in order to be able to do that. It asked for an additional password in order to edit the page - thankfully it appeared in the Title bar of the Window in the previous screen. I guess it's fairly obvious anyway :-)

I edited the Favourite Blogs page and added a banner for UniSA Library. My blog is now listed below it and other staff need to add themselves in as well. It's a very messy page really. An example of where there is a need for quality control in a wiki. There's no uniformity, different font sized and strange gaps. I guess it is a sandbox for a reason though, so I shouldn't whinge really. It's all learning! It just offends the graphic designer in me.

I've also contibuted my favourite wine Killawarra Dusk, my favourite poem Desiderata, my cat Alistair, my 3 favourite sayings... this has been great.

Wikis

This week I've begun playing with wikis. I've had a small amount of experience with them prior to this, because in IR&T we manage WikIRT which provides updates on recently purchased materials and also access issues etc. I think WikIRT is a useful resource, but it is made that way by being kept current. This exercise has made me mindful of the fact that I really need to update it and add some news.

I began by looking at some of the suggested wikis. I quite liked the idea of the Pathfinder wiki from St. Joseph County Public Library system. It looked easy to work with, and very clearly set out. I did get a little distracted by the family history section, which looked like one of the best pathfinders I've seen, except for the fact that it was US-focused :-)

I preferred the Library Success wiki. I really loved this site, it is somewhere that I will visit regularly now that I know it's here. I've tried to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates, but it doesn't appear to be generating feeds correctly. I think it could be a useful reference for the future, the section on selecting materials was really very interesting. Again, well structured and useful - what more could we ask for!! It does seem that the more successful wikis are the result of a good community interaction. I think I need to begin making more of an effort myself.

Monday, 20 October 2008

Closest Book meme

* Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the next seven sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

And here is my nearest book...
Acquisitions Go Global: an introduction to library collection management in the 21st Century by Jim Agee

The typical constraints are budgets that cannot keep pace with costs of materials, limits to knowledge when confronted with dynamically evolving technological products, meeting the needs of diverse populations of information seekers, and simply not having as much time to invest in crafting solutions as most professionals would like. A significant redeeming factor in all of this is that the situation, at an individual professional level, is essentially the same regardless of location. Whether a librarian lives in a developing nation with a less-than-reliable physical infrastructure or in North America, the entire profession is trying to find solutions. Location is less a factor in the work of today's librarianship than technology, networked production of new information, and the all too real fact that there are still only 24 hours in a day. Librarians must work to balance theoretical goals with real practicalities. Commitments have recently been made at major institutions, such as the decision at the University of Chicago, to continue acquiring traditional bound books. Books are a known format, easily accessible by library users, and there is already a huge existing collection of books upon which to continue building.

Friday, 17 October 2008

Isn't this amazing - Angkor Library

Angkor Library Sunset

Library 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

I've heard the term Library 2.0 bandied about for a while now, but never actually heard a decent definition of it. My take on it is that it's a means of user-centred change and interaction. In practical terms it seems to be having greatest impact on OPAC and web design. The Library Catalogue has come a long way from cards in a drawer - I'm glad that I am part of a Generation that remembers working that way though. I remember using my first OPAC when studying at Newcastle High and it was just so...DOS. Eww. Unfriendly and dependent on using the correct function keys to perform the search you wanted. So much has changed. I have to wonder - if it's changed this much in my reasonably short lifetime, how much more is to come? Certainly the new-generation OPACs are taking a lesson from Google and Amazon in both functionality, look and feel. By making them as user-friendly, intuitive and interactive as possible, Libraries are going a long way towards cementing their role and increasing their 'approachability'. So many new possibilities for engaging with users.

It is funny though, there are some means of engagement that seem so natural for a Library to promote, but there are others that just seem really naff. Taking up new technologies for the sake of looking to be doing the right thing without actually having any sort of useful purpose is silly. It's a bit like those people who create an island in Second Life purely for appearance.

"This librarian does not buy technology for the sake of technology. “Techno-worship” does not exist here. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status. Technology is put to the test: Does it meet the users need in a new or improved way? Does it create a useful service for putting users together with the information and experience they seek? These are some of the questions this librarian asks when planning for technology. This librarian creates and nurtures a living, breathing technology plan." (Stephens 2006)

I really like that. Michael Stephens makes a lot of sense to me. An understanding that the "future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content. Content is a conversation as well and librarians should participate" (Stephens 2006) - LOVE IT!

One thing I've discovered in recent years is that I love tagging. The concept of creating a blog entry and tagging it is just so good. It appeals to the cataloguer in me and yet it is part of this new wave of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 stuff.

Really when it comes to Library 2.0, isn't integration part of the key? Integrating technologies, integrating people, skills, knowledge?

I think this is going to be interesting...






References:
Stephens, M 2006, Into a new world of librarianship, OCLC NextSpace, viewed 17 October 2008, <http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm>

An illustration - because there is too much text on this page!!

This is Imogen, she's one of my dolls. She's an Elfdoll Ryung with default faceup and is 56cm tall.

PurpleImogen02

Technorati and Jennifer Garner

I've been exploring Technorati again this week. I first looked at it during Week 4 when I was trying to find interesting feeds to subscribe to.

This time around I've been looking at some of the popular blogs and topics which are being accessed. It was surprising to see zero discussion about the global financial crisis, obviously that could also be covered by the 'news' category, but I had expected to see more. So I thought I'd look closer at the popular searches.

The top search, when I looked, was 'Taskbar'. Huh?

Second and third most popular searches were 'News' and 'Environment' - all very reasonable.

Fourth most popular - 'Jennifer Garner'. Hmm, this is weird. So I clicked on this one to see what was currently being said about Jennifer Garner and it turns out that she took her daughter Violet to a painting class today. It all becomes clear to me now.

Other popular searches were:
5. Men
6. Cheat-codes
7. Google
8. Paris Hilton
9. Jennifer Aniston
10. Vanessa Minnillo
11. Arab
12. Olympics
13. Kerry Howley
14. Noelia
15. IBM

It's interesting to see what the users of Technorati are looking for. When you click further to see the results of these various searches, there is also a graph which illustrates how many posts mentioning the subject have been created in the last 30 days. Apparently something juicy about Jennifer Garner occurred on 10 October - I'm desperate to investigate further :-)

Did you know that the top fan-rated blog in the world is called Boing Boing. I thought this might have been a beat-up but in actual fact it's true. Technorati describes it as '... a weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It's the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com, and won the Lifetime Achievement and Best Group Blog awards at the 2006 Bloggies ceremony'. It was really quite interesting, I had a brief look around and found this. Fascinating!

I found it really amusing that the blog rated as second best was called 'Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging'. A little unsurprising, no?

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Library Thing

I think that Library Thing utterly rocks! Here's a link to my Library. I love that if you add a book into your library and it has a blank cover, you can click further and either upload your own or use a cover supplied by another user. The most recent Phryne Fisher title I added to my library only displayed the default blank cover, so I've selected someone else's, much better.

This sort of thing appeals to me. I'm a total library nerd, I've always wanted to properly catalogue my books and this is just such an interactive way to do it! Once you've added the books, you can then look at your library and see other users who also have the book. I've only added 5 of my books so far, but something tells me that there will be a lot more added there soon.

Del.icio.us

I really like Delicious. I started playing with it recently after being introduced to it by a colleague. I like that I can bookmark something at home and still be able to access that bookmark when I'm at work. I appreciate the ability to make some bookmarks public and others private. I've shown it to a few other colleagues who are equally excited about it. One of them has now begun going around showing it to others. The word of Delicious is spreading...

Tagging is good. As a cataloguer I find it appealing, it provides structure and findability. Both things that are reassuring to me.

Monday, 29 September 2008

Fun with Rollyo

This is some weird stuff. I don't know how people think to create such clever things!
Rollyo is a site where you can create your own searchroll. So you name the searchroll, then nominate all the sites you want it to search. You can make it public and give it tags so that the content is recognisable.

I made one called Eleanor's Books - it contains the urls of all my favourite online bookshops. So all I'll need to do is put in the title or the author and it'll bring up a list of results that will let me keep my books up to date.

Powered by Rollyo
I can see that this tool could be hugely useful for me, both personally and professionally. Also, potential for heaps of fun!

Image generators

I started playing with Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.
It was heaps of fun, it allows you to select images from your computer, or Flickr and composite them into a mosaic. I decided to create a mosaic based on Flickr tags. I started by creating one which contained dolls:

1. September Dusk, 2. September Dusk, 3. September Dusk, 4. September Dusk, 5. September Dusk, 6. September Dusk, 7. September Dusk, 8. September Dusk, 9. Zeisha, 10. Eden, 11. Portrait of Isabella Ortensia, 12. Portrait of Isabella Ortensia, 13. Isabella with Mrs. Isobe, 14. Alice and the Pirates socks, 15. "It's a little big, no?", 16. BTSSB barrette, 17. Momoko: "Anything in there for me?", 18. BTSSB loot, 19. Isabella with Masumi Kanoh, 20. BTSSB darlings, 21. Candela, 22. IMG_4337, 23. Sofia, 24. Sofia, 25. 150, 26. 137, 27. 106, 28. 109, 29. 126, 30. 086, 31. 170, 32. 092, 33. 090, 34. 111, 35. 160, 36. 159

Then I tried one using Library - but the pictures were all naff. So then I tried Flowers and that worked beautifully... I love the way that html is also produced so that you can easily credit the people whose images are shown. You can either elect to use a Flickr tag or a specific Flickr user.

1. Pretty blossoms 1, 2. Pretty blossoms 2, 3. Untitled, 4. Flower in the morning sun, 5. Due Diligence, 6. favorite shot, 7. Flower, 8. Untitled, 9. Aura's daisies, 10. CAMBODIA-Angkor, 11. Dew Drop Refractions, 12. Donna's garden, 13. Passion, 14. 大青, 15. DSC_0041, 16. Jerusalem Artichoke flowers, 17. DSC_0043, 18. DSC_0037, 19. DSC_0038, 20. magenta y amariLLo, 21. Bee - Amman, 22. Spider - Amman, 23. Untitled, 24. DSC_0040, 25. 大青, 26. De Leòn, 27. Roses and the Moon, 28. Untitled, 29. Garden, 30. Pink rose, 31. Love, 32. Garden close up, 33. Pretty in pink, 34. Untitled, 35. flower5, 36. Last Clematis

Friday, 26 September 2008

Finding more feeds

I've now found some really interesting feeds on some of my favourite websites and added them. Technorati was very useful and so was Syndic8, they enabled me to find The Kept Up Academic Librarian and the Technorati Technology Channel which I've now subscribed to. I'll keep an eye out for more when I'm travelling around the web.

There does seem to be so many ways to receive RSS feeds. I've noticed the icon in my Outlook, my Internet Explorer, and now I'm really starting to see it on sites that I visit. I've always sort of known they were there, but now they really stand out to me.

Which begs the question, RSS feeds are designed to reduce the information overload that we face everyday -but could they also give rise to an information addiction? How many feeds are too many? How much information can one person absorb in a day?

RSS feeds and newsreaders

I've played with RSS feeds using Internet Explorer before but hadn't heard of Bloglines. I signed up for a Bloglines account and subscribed to various feeds including cartoons, news, recipes and library issues.

It's quite interesting, I like having all the information together in one place. It's also good that you can put the feeds into different folders so they aren't all cluttered up together.
I've had some difficulty working out the url for my public account so I'll add it here when I work it out. It isn't located where it's supposed to be in the interface and the help doesn't.

Time passes...

Aha! I've cracked it! You need to actually alter it so that you click on Blog and edit the options. Add in a username and also 'Yes, publish my blogroll'. Then you can copy the url and add it thus... My Blogroll