Social Networking

Social networking provides libraries with the opportunity to market services to the community and also with the library itself. It also provides a great way of communicating ideas and opportunities that are available in the library.

Also if there multiply library locations these could be connected this way providing easy access for staff and library patrons, it provides an excellent way of communicating without the physical location restricting access.

Google Docs & Zoho

Having looked at Google Docs and Zoho I found the Google docs much easier to use, it was pretty straight forward.

Google Docs could be used for staff involved in replacing stock, it is an easy way to keep a list active that staff could access so they add titles that need replacing and it would save duplicating lists from different libraries within your library system.

I found I could use it in my job as I am responsible for purchasing popular music Cd's and this would allow staff to add requests to the list and save them time sending paper requests to me which I then transfer to a excel spreadsheet.

Mashups!

Mashups could be used for so many things in the library, making promotional materials, displays for events in the library, childrens activities.
There seems to be an endless list of creative applications that they could be used for.

Podcasts..................

Having looked at some of the podcasts it is amazing the variety of information available also the quality ranges from children doing projects to professionally recorded interviews. The scope of the material really is endless and the opportunities that it can provide are also endless.

Public libraries could easily utilise the opportunity to podcast, all kinds of information author talks, lectures even storytelling sessions. They would provide an access to many people including those who are sight impaired, have mobility issues, or other health issues they may exclude from participating in the community and as a lot of people are already using these new technologies it seems like a perfect opportunity to encourage our libraries to go ahead with them.

There are obvious difficulties with some libraries having restrictions put in place by there IT departments but hopefully a solution can be found when the benefits of providing these services are seen as a positive step forward for libraries and there councils, providing them with ways to podcast council meetings, forums etc.

Slam the boards ?

Having looked at the websites Answer boards and Yahoo7Answers it looked very interesting and the ratings given to answers from library staff were much higher than from others, so maybe the public think we do know everything instead of just knowing where to find the answers to most things.

Answer boards would be a great way of answering questions from people who aren't comfortable coming in and asking questions at our desks. Also the experience is quite daunting for some people as they feel overwhelmed by having to ask for help.


Having a tool that could be used to provide information from our library users about us and what we do well and to also show us things that we could improve or change would be incredible useful.

Penny del.icio.us

Del.icio.us provides a great service to link all your favourite sites together, but I think best part of it is that it allows you to access your favourites from any computer that has internet access. I don't know how many times I have saved a website so that I can look at it later or from my home computer and then I have either forgotten about it, or been unable to remember what the site was when I got home. I used to email websites to myself so that I could look at them from other computers but Del.icio.us makes it so much easier.


Setting up bookmarks for students would be great as they could be linked to the catalogue especially for HSC students or for special interest groups.

YOU TUBE AND YOU

Having looked at You tube and Google video it is truly amazing what is available out there and the range of applications that it can be used for. Obviously some of the videos are purely put out there for there entertainment value, I think if some people did a search for libraries and saw some of the video clips of library staff at work and play they may have a different idea about us...well some of us.


I looked at Google videos of Mosman Library, author talks that they have held in the library are there for anyone to watch, I thought it was a great way to engage people who may not know that the library holds those events. It also promotes the library and its services to a wider audience.

When looking at the videos from We love our our NJ libraries and the others they were great at showing the different reasons why people went to there library and it was also a great way to showcase your libraries resources and facilities. I did a search on Australian libraries in You tube there are many great videos done by library staff and by visitors to the libraries. There was a funny one on You tube done by 3 tourists to Brisbane Library it is called "The Brisbane Library".

Wiki world

Apart from using Wikipedia I hadn't really thought about wiki's, or why I would use one. I looked at the Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton Public Library the wiki provided a perfect place for people to express their feelings for a book they had just read or for a favourite book that they would encourage others to read. What I found really useful was that the reviews provided details of a book which you may never would have picked up to read, but because of the information in the wiki it invites to read it, so you may find a fantastic new author.

I also looked at the Montana History wiki and Wookipedia they were both great as they put together facts that are linked by common threads. Wookipedia linked like minded people together who were passionate about the same thing and provided them with a place where they could find topics, and share their knowledge.

Libraries could you use wiki for book reviews, discussions about events happening in there local library and also in there local area it opens up ways for people to communicate who may be unable to visit the library but would like to be part of what is happening.

Wiki would also be great for library staff discussions especially if the libraries are separated by distance, or by staff working in remote sites. It would promote a sense of inclusion for staff who are working by themselves or in small libraries.

I have completed the RSS section I found it really interesting, the RSS weren't as difficult to find as I first thought. I'm not sure if I will use them in my job but I can see how libraries could use them for their patrons. They would be excellent for updating patrons on events happening in the library and for advising them of book reviews etc. I was searching on mainly RSS news feeds some where more complicated to locate than others not all them have there RSS icons in easy to find locations.

Penny Lane sign

This is my first attempt at adding pictures to my blog..... and I did it!!

Welcome to my first blog attempt

This is my first blog attempt, it is part of the State Library of New South Wales Learning 2.0 for people working in public libraries. So far so good.. it will be interesting to see how many of us continue blogging once the course is completed. It is a different way to learn for many of us as it isn't in a formal setting and we get to use the net and to do it when it is convenient for us and not having to attend training courses away from the library is a great bonus. Having looked at the sample blogs from this weeks agenda it was amazing to see the variety and the uses, they really made you want to read them and they looked so good that you were drawn into reading them.