Excercise 11, Library 2.0

My local library could do with a bit more in the way of 2.0 technology. Apart from online catalogues, self-checkout and computer facilities Five Dock Library is still stuck in the 1990s.

Where is the free wi-fi for patrons? More M-Library services? It would also be nice to receive e-newsletters from my library about upcoming events and releases.

I had a very nice (virtual) stroll through the New York Public Library.

NYPL offer an app - an app! - for their patrons. You can manage your account, reserve titles etc, all via the app on your smart phone. I love this. Check it out here:  http://www.nypl.org/mobile-help

They also offer an RSS feed which updates patrons regularly on news and releases: http://www.nypl.org/help/rss-feeds

You can follow NYPL on Twitter, Facebook and blog. There is a great sense of community through using this social media. Patrons can talk to each other and the librarians.

Through the NYPL community outreach program - also online - the underserved, less mobile and special needs members of the community can have a rich library and community experience. http://www.nypl.org/help/community-outreach. It provides information and help to nursing home residents, the homeless, people who are 50+, incarcerated New York residents and immigrants. Its an amazing service.

The site is also tailored to suit each demographic. You simply choose your demographic from a drop-down menu and the site tailors itself to the individual's needs:

When I chose 'child', i was navigated to a child-friendly page with upcoming events and information, and easy to follow instructions on how to use the website, the library itself and the catalogue.
http://www.nypl.org/help/getting-oriented/resources-kids

Next I chose 'teen',  and was taken to a Resources for Teens page with loads of information pertinent to that demographic.

Finding local studies proved to be a bit trickier, but by searching in nypl.org I found some good stuff: http://www.nypl.org/search/apachesolr_search/local

The 'explore' tab made going through the NYPL's adult fiction and reference shelves from home very easy. I could choose my preferred format, could download e-books straight from the website, and browse new releases.

Come on Five Dock Library, lets get some of these fabulous resources already!

Excercise 17 - Bye bye!

Excercise 16 - Comment on your teacher's blog

On October 7 I posted the following comment to Gary's Current Awareness post.

"I really like the robot/ABDS system. I dont think it takes away at all from the browsing-actual-shelves experience, as there is a feature built into the catalogue just for that (the 'browse shelf' feature under every title searched. All new and popular books will still be physically on the shelf for us to browse. It will just be the back catalogue that uses the ABDS system. I think the robot will benefit library users and librarians alike. If there was a blackout - well, that would pose some problems. But I think the pluses far outweigh any minuses.

- Jane"

Excercise 15 - Commenting on other blogs

I chose to read and comment on Meredith Laylim's blog as well as Jen Brock's.



I commented on Meredith's Layout post as follows:


"I have a lovely image in my head of you sitting there, staring at your computer screen, watching the fish swim about. 

End of term Therapy?

I found that changing the layout was rather tricky - writing on the margins was 'bleeding' into the main body. You sound like a pro ;)"

I also commented on her post about her local library services. 

"Meredith, this is such a thorough look at your library, job well done! I love that there is a book club that anyone can join, and that music can be downloaded free and transferred to iPods."

I then chose a couple of posts to comment on from Lucy Goldston's posts. Firstly, her post on social networking:


"Its funny you mention that Facebook page "I bet I can find...". I noticed it a while back and was also sad that it had reached a small number.

I also agree with you about Facebook being a time vacuum. But it is an insomniac's best friend ;)

Jane Fafeita"


I enjoyed reading her post on Library 2.0:


Lucy, you have explained 2.0 so well, so succinctly that it makes me want to go back and redo mine.

Jane

Excercise 14 Inviting co-authors

I got a bit carried away inviting classmates to be co-authors - I now have

Meredith
Lucy
Jen Brock
Yvonne
Kiymet
Deva

Excercise 13 - changing blog arrangement

I played around with the layout and ended up going back to my original choice - a nice wide blog space with a right-hand-side menu panel.

As far as fonts go, I decided to change to 'copse' as it has a lovely old school typewriter feel.

Excerise 12 - changing colours

I searched and searched through the colour schemes and themes when I first established my blog.

For the aim of the excercise I changed it again but I will revert back to my original one methinks.

I kinda wish there was more to choose from...

Excercise 10 - Library 2.0

I ventured online to check out my local library's 2.0 facilities and found very little.

This was surprising as the library itself appears state of the art and modern, and is always full of locals hunched over in the research and study section.

Maybe I'm not surfing the site properly, I thought. Nope, still nothing except access to their catalogue once I'd keyed my membership in.

So I paid the library a visit. Asked the very lovely librarian what e-resources they had. She looked at me a little blankly and said - "well, we have the catalogue".

"What about, say, resources for the community, for teenagers, local studies etc?" She shook her head and again pointed to the catalogue computers standing three in a row.

Miffed, I went home and thought "how do I write a blog post about nada?"

Later that week when I took my children, Sam & Aurora, to exchange their library books, I happened to notice some dusty leaflets on the counter. Lo and behold - e-resources! Library 2.0. er, stuff!

I pocketed them and went home to tackle my 2.0 blog post, wondering why on earth this information wasn't offered easily.

The brochures provided the following information:

Online information for school students:

Really just instructions on how to - you guessed it - how to use their library catalogue to find different subjects. There are vague references by way of icons to World Book Online for Kids, Britannica Online and World Book Digital Libraries and thats about it.

Another leaflet is aimed at adults and older students, and is a list of free online databases on a variety of subjects. Now this was more like it! They sites are listed below:

Greenfile - environmental

Aust/NZ Reference Centre - antipodean newspaper articles

MasterFILE Premier: Covers virtually every subject of general interest, updated daily.

Aust/NZ Points of View Reference Centre - hundreds of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. Yowza!

Consumer Health Complete - evidence-based health news and reports.

Good Reading Online and Novelist Plus - a guide to helping readers choose fiction and non-fiction titles by way of subject or 'read-alikes' (similar to Amazon's buy-alike feature) etc. Fabbo!

Family History Databases - access to ancestory and the NSW Family History Document Services from within the library itself. 

World Book & Britannica Encyclopedias - (when did the spelling of encyclopaedia change?)

The brochure also included instructions on how to access the databases.

Where was this leaflet when i was working on my darn Annotated Bibliography?!

The last leaflet is a guide to Electronic resources for world religions. It contains a link to Facts On File - World Religions Online.

In conclusion - Five Dock Library has quite a substantial Library 2.0 component. But you have to be Agatha Christie to find it.

Excercise 9 - Community Profiles

I live in Abbotsford, 9km from the CBD, and part of the Canada Bay municipality. Its median age is 38,  many with young families - the percentage of children aged under 19 is 15%, which is quite high. It is an affluent, middle/upper middle class community, with its real estate values coming 149th in Sydney for house prices out of all 948 suburbs. Over half the population is Catholic, and a very high percentage (12%) are Italian. In fact, in my apartment block of 10, only 2 families (mine included) are not Italian. The area also has a high rate of native-born Australians - 68%. We also have a high percentage of people over 60 (21%).



The annual Ferragosto Festival - Italian cars on display



The annual Ferragosto Festival - death by cannoli



The annual Ferragosto Festival

So what does this all mean for our local library service?

A good quarter of the square footage of Five Dock Library, 2km from where we live in Abbotsford, is given over to the childrens section. There is also an extensive Italian section, including fiction and non-fiction books written in Italian for both adults and children, as well as Italian grammar books. There is also a good-sized large-print section for seniors.

Five Dock Library

the children's section

Libri Italiani

Un sacco di libri Italiani!

Computer and study area, free and unlimited

My children, Samuel & Aurora, enjoying our library.

You can visit Canada Bay Council's website here: http://profile.id.com.au/canada-bay/about. or visit the library website directly at http://www.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/your_local_library/your_local_library.html.

Excercise 7 Podcasts

The State Library of NSW offers a wide range of podcasts. I chose one titled You Cant Always Get What You Want - an interview with Sam Cutler, interviewed by author Jeff Apter.

I spent an enjoyable hour listening to legendary tour manager, Sam Cutler. The very entertaining Cutler has worked with bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead, and is a natural raconteur. He recounts tales from the road (namely, touring America with the Stones) and shares fabulous tidbits of personal information about some infamous names in music. Who knew that Keith Richards is a bibliophile, with a stately library in his home containing over 30,000 books?

The podcast can be found here:

http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/podcasts/events/cutler_youcantalways.html

Excercise 6 - Social Bookmarking

I've often wished my local library provided its members with reviews as part of their catalogue (I'm still miffed as to why its called 'Social Bookmarking' and not just simply 'Reviews'). It would make my search for reading material quicker and simpler. Instead, I have to navigate away from the library's catalogue and onto external book review sites to get a feel for the book and work out if its what I want.

I used to run an art-house video store. I typed up little reviews on cards that I would prop next to the dvd rentals. The presence of these reviews often meant that tiny, small-release (but expensive to buy) movies, tv shows & documentaries got huge repeat rentals at my shop, just because I'd watched it and typed my opinion on a playing-card sized piece of cardboard.

As a librarian, I would offer this service without a doubt. It is hard to gauge the feel of a book by the jacket alone, especially as the reviews on offer usually have a bias. As a reader, either for myself or picking up something for my children, I want a concise and definitive snapshot of the book, then and there. (No I'm not lazy, I'm busy!)

I found the 2 reviews for the book about Martin Bryant - "Born or Bred" - very helpful. I can see how they would help a reader decide whether it was something they would want to read. The first reviewer thought to include an important feature of the book - that is, that the detailed events of the massacre are secured away ("quarantined") at the back of the book, and clearly marked, in case the reader is squeamish or sensitive to such details and wants to avoid them. Service!

Excercise 5 - Libraries Mixing it Up in Social Media

I'm inspired by the Facebook page "I'll Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Think Libraries Are Important" although its a shame only 314 of us have joined!

I'm all for libraries getting on board social media. These days, I don't think any business or organisation can afford not to use social media. Its where everybody else is hanging out, and if you want your organisation to thrive, be part of the community, and grow in general, you need to get in there, get amongst it.

Libraries can use social media to humanise themselves. Through it they can build and project their image, ideas, place in the community and accessibility. They can engage with every demographic of the community, and invite users to engage with them in return.

Suddenly, libraries aren't just a pile of bricks, quiet aisles of books and a membership card. They are an inviting, 24/7 accessible, living, breathing hub of the community where members can go to glean or share ideas with other members, access all manner of online information, or tune in to what's going on in their area.

Social Media is crucial to the future of public libraries. As the publishing world changes and the eBook industry flourishes, as information has become more accessible to individuals without the need to walk down to their local library, the focus of the public library has shifted. It has to offer more than books and audio-visual items in order to survive, otherwise it risks becoming redundant.

Excercise 4 - YouTube

An Interview with Nancy Pearl:

Excercise 3 - Flickr

Flickr is a treasure trove of amazing images!

I found a fabulous black and white photograph of a family of travellers, or gypsies, taken in County Cork, Ireland, in 1954. A traveller family, women and children, sit in their painted caravan.

The photograph, titled 'Travellers' Decorated Caravan', was contributed by the National Library of Ireland on the Commons. You can view the photograph here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/6136023633/

Excercise 2 -Blogging

When I commenced exploring the three example blogs provided by Gary, I ran into a dead end with the first one (the site had been hacked), the second one was too dry for a Monday morning so I persevered with the final one: The Librarian in Back.

http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/

The premise of The Librarian in Back is fun. Its a modern, sharp, Gen-Y feeling blog that eradicates the musty idea folks have of librarians of old.

I liked the post about Shit Librarians Say as I always enjoy the Shit the ____ Say memes. I look forward to checking back in on the competition to view the YouTube entries.

The eBooks article was interesting, and proved that the blogger, Sarah Houghton, knows the publishing industry well. That kind of know-how is a always a plus for the readers because it gives us confidence in the blogger.

However, by the time I finished the article, and started to read the next post, I was over Sarah Houghton. I got the feeling that she is her own biggest fan, and her writing style is just a bit too pointy and stabby (?) to enjoy. She rambles way too much which made reading her blog posts too much like hard work.

I guess there is a certain self-indulgence that comes with any blog - it almost always turns me off reading them.

Excercise 1 - Web & Library 2.0

So what exactly is Library 2.0?

It is a term used to describe the online, user-focussed development of library services, allowing library users to access and participate in their local library service. Public libraries have embraced modern-day technology, allowing its members to interact, keep up to date and contribute to their library. Through use of social media, libraries are able to target demographics and provide them with enriched, direct services and information.

Some Web 2.0 applications commonly used by librarians are:

Facebook
Flickr
Youtube

Photo Despair

This morning brings a new stony resolve to my Mega Weight Loss Mission.

It comes after viewing a photo of myself taken for today's edition of the Daily Telegraph.

The issue I was interviewed about was crippling electricity bills, and a lovely photographer called Atilla came to our home to take photos of myself and my two little ones.

All I see when I look at the photo is FAT. And its there for the world to see on the world wide web. ARGH!!!

The article itself is here:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/mother-hit-with-bill-of-despair/story-e6freuy9-1226465933540

I am such a vain creature, and I will use this horror to my advantage. Watch this space!