Adventures with Oskar

#23 The Final Say!

2008-04-17T18:33:00.002+10:00

I enjoyed the exercises with Wikis and particularly the exciting opportunities that they provide for libraries. I also liked LibraryThing, but that was due to my personal interests and use.

The program has made me aware that I need to continually invest in my own education and development. In my role as Online Services Librarian, the use of new technologies is critical in ensuring our Library Service is at the cutting edge of services for our patrons and staff. Utilising these new technologies can only be done through new skills and experiences.

In relation to improvement of this program, I believe that the support from the entire Library Service's leadership is critical. In future, I also believe a support team as suggested by Fiona would be of great help as would an allocated 1 hour 'play time' per week during work hours.

# 22 Downloable audiobooks

2008-04-17T18:24:00.002+10:00

Had a look at some of the many titles at the World eBook Fair Site I was generally impressed. As presumed there were no current authors or titles but the classics were well covered. Although, I was a little puzzled by some of the entries - Chronicles of Avonlea was listed no more than 8 times I think and there was only one other title by Montgomery!

I look forward to hearing more about downloadable audiobooks in the future using Daisy, Bolinda or a complely different source.

#21 Podcasting

2008-04-17T17:30:00.002+10:00

Podcasts are a very good way to communicate with, educate, and inform our users.

I downloaded a feed to the SirsiDynix Institute, which mean that I will now be up-to-date with any of their podcasts in professional development.

My preference in podcast directory is Podcastalley. It provides details about the content and origin of creator, which are easy to skim. I didn't like Yahoo!. Simply due to the reason that it just listed music.

Done of the directories indicate whether a podcast can be downloaded within installing an application such as Feedster or Windows Media Player before you have actually clicked your way through - or have I got it wrong? This is a bit annoying.

Overall, I believe that libraries should start adding postcasts to the list of services, which the provide to the public. Snippets from author talks, Storytime, a how to do ... etc could be some of the areas to cover.

Søg i bibliotek.dk

2008-04-17T09:33:00.001+10:00

Great live introduction to how to search the library catalogue - all in Danish!

#20 YouTube - can be a different way of learning

2008-04-17T08:54:00.005+10:00

I have mainly used YouTube for entertainment - practical jokes, animations - weird and funny stuff. That's what YouTube is full off - stuff.

However, during this journey, I have used YouTube for learning. It has been great to watch short introductions to a particular application. The videos were usually produced by Commoncraft videos and of high standard.

I have found that my understanding of a particular subject gets better if the information is presented to me in various formats - video clips being one.

While exploring YouTube for this task I have found that:

- The videos shouldn't be too long. Otherwise the viewer may loose interest.
- There needs to be a clearly defined point (funny, informative, aestetic, etc) with the video right from the beginning.
- Sound should be used - even though it is only a slide show then a background tune should be incorporated. It's simply more interesting then!

In a library setting, we would be able to use YouTube to show our local history photos as a slide show. We could record interviews with authors, clips of highlights from a particular event (teaser), and we could educate our users in how to use the catalogue. I found a video which does exactly that - in Danish. See the post "Sog in Bibliotek.dk".

#19 Social Bookmarking - Ma.gnolia.com

2008-04-16T21:54:00.002+10:00

I am not a great fan of Del.icio.us so I thought that I would try out another social bookmarking site.

Ma.gnolia.com is clearly defined and the interface is great to look at.

Signing up is dead easy - actually, more sites should use this method. All I had to do was select one of my social networking sites, in my case Facebook, and then I was signed up (almost!).

I am still not quite sure of the exact use for social bookmarking within libraries and our day to day work but Ma.gnolia.com certainly has given me a much better idea of how it works.

#18 ZohoWriter

2008-04-16T21:28:00.002+10:00

ZohoWriter is really just as easy to use as Microsoft Word - apart from inserting hyperlinks, which is easier!

At times it has been a bit slow. However, that may be caused by my connection.

#17 PBWiki Learning 2.0

2008-04-15T16:23:00.002+10:00

I have added my blog to the PBWiki. Editing wikis is very easy!

#16 A wink to Wikis

2008-04-15T12:19:00.002+10:00

I have been exploring wikis and their use for about two years now. It started at university where, at times, it could be difficult to find a time that suited all members from a study group to meet. Then we set up a wiki where we were all able to contribute our ideas and opinions - but at our own convenience.

The wikis worked very well when we did oral presentations, since it could be incorporated into a talk as a point of reference.

In the case of libraries, wikis have a bright future ahead (I think). I see in-house series such as Click goes the Library and About the Boys/Girls particularly suited.

In the case of Click goes... some of the demonstrations refer to a long list of useful websites (such as Travel, Google, and presumably the new demo, Family History). Instead of given them an extensive hand-out, we should just give them one address - Clickgoesthelibrary.webpaint.com (imaginary!). Participants are then also able to add sites, which they themselves have found useful and would like to share with others.

A wiki for About the Boys/Girls could eventually involve boys and girls who are unable to attend the sessions but who would still like to discuss books. A so-called book discussion wiki for teens. It could be a new way for the authors to reach out to their readers as well! Further down the track it could be fun to establish a Boroondara Library Book Club wiki.

I liked Peter Blake's suggestion regarding a Community Wiki. We would suddenly be able to make our community notice board electroni and accommodate every single notice we received - or even better, ask the groups to add their notices themselves! Also, our local information portal would also be a very good and useful tool in a Community wiki.

A wiki needs to be very clearly defined and sources referenced, which is why I liked the St Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides. However, it can very easily become cluttered. Another con is the obvious one - spam. However, there are really just minor issues.

#15 - Perspectives on Web 2.0 and the future

2008-04-14T21:08:00.002+10:00

I agree with Paul Miller in Web 2.0: Building the New Library that the platform for Web 2.0 keeps getting better "the more people use it." However, lots of people in the community are still not confortable or familiar with a range of tools offered on the net. Tools which would be helpful to a Mr or Mrs Bloggs.

Libraries across the world have already acknowledged the demand for education and learning into Web 2.0 and our knowledge is generated into demonstrations and day-to-day help. I agree with Rick Anderson in Away from the "icebergs" that "We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need".

We also need to reach out to the part of the community who are already Web 2.0 savvy and start engaging in information sharing or participating. The online forum is simply another gateway to the library and our presence on the net should therefore be very visiable.

#14 Technorati - self-acclaimed real-time search engine

2008-04-14T20:52:00.002+10:00

Technorati can be slightly confusing to find your way around in. My concern is again directed towards tags and tagging. I looked at an article about Learning 2.0 where the word 'eLearning' was spelt in five different ways. Sure, not everybody are that thorough!

I like that photos and videos have been incorporated alongside blogs. It gives the product a broader scope. I also like how I am able to search the directory by subject or simply by blog title. Finally, if I had had the time I would have liked to add the tag cloud to my blog. I like how the tag font size increases according to usage.

#13 Delirious Del.icio.us?

2008-04-14T19:43:00.002+10:00

I have had a look at Del.ciou.us and understand the concept of being able to share favourite links within the same subject area. Del.ciou.us extends the concept and offers links to related links and comments by the users of the links.

However, I am not convinced that Del.icio.us is the right tool to use on the information desk. I believe Del.icio.us could very easily accumulate an information overload. Furthermore, tagging is another issue. It is left up to the individual to decide how to categorise a website or article so if used and shared by an organisation certain standardizations should be put in place. Suddenly Del.icio.us doesn't seem that appealing to me.

#12a Rollyo - another thing

2008-04-14T18:46:00.002+10:00

I found that my personal search roll didn't appear when I linked to it in my previous post. I have therefore added my search roll to my blog. You can access it in from the left hand side!

#12 Rollyo - my search engine

2008-04-14T12:50:00.002+10:00

I see a great potential for the use of Rollyo in our day-to-day work at the information desk. It could be another access point to reader's advisory, general reference etc. We currently use the in-house created Weblinks for this but because Weblinks isn't a search engine, it can be clumsy to use. Compared to Rollyo's clear search interface.

I like how the creator can choose to make the Rollyo search engine public or not.

Here is my Rollyo

#11 LibraryThing - is it my thing?!

2008-03-17T18:32:00.003+11:00

I have enjoyed having a play with LibraryThing although I was unable to successfully install the Library Search Widget on my blog. This is still bugging me. I can see this being quite useful in regards to sharing my taste in books with my book group, friends and family. In a more professional sense, I am not quite sure how it can be used.

Some of the less attractive sides of LibraryThing are:

Limited storage
Doesn't include audiovisual
The collection can't be divided up into categories or non-fiction/fiction

These are just some of my thoughts!

Have a look at my LibraryThing book shelf here

#10 Online image generators

2008-03-16T19:12:00.003+11:00

This is Scooter - Oskar's new best friend. She is extremely friendly and VERY excitable! I used FD Toys which is part of Flickr to create this but also liked some of the generators listed in The Generator Blog - such as the Bush speech generator (however, couldn't get it to work!!) and the Birthday Cake generator.

I had a look at some of the calendars, which I think I need to go back and have a clooser look at. It could be interesting to create a Library calendar for promotional purposes but also for in-house use. It should list all known events throughout the year.

#9 Finding Feeds

2008-02-20T10:05:00.003+11:00

I'm returning to the 23-Things after having been absent for quite some time to write about finding feeds. I have had a Bloglines account since May 2007 where I subscribe to different types of news. Some of my categories are:
Australian News
Danish News
Library Things
Library Marketing

In the past I have subscribed to feeds using Google Blog Search because I found the search interface really easy to use. Also, the search results didn't seem to be cluttered the way they get in Technorati
I also subscribe to newsfeeds by going directly to the source e.g. Danish news websites and selecting the sections I would like to get updates from.

I haven't used Feedster before and thought I would give it a go yesterday. However, I was unable to access the site. Is that just me or has the site been closed?

Due to our renovations (don't ask how it is going - I'm spending too much time manage my project manager!) I started subscribing to the subject category Home Building News through Topix.net. I like how you are provided with some easy subject headings to choose from - just like the Libraries News Articles!

#8 RSS and Bloglines

2007-12-01T22:58:00.000+11:00

What I like about RSS is that you can specify your interest area in as broad or narrow context as you find useful. Forexample, The Age provides you with an option of subscribing to local news feeds, political feeds, internationsl feeds etc. I have found this particularly useful during the recent election campaign.

I believe that Library Land will become a lot more accessible to groups of patrons who currently do not use the services, if RSS feeds were available. First of all I am thinking about general virtual visibility and secondly I am referring to the use and knowledge of our online databases. RSS is another way of making patrons and patrons-to-be aware of or great resources.

#7 Gizmo of the day!

2007-11-30T19:30:00.000+11:00

Facebook has put me in touch with a whole range of friends and acquaintances on-line. Some on them I see all the time, but others are on the other side of the world. It's great to share photos and thoughts, and to read what people are up to at that point in time. I am a little confused by the gifts and things you buy.

#6 I'm puzzeled!

2007-11-30T19:23:00.002+11:00

I'm puzzeled!
Originally uploaded by Oskar's Way!

These applications are fun to use. I also created a name badge for those very important social Christmas commitments in the park.

#5flickr A Flickr Group into Danish smørrebrød!

2007-11-30T00:14:00.001+11:00

Department store smørrebrød
Originally uploaded by kevincrumbs

I am now the fifth member of a group dedicated to Danish food!

I have noticed that some users of Flickr use more tags than others. The more tags the better when they are available for everyone to use. This way it is easier to find exactly what you are looking for.

I find that Flickr is a great tool to use when having family overseas.

A question about food on a Tuesday

2007-11-27T21:44:00.000+11:00

When asked what my favourite meal was while holidaying in NYC and Denmark for the past three and a half weeks, I had to think twice - because I didn't just have one but manytasty experiences. However, the cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, Greenwich Village, and the 'ristet hot-dog med det hele' from a sausage van in Copenhagen are the things, which I remembered today. Tomorrow it might be the open-sandwiches with ryebread, liver pate or roast beef or the sweet caramelised patatoes!