Well, it's finally over - for the time being!
Favourite discoveries, experiences
- setting up a blog and thinking up different uses for one
- plus helping in setting one up in my library
- I think students would find them useful and interesting; it's up to the library/originator to attract their attention with the right sort of information
Effect on lifelong learning goals
- we have to keep learning!
- when I see these examples and make myself spend time trying them out, it's very apparent that libraries have to move with the changes ... but make them relevant to user needs
Take-aways, unexpected outcomes
- the extent of technological changes seems so far-reaching - even 3D programming now in a format for use by the general public, programs such as wordprocessing being incorporated directly on to the Web (viz. Zoho)
- plus, we can really plan to improve on the relevance of our traditional library catalogues, so that searching really will answer the questions people ask for in the current era
What could we do differently
- I suspect we all had difficulty with some parts depending on our background and interests
- links are prone to constantly not work / go out of date also
- a slightly more structured setup was one of my thoughts, but in retrospect you probably need to "ferret" around a bit to learn some of the sites and the full extent of their services
I would happily participate in future ventures - many thanks to Robyn for tweaking this to suit TAFE Queensland purposes.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Online Communities
I've been on to the Edna site and realise just how much we could all be "talking" with each other on the Net. It's strange how doing the 23Things course suddenly makes this seem obvious - perhaps we should be contributing to all these groups, instead of making yet more different ways of staying in touch.
I'd like to know what everyone else thinks.
Certainly there's a place for it in the workplace - maybe if there weren't so many links and sublinks to navigate in our TAFE arena, it would be very very useful. It needs to be something you can access very directly, otherwise people will tend not to use it. As a comparison, would Y Gen be using ipods if they were obliged to circumnavigate numerous hierarchies ...
I'd like to know what everyone else thinks.
Certainly there's a place for it in the workplace - maybe if there weren't so many links and sublinks to navigate in our TAFE arena, it would be very very useful. It needs to be something you can access very directly, otherwise people will tend not to use it. As a comparison, would Y Gen be using ipods if they were obliged to circumnavigate numerous hierarchies ...
Task 21
I cheerfully launched into Task 21 as a fun Sunday afternoon pursuit, thinking this would be a relatively quick and painless exercise.
I tried these popular directories - Podcast, Podcastalley, Yahoo - looking for podcasts.
Even with broadband access, downloads were fraught with difficulty. Quite often nothing loaded, or only partially so. More searching practice with the first two directories I think would assist me find some really useful sites. Yahoo apparently will be discontinuing their service late October, and many of their podcasts are now dated, no longer being updated, etc.
One unusual podcast that I did manage to play has remained in my mind - Garden Trains Radio - because a nice topic like that just has to blend well with a Sunday afternoon! Alas, just as the friendly "gardening" radio voice announced how to subscribe to this series on an ongoing basis, once again the Net happily dropped out on me. I finally saved a feed regarding the Iditarod (as Microsoft feed) which I always find interesting when all else fails.
If someone is out there in cybrary land reading this and can recommend some interesting library podcasts to feed to, I would really appreciate this!
I look forward to some comments ....
I tried these popular directories - Podcast, Podcastalley, Yahoo - looking for podcasts.
Even with broadband access, downloads were fraught with difficulty. Quite often nothing loaded, or only partially so. More searching practice with the first two directories I think would assist me find some really useful sites. Yahoo apparently will be discontinuing their service late October, and many of their podcasts are now dated, no longer being updated, etc.
One unusual podcast that I did manage to play has remained in my mind - Garden Trains Radio - because a nice topic like that just has to blend well with a Sunday afternoon! Alas, just as the friendly "gardening" radio voice announced how to subscribe to this series on an ongoing basis, once again the Net happily dropped out on me. I finally saved a feed regarding the Iditarod (as Microsoft feed) which I always find interesting when all else fails.
If someone is out there in cybrary land reading this and can recommend some interesting library podcasts to feed to, I would really appreciate this!
I look forward to some comments ....
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Daily Motion
You could spend hours searching here! To whittle the results down to exactly what you want needs a bit of practice. I am not a big fan of broad subject groupings, so decided to really hone in on tags and other subgroupings wherever possible. Finally I looked for Creative + Animation + Macromedia Flash, and found two interesting results. Here is a football stick figure having fun:
Discovering Web 2.0 tools
I looked at Medstory - it's good to find a new "version" of a search engine for medicine/health - in Beta mode, patent pending.
I tried this for searching nursing topics, and quite like the neat subject approach provided - it is easily recognisable for anyone with a medical/health background. Since it is non-Australian in construction, you need to keep this in mind when saving sites for Australia (scope of nursing is an important issue). I like the del-icio-us and RSS possibilities provided, and the capabilities for selecting audio/video, Research, etc.
All sites I chose for saving were easy to save into my accounts. There are of course, some blind/out-of-date links. I do think design and access and content are inextricably linked on the Web - the only small criticism I have is the front page! Although clean, and devoid of lots of content (which is good), I needed to scroll down to see the rest of the page. It's an understatement of the wonderful sites lurking within. It's a great dotcom site of use especially to library and other professionals. Thank you Web2 technology for letting me find yet another little something of practical benefit.
I tried this for searching nursing topics, and quite like the neat subject approach provided - it is easily recognisable for anyone with a medical/health background. Since it is non-Australian in construction, you need to keep this in mind when saving sites for Australia (scope of nursing is an important issue). I like the del-icio-us and RSS possibilities provided, and the capabilities for selecting audio/video, Research, etc.
All sites I chose for saving were easy to save into my accounts. There are of course, some blind/out-of-date links. I do think design and access and content are inextricably linked on the Web - the only small criticism I have is the front page! Although clean, and devoid of lots of content (which is good), I needed to scroll down to see the rest of the page. It's an understatement of the wonderful sites lurking within. It's a great dotcom site of use especially to library and other professionals. Thank you Web2 technology for letting me find yet another little something of practical benefit.
Zoho
Now here is a really useful type of wordprocessing app plus! Why don't I use this all the time to put items in my blog. It's happily transportable - doesn't matter where I log on, I don't have to transport files from home to work to wherever else, it's all usable from the Net.
I like the toolbar - everything up there to choose from straightaway - link button to insert a site, table button, comments button, emotions to let me send you an immediate Smiley, and so on. 
This is obviously just scratching the surface of all the Zoho possibilities - lots more apps are available to really get information to people, share it around, and encourage feedback. It's simply a matter of finding Time to explore and figure out exactly how these things can be harnessed in your workplace ...
PBWiki
Now that was nice to be given our own sandbox to experiment with!
Actually I am beginning to define some situations where wiki use in the workplace would be useful. It could be good for keeping people up to date with a project development - you know the sort of project that isn't easily controlled with Committee meetings. Sometimes the project takes twists and turns and you just want to be able to record some of this easily and get the latest facts out to people.
However, I think we could be a bit limited by space, so would need to look at the subscription options to ensure we didn't run out of room! We have all experienced how limiting the TAFE allocation of email accounts can be, so you'd need to set up properly before engaging the Wiki concept.
Actually I am beginning to define some situations where wiki use in the workplace would be useful. It could be good for keeping people up to date with a project development - you know the sort of project that isn't easily controlled with Committee meetings. Sometimes the project takes twists and turns and you just want to be able to record some of this easily and get the latest facts out to people.
However, I think we could be a bit limited by space, so would need to look at the subscription options to ensure we didn't run out of room! We have all experienced how limiting the TAFE allocation of email accounts can be, so you'd need to set up properly before engaging the Wiki concept.
Friday, October 19, 2007
So what's in a wiki?
I particularly liked the- Library Success: a best practices wiki, and- Book Lovers Wiki (Princeton Public Library).It would be useful if TAFE teachers could enter reviews of (for example) DVDs and other favourite titles - I think their fellow teachers would find this useful, and it just could encourage them to log on to the library site more.
Because the information can be changed so easily, I still haven't decided how best to use one, who would use it, etc - need to think a bit more on this one!
On Library 2.0 ...
Our traditional ways of providing information to clients often conjure visions such as static or labour-intensive or difficult to understand or requiring too much user-input or not in step with Gen Y technological interests or out of date, etc ...
Probably Web2 is the way to step forward, make the necessary changes or whatever. Like all new technology, it enables visions of wonderful things - users can provide online reviews to a library website, bibliographical descriptions will actually describe whether a resource is the type of format a teacher wants, students will actively engage in learning about referencing because our interactive (3D) tutorial speaks their particular language or learning style, and so on.
And when we reach there or think we're on the way, maybe the danger is in then relaxing. We've reached the summit. Don't we still make this mistake at times - it's so relaxing to take a step back, relax, and be glad the pressure is off. But maybe we will continue to be passionate about wanting to stay at the "change" edge. We still have to pursue ongoing professional development, and enjoy it. If we don't, then the next time we have to make a big transitional leap, maybe it will be too overwhelming, the temptation to relax overtakes the need to move on. If we don't move on, perhaps libraries will be easily taken over in their role by other people in other related areas. There are professional jobs in existence which we often think sound very much like our library (information) jobs already.
Here's to Web2, 3D and dreamworlds, if needs be ... but don't get lost in the dreaming. We have to
1. Master the technology sufficiently to develop a clear picture of what could be done with it
2. Make the picture happen - either individually, as a group, or by working with related professionals with the level of technical expertise to make it work. It's so important not to overlook the value of great technical ability,
Probably Web2 is the way to step forward, make the necessary changes or whatever. Like all new technology, it enables visions of wonderful things - users can provide online reviews to a library website, bibliographical descriptions will actually describe whether a resource is the type of format a teacher wants, students will actively engage in learning about referencing because our interactive (3D) tutorial speaks their particular language or learning style, and so on.
And when we reach there or think we're on the way, maybe the danger is in then relaxing. We've reached the summit. Don't we still make this mistake at times - it's so relaxing to take a step back, relax, and be glad the pressure is off. But maybe we will continue to be passionate about wanting to stay at the "change" edge. We still have to pursue ongoing professional development, and enjoy it. If we don't, then the next time we have to make a big transitional leap, maybe it will be too overwhelming, the temptation to relax overtakes the need to move on. If we don't move on, perhaps libraries will be easily taken over in their role by other people in other related areas. There are professional jobs in existence which we often think sound very much like our library (information) jobs already.
Here's to Web2, 3D and dreamworlds, if needs be ... but don't get lost in the dreaming. We have to
1. Master the technology sufficiently to develop a clear picture of what could be done with it
2. Make the picture happen - either individually, as a group, or by working with related professionals with the level of technical expertise to make it work. It's so important not to overlook the value of great technical ability,
Tagging
This looks like another nifty way for finding useful links.
It's handy to see what other people have found - a good way to "get started" with a topic perhaps.
However I need to use it a lot more to try to figure out why it isn't a favourite tool of mine as yet!
It's handy to see what other people have found - a good way to "get started" with a topic perhaps.
However I need to use it a lot more to try to figure out why it isn't a favourite tool of mine as yet!
Technorati
It was interesting to hear on the video clip how the term "Technorati" evolved.
I think it's worthwhile spending time to become thoroughly familiar with the differences in search outcomes that might result from searching via blog posts, tags, blog directory, etc.
Searching for information on Andre Rieu for instance, resulted in slightly different numbers for each one.
A natural habit was to fall back to the Google habit of using Advanced Search, then elaborating on this with Photo, Video, etc. - and by the way, there's some nice videos of Andre concerts on YouTube!
It was interesting to visit the New Topics page and watch a post appearing every 3 to 6 seconds!
PLCMCL2
TQLlearning2
I think it's worthwhile spending time to become thoroughly familiar with the differences in search outcomes that might result from searching via blog posts, tags, blog directory, etc.
Searching for information on Andre Rieu for instance, resulted in slightly different numbers for each one.
A natural habit was to fall back to the Google habit of using Advanced Search, then elaborating on this with Photo, Video, etc. - and by the way, there's some nice videos of Andre concerts on YouTube!
It was interesting to visit the New Topics page and watch a post appearing every 3 to 6 seconds!
PLCMCL2
TQLlearning2
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Rollyo
This sounds like a really good idea to search all those sites you turn to looking for support materials. It would be good to put up on a teacher intranet page - advertise it as the "one stop" shop for resources.
Having the "Search the web" choice on the Search bar however, reminds you to check the whole web now and again - don't get too lazy!
Having the "Search the web" choice on the Search bar however, reminds you to check the whole web now and again - don't get too lazy!
Library Thing
Now here is a neat way to list some of your books.
It's good to see the covers when available.
It's good to see the covers when available.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Finding Feeds
Library training is entrenched! I found that I automatically liked some sites because of their layout (eg. reading from left to right), or the types of subject categories.
Feedster - I spent some time trying to find exactly what I wanted, but eventually succumbed to other search tools.
Topix.net - surprisingly I discovered I liked the "All Topics" listing, scrolled down to "Health and ADHD", then searched on "Oranges". I found 3 useful updates. Maybe it helps to be interested in a very specific subject - you can find your way through the maze more easily.
Syndic8.com - I found this difficult to get used to the layout, but suspect there's some really useful stuff here.
Technorati - now suddenly this layout felt "comfortable"!
Nevertheless I still haven't discovered the search style that suits me best, so am still taking a while discovering what I really want. I thought the 100 Top Blogs was useful eg. discovered Read/Write Web (growing network of blogs about web technology).
Feedster - I spent some time trying to find exactly what I wanted, but eventually succumbed to other search tools.
Topix.net - surprisingly I discovered I liked the "All Topics" listing, scrolled down to "Health and ADHD", then searched on "Oranges". I found 3 useful updates. Maybe it helps to be interested in a very specific subject - you can find your way through the maze more easily.
Syndic8.com - I found this difficult to get used to the layout, but suspect there's some really useful stuff here.
Technorati - now suddenly this layout felt "comfortable"!
Nevertheless I still haven't discovered the search style that suits me best, so am still taking a while discovering what I really want. I thought the 100 Top Blogs was useful eg. discovered Read/Write Web (growing network of blogs about web technology).
Sunday, October 14, 2007
RSS & newsreaders
Well, the world's our oyster ... or maybe not.
So much information can be found, but how to put in enough practice to ensure you find useful links quickly?
I think this would be quite useful for liaison librarians if targeted at quite specific content specialisation for teachers eg. find feeds that target advocacy for children, updates on sites selling support materials, etc.
How do you keep these "up to date"? It's relatively easy to run a web checker through specific links to detect URLs that are "broken", no longer link, etc. But short of putting in the hard slog, how do you detect when posts, feeds, etc, are no longer relevant?
So much information can be found, but how to put in enough practice to ensure you find useful links quickly?
I think this would be quite useful for liaison librarians if targeted at quite specific content specialisation for teachers eg. find feeds that target advocacy for children, updates on sites selling support materials, etc.
How do you keep these "up to date"? It's relatively easy to run a web checker through specific links to detect URLs that are "broken", no longer link, etc. But short of putting in the hard slog, how do you detect when posts, feeds, etc, are no longer relevant?
Monday, October 8, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Beth's Trading Card I found this "Trading Card" concept a cute idea.
I'd also like to explore the Flikr Organizer - Map possibility a lot more eg. mark your holidays on your webpage before giving an explanation of all your wanderings ... this assuming you have sole rights to the software!
I could see an application with Access Education students also - it would be a nice interactive exercise for Langauge and Literacy students?
Saturday, September 29, 2007
If you like piano, then "ebony and ivory" holds a particular fascination for you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheftami/243014522/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheftami/243014522/
Friday, September 28, 2007
Vintage car
A fine day for driving,and a fine day by the harbour.
Australia Day in Sydney Town
is popular with everyone -
Sydneysiders, out-of-towners,
and interstate wellwishers.
Andre Rieu just might like to
set up his orchestra here.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Begin with the end in mind
Habit 1 is the type of habit which always coaxes me to learn something about technology.
I don't find it too easy to learn this sort of thing online - so the "end in mind" is always important to me!
I don't find it too easy to learn this sort of thing online - so the "end in mind" is always important to me!
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