Thursday, January 31, 2008
FINAL THOUGHTS ON LEARNING 2.0
My "rainbow" journey is over, did I find my pot of gold? YES! Like many people, I can work my way around the Internet reasonably well, but only looking at sites which attract my interest. Having a constructive programme to follow was beneficial, otherwise I would never have entertained the idea of forming a blog.
As I predicted at the onset, there were a couple of lows to begin with, then I felt as though I was reaching a high point and my blog dipped down again as it all came together for me.
It became addictive. Because of the time factor at work, I was often logging in at home to search around recommended sites.
Why the rainbow pictures? I took my work seriously, but wanted fun and interest as well.
How can libraries use this technology and information?
From the beginning of time, people have communicated and shared information - aboriginal rock art, Egyptian hieroglyphics, smoke signals.As the human race progressed, so did inventions and ideas.Letters, postcards, telegraph, telephone, newspapers, books of course, and the modern world of radio, television and computers.
Libraries can SHARE and COMMUNICATE by advertising on many of the recommended sites. Some aspects are only suitable for the under forties, but there might be just one person who finds what they are looking for.What a bonus for people who are housebound, live in a remote area or are travelling to be able to search these shared sites and keep in contact with several friends at once.
As time marches by the written word might become less popular and the need for speed greater, so libraries will have to function with changing technology and have it available for the coming computer savvy generations.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Social networks
After looking around Myspace, I feel Social networking is aimed at the younger generation. A look at the libraries suggested convinced me this is where the target audience lies.
To find people with the same interests as you, Myspace and Facebook do to not always have to be used. I belong to a social network called Aussie Pythons, where contributers email all sorts of information, pictures, questions and answers.
In Myspace I enjoyed the site belonging to David Lee King and for some "humour" Annoyed Libraian.
However, could libraries use it for the many "book club reading groups" and involve people from communities and areas not serviced by a library?
For an update at 1st February, 2008 according to the Daily Telegraph,....Myspace is going to host job advertisements.
Podcasts
To me, Podcasts would be a recreational site. I shall be honest and say I cannot see how libraries you use it.
I chose Miami Inc because I know it is popular within my family and their friends....must confess I find it interesting.d
Sunday, January 27, 2008
WIKI....wiki wiki Hawaiian for quick
I had a basic idea of what WIKI was all about, however I did not know the depth of the content.I thought it was more or less the SANDBOX.
At a loose end (at home ) I decided to look extensively at WIKI. Firstly, a bit of a play in the SANDBOX. It was fun reading other people's thoughts on favourite movies, music, books etc but it was not what I was looking for, all a bit boring after a while.
Secondly, I ventured into BIZ WIKI. Very interesting especially for business studies students who need up to date information.
I crossed over to IREAD WIKI, which I enjoyed...thought it could be a good site for people wanting latest books published.
LIBRARY SUCCESS successfully caught my attention for a long time. To my surprise there are Australian successes on there as well as American. It could be used as a sharing site for public librarians to sell the library world wide. A site I liked was selling your library - specific groups - services in multi lingual environment - success stories. Voila, a blog about how NSW and Queensland State Libraries promote their services.
My favourite is St.Joseph County Public Library's SUBJECT GUIDES. There are many different subjects, the one I concentrated on was travel. I found a myriad of atlases, magazines, guides.
Public libraries, with their shortage of funding could use the subject guide and associated articles when presented with an obscure question have all of this extra knowledge only a mouse click away.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
DISCOVER FLICKR
Flickr is fantastic
Lots to discover
I can appreciate people' s perfect pictures
Cruise around different sites
Kill lots of time this way
Rave on ...........
Sutherland Libraries uses FLICKR already, maybe we could assist other council departments by advertising on our Library site e.g. Australia Day activities, Citizenship ceremonies, parks and garden works being carried out. The Library page is easy to negotiate and more residents probably view it than any other Council page.
Rainbow ice cream
How cool is this on a hot Sydney summer day?
I could be silly and say it is del.icio.us
I could be silly and say it is del.icio.us
SOCIAL BOOKMARKING or del.icio.us
I toured around the Social Bookmarking site and found it to be a massive network, going on and on virtually into infinity.
The site would be wonderful for off campus students, as well as using it for study, they could keep in contact and help each other out.
What about the mums living in isolated areas who home school their children? They could form a social network, even incorporating playgroups and storytime activities for the littlies.
The possibilities are endless.
Public libraries have to move with the times with new technology and concepts. Libraries could set up specific posts for easy access e.g. a list of Irish authors, books written by Shire authors, aboriginal authors.
Rainbow Lorikeets
Nature is amazing ! Two rainbow lorikeets flying around a rainbow.
As the photographer says......stunning.
As the photographer says......stunning.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
RAINBOWS
I love this photograph of the Potala Palace, in Lhasa. There is a double rainbow, but you must look hard. One is in the magic sky, the other is the rainbow of brightly coloured prayer flags.
THOUGHTS ON RSS
RSS.........REALLY SIMPLE SYNDICATION
RSS....what does that mean? I customized, templated, flickered to post a decent (my thoughts) blog and I wondered what was in store for the next stage.
The idea behind RSSing is as easy as it sounds, a modern and everchanging version of the old Internet Explorer "favourites".
I think this way of gathering information is a must for reference librarians and corporate librarians, people who need up to date information immediately and can use it accordingly.
For people who are housebound it could become a whole new learning curve.
However, for me, unfortunately,I have to be a little bit negative. I would not use it at home, as I cannot have Broadband, only the old Dialup, and we all know how frustrating that can be!
About a year ago, I contacted the Minister for Communication to see when better technology would head my way and received a two page letter of "waffle". Guessed it meant dream on.
Is it about time I started to pester the new Government?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Rainbow of life
Most people have seen a rainbow, but few realise why it appears. A rainbow occurs when sunlight illuminates falling rain on the opposite side of the sky to the sun. The higher the sun, the lower the top of the rainbow. This is why rainbows are not seen in the tropics in the middle of the day, only morning or towards sunset. The colours of the spectrum are
red orange yellow green blue indigo violet
My blog title is RAINBOW OF LIFE, as that is how I look at life. Every day is one of the bright colours of the spectrum, can become a little muted, but quickly changes back when a "smiley" moment happens.
Learning 2.0, for me, is going to be like the rainbow arc.....starting off low, reaching a high as I discover more and more about what is available. Some sites will lean with the bright colours, other will edge towards the muted.
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