Week 3 NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0

How did you go using Flickr? I found it really slow on our network. I did do the adventure and added some photos. Naturally they are photos of my beautiful cat Batu. You can see them if you seach on "Batu on Balcony" and "Batu in safety gear". Plus I uploaded a couple of holiday snaps. There are some absolutely stunning photos of the Blue Mountains.

Handcuffed and charged for failing to return library books

Did you see this news story recently?

A Wisconsin woman has been arrested and booked for failing to pay her library fines. Heidi Dalibor, 20, told the News Graphic in Cedarburg, USA, she ignored the library's calls and letters as well as a notice to appear in court.
Still, she was surprised when officers with a warrant knocked on her door, cuffed her and took her to the police station to be fingerprinted and photographed.
Police Captain Joe Gabrish said officers follow the same procedure with every warrant.
Library director John Hanson said a couple of dozen people are cited each year for failure to return materials or pay fines.
The incident cost Dalibor about $30 for the overdue paperbacks White Oleander and Angels and Demons and her mother nearly $172 to get her out of custody.

Week 4 RSS

1. What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

I like the way the info comes to you, which is good in theory but needs to be used with care to avoid information overload.

2. What sites did you select for your RSS reader?

Originally I just clicked on a lot of news feeds and the PhM picture of the day. It was eye opening to realise that some people would actually want two rugby league feeds, two rugby union, two soccer, three cricket and four sport feeds - just in case one missed anything, all to one's desk top, like all the time!

3. How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work?

I think it's another useful tool to know about, it seems to be an essential part of blogs and it's even on my flickr site.

4. How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

We can provide updates from our readers' advice blog.

5. Did you find any good examples of other library blogs?

Yes and I added some to by blogs eg Yarra Plenty Local Studies blog and I admire the Sutherland Library blog with it's page tabs, but the html is proving just a little difficult at this stage!

Week 2 - Blogging

I just wanted to say how much fun I have had reading my blog evryday. I love hearing your comments. Plus, looking at all the new staff blogs has been great. Thank you to those who have sent me their blog link so I have been able to attach it to this blog. I think it will be good for all of us to have a central point to go and look at each others trials and tribulations on this great 2.0 journey!
I have also been very impressed with the calibre of blogs that are out there in Library Land. Lets bring the best bits back and add them to ours!

Adding your blog toyour blog's blog roll

OK, so I got the last bit wrong. I thought everyone could see the same as me.
Most of you won't be able to add your blog to Vicki's blog roll BUT you can use the instructions to add one to your own blog roll.

All you'll need to do is go into Customize in your blog and click on the Layout tab. In the sidebar click on Add a gadget. You then get a list of the types of gadgets you can add. Look for Blog roll. Select it.

Then you click on Edit in the gadget you've just made. You can change its name and start adding blogs as per the previous instructions.

By the way, you can rearrange the order of the gadgets in your sidebar - just click on one and drag it to where you want it then let go.

Adding your blog to the BM Library blog roll

In week 2 of Learning 2.0 Vicki has asked that we post our newly created blogs in the Blue Mountains Library Manager's Blog - this one. The blog roll is located on the right hand side of the blog, between Staff Tools and Interesting Websites.

Here's some instructions on how to do that.

First you need to be signed in to blogger.

Open the BM Library Manager blog using the Layout tab, or you can click on the crossed spanner and screwdriver icon below the blog roll area (illustrated below). If you go to the layout area, click on the Edit link in the BM Staff Library blogs section.

The following illustration shows you the window that opens. You will be able to see all the other blogs that are in the blog roll. To add a blog, click on Add to List.

Another little window opens. Enter your blog's URL (web address) in the box provided and click on Add. Now click on Save in the Configure Blog List window.

If you've gone in to the Layout area you will need to click on the Save button at the top of the Layout window to save all the changes.

That's all there is to it. Your blog should now be added to the blog roll. You can call me if you get stuck.

Heidi

Handy info

Can I suggest that you have a look here : http://www.blogger.com/features for some handy info on how to do stuff in Blogger. Starting at the beginning and getting more adventurous.

I've set up ANOTHER blog

It's over there in the blog roll - on the right hand side.

Scientific Proof! Reading fiction really is good for you!

I just thought I would share some fabulous news. New Scientist (28 June 2008 p.42) reports a study that confirms what we all suspected... reading fiction has psychological benefits. The study suggests that fiction acts as a kind of simulation of the complexities of social life, and by reading we gain greater empathy and better "interpersonal perception", and that these effects are immediate. The study doesn't discount that movies and games may also have these benefits.

If you have the time you can go to http://glennrowe.net/baroncohen/faces/eyestest.aspx and undertake the same test that participants in the study used to detemine their ability to read expressions.

Anyway, now we have an excuse for staying up late to read. It is preparing us for the social onslaught of the following day. Or is it just because I am the daughter of a scientist that I needed a study published in a peer reviewed journal before I could justify those late nights??

Library 2.0 weeks1,2, 3 & 4

Hi folks, this is my new library 2.0 blog: http://jackos-shed.blogspot.com/ for week 2; I will be looking for contributions - in character please and on topic...

Week 3 was fairly uneventful as I have had a Flickr site for over a year now, it's here if you want to check it out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8822983@N08/

Week 4 and on to RSS fodder, definitely a case of information overload before I revised my feeds from the bulk subscriptions and spent time searching for more relevant stuff. I do appreciate the principle though and would use it if I really needed that much news. I am still deciding whether to add it to The Shed blog.

Cheers, Merryjack

Flickr

I've done the Flickr activites and love the program. I've opened my own account and am now putting my families photos onto Flickr. I know that they are safe if my computer crashes (which it frequently does because it's getting old) and I have named them and written descriptions. They look good and I'm going to give my children access to them so they can look at them too.
Enjoy

To read or not to read....

We all have "rules" as to how far we will go in a book before we give it up as a lost cause. I thought you might enjoy know my rule. I loved the book The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Naturally I then devoured the Postscript to the Name of the Rose which is Eco's musings on how and why he wrote the book. In this essay, Eco explains that while the first 100 pages of The Name of the Rose are quite dense and detailed - the rest of the book is your reward. This has always stuck with me and I now read the first 100 pages of any book to see if the rest of the book is my REWARD!

What do others think? There have been some thoughts on this matter posted on the Library's Readers in the Mist blog that you might like to compare:

http://readersinthemist.blogspot.com/2008/07/to-slog-through-book-or-not-to-slog.html

Here I go!!!

Well Hello Everyone. This is so very daunting but exciting. Week 1 of Library 2.0 showed how little I know and will know (hopefully) by the end. Thank you to Alba for her help. Blogging soon!

Why I became a Librarian

I think this site sums it up nicely:

http://librarianavengers.org/worship-2/

Ready to embrace 2.0!

I am quite excited (and more than just a little nervous) at the thought of what lies ahead in the world of 2.0. As Stephen Fry pointed out, the Web has become more interactive, with individuals able to become an active part in an enormous, international information conglomeration (you don't even have to be particularly clever or knowledgeable - that's the scary part. Reader, beware!). Still, I am ready to do the Learning 2.0 course, and am eager to embrace the new ideas and technologies available to me. Who knows? I may even become addicted to blogging?!?!?!?!

New Postings

I am very happy for anyone to add postings or comment on each others postings. Don't forget to let me know when you finish week 1 so I can send you an incentive to keep going!!!

Library 2.0 the deja vu version

Here I go again. Is this what you wanted us to do Vicki, do our own posts, or comment only?
I had a go at the Library 2.0 thing Helene Blowers started. As many of you know, I've gotten in to the bloggy thing but some of the other stuff eluded me/scared me so I intend to spend a bit more time on them. Ho hem, we'll see - do we play safe or do we go wild?
Anyway, I am excited that everyone will be doing this - I am looking forward to more company on Readers in the Mist.

Heidi

Top 10s

The Guardian has published a list of 'top ten' books (etc) selected by authors http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/toptens

You might like to check out Simon Critchley's top 10 philosophers deaths, Tim Harfords top 10 undercover economics books, Lara Feigel's top 10 smelly books or Kit Whitfield's top 10 genre defying novels. There are lots more and they may be great to use for displays or a discussion for a reading group.

Have a look at the State Library of NSW readers advisory wiki
http://readersadvisory.wetpaint.com/

Library 2.0

I've just started the Library 2.0 training program and had to create a blog for myself. It's not hard to create a blog - they even provide nice templates. My biggest problem is thinking of what to write! Deb