Twitter

Twitter has been a funny experience for me. I have had all sorts of problems creating the account and logging in. Even today I am having trouble and I did not think social networking was supposed to be this hard. This kinda puts a black cloud over twitter before I have even begun. There can be advantages to using twitter especially when communicating on common topics and brain storming with people that aren't in the same building. Unfortunatley like a lot of wonderful ideas and creations there seem to be some individuals who like to use social networking sites for malicious intent and bring them into disrepute. Perhaps Web 2.0 training can give a lot of these sites the positive kudos they deserve.

The final Blog

This is it, I have done it. It hasn't been an easy task in fact in many ways it has been a frustrating one. First flash player wasn't the right version and so applications wouldn't work, then there was the time taken for pages to load - especially the video clips - talk about watching wet paint dry! Setting up new email accounts isn't fun either - just how many people are out there with my name??? Then there was the dramas associated with getting twitter and facebook to work. The style of learning has also been a challenge and interpretation of some instructions like wise. Lucky for me I decided early on to have some fun. And I have had fun. I have enjoyed creating aliases and read posts that made me laugh. I think it would be great if we all got together and put some of the great ideas that have been generated by this training into practice. Where to from here?

Geocaching

At last the end is in sight and I have been discovering the fun stuff of geocaching. Already I have heard staff incorporating it into a fun filled weekend with the kids. It would seem libraries in America are right up there with incorporating this one into their library programs. At a recent staff meeting we identified that we are very good at supplying services to particular focus groups like storytime and rhyme time to our youngest clients and Library lovers events for our more senior clients. How many of us have complained at some time about the disruptive behaviour of our young adults in the library? But what programs have we got for our young adults? Perhaps with a little imagination geocaching is a the answer that can fill this void.

Podcasts

To be honest I didn't listen to a lot of the pod casts listed. I found a lot of them went for a long time, the short ones seemed to take a long time to download (a bit like watching wet paint dry)and some of them didn't download at all. The expereinece left me brain dead :( Since then there has been a fire at the Claremont library and I see now how using podcasts could be a great way to keep patrons updated with the lastest reports from the CEO, Library Manager, Mayor etc.
Perhaps they could also be used as patron training sessions a bit like the ones we have been using to do this course. I think in the end that a lot of time and effort can be spent on these things only to discover that it is no longer relevant.

Online Video

After the disappointment of Twitter I jumped to online videos and the you tube experience. After listening to a lot of the storytime children in tears and having tantrums I decided that perhaps you tube could be a viable alternative to Storytime at the library. Each week a new storytime could be posted for the little cherubs to watch from the comfort of their own home at a time that best suites their routines. This would be a huge saving in man power as only one story time would be delivered each week throughout the local libraries. It would also restore the nerves of frazzled staff who try and deliver customer service at a premium level whilst witnessing harrowing tantrums of our youngest customers. A possitive in OH&S terms I'm sure. Anyway here is an example already posted on You Tube. I know we could all do just as good if not better. I can see we will all be trying to out do each other. A little healthy competition of course!

Facebooking

After being bombarded by the media with all he nasty things that facebook has contributed to and all the privacy issues I vowed I would never have anything to do with facebook. Yet here I sit after newly creating a facebook account and I am a little intrigued. Curiosity has got the better of me and I find myself looking to see how many people I know have facebook pages. And now there is another stumbling block, I didn't realise how many people actually share the same name. As a bit of fun I have not used my own identity and have asked to friends with some of my family. They are going to be wondering who this strange person is. If you wish to find me on facebook you will have to look for Bob Roberts! I am now affectionatly known by some as Bob Bob :) Ooops my training time is running out. Til next post...

T'is a library thing

I have commenced the beginnings of my library. It seems to be a wonderful tool to keeep track of books you may have read and to share the joy with like minded people. It is also a great way to discover books and authors that you might otherwise miss out on. But there sure isn't enough time in the day to do all the flickr blogging delicious library things and do all my work as well. Something is going to have to give somewhere...

Perhaps this is this library thingy is a useful tool we could use to keep track of books for our wonderful homebound patrons. Anyway check out the beginnings of my library and I welcome any suggestions :)

Library thingy