Podcasts

Today's blog's topic was on Podcasts. Podcasts are basically an MP3 or other audio file delivered off a Website via an RSS feed. (class handout). Some of the podcasts I had a look at had recordings of readings of novels, commentaries by the author, storytime favourites,  and musical podcasts. In general some other types of podcasts which are accessible include ABC podcasts,  and news podcasts. I also came across podcasts from the Library of Congress.

In terms of podcasts in relation to libraries I percieve that they would prove to be useful. The following are my reasons why:

* For starters perhaps people who are perhaps in remote geographical areas and are unable to gain access to their library would find podcasts useful to have as they can gain access and hear the podcast recordings. Perhaps schools in particular could use podcasts as another educational tool to supplement learning in classrooms. Schools could also go to library websites to perhaps listen to podcasts of novels being read out loud and students could also listen to these at home.

* Another reason is perhaps some people such as mothers, elderly who are unable to come to the library to perhaps listen to one of their favourite authors give a presentation on a novel they have written can easily access recordings of the interview via Podcast.

* It would be useful to have podcasts perhaps for people who are visually impaired.

* It gives more accessibility to users as you can listen to podcasts in the comfort of your own home and at any time.

* You are able to subscribe RSS podcasts which give patrons current and up to date podcasts which are readily available.

Facebook

Today's class was on the topic of Facebook. Facebook put simply is a social networking site which libraries are starting to use as a marketing tool to appeal to more potential users/users. Some libraries which are using Facebook include:

*Wollongong district library(114 likes) 

* Shellharour library (200 likes)

*National Library of Australia (3,005 likes)

* State Library of NSW
* University of Wollongong Library has a page.

Personally I think that it is a great way for patrons to have updates to their library and to view images of events and activities that have occured in the library, new novels that are available. Perhaps for clients who may not be sure if they should become a member or are new to the area Facebook could be a great way to see what occurs at the library and upcoming news and they would also be able to read posts submitted by the Librarian. However I also think the staff members would probably need to assign some of their time to updating regular posts/ pictures ect so that members do not loose interest otherwise having a facebook page would prove to be useful if there is no audiance.

Wikis

Today's topic was on Wiki's. Wiki's are webpages which allows users the access to go in and make changes (edit) to text, a common Wiki that we all surely would have come across at one point is Wikipedia. I think that wiki's do have there advanatges but they do also pose disadvantages as you could have people who may intentionally delete information put on by other people, or they may even post information that is made up for this reason I think users should be cautious and aware that using Wiki's as sources are not reliable. Maybe to prevent this from occuring perhaps using passwords to access certain wikis could prevent this occurance.

From a library perspective it would be beneficial to staff members working in libraries as they can look at different areas of their organisation eg Youth, childrens, and staff can view these areas for updates, information or even if a staff member is searching the internet and they stumble across useful links they could access the Wiki and make edits to them and add the links they have found. I liked the idea of how libraries are using Wiki's on subject guides, I think this is a useful way to develop subject guides that are more up to date as on the internet things rapidly change and links that may work one time may not work the next. I also think that this gives more of a selection of suitable resources as students studying the course may stumble upon resources they could share as opposed to leaving it up to the Librarian.

Overall I think Wiki's are a great way to collaborate with others and share links and resources.

Post on Delicious

In today's lesson we also looked at Delicious.Delicious is basically a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing and discovering web books. Delicious is a resource which allows people to save things relating to topics which are than staked into one theme. Such things they can save include videos, pictures, tweets, blog posts, or articles. I remember at Highschool I came across Delicious site, and I would use it for research for assesssments and school work for particular subjects. I think for libraries it would good to have for patrons to use perhaps for research, or with Delicious you could create lists of resources on a topic (pets, genealogy research etc) so this could be handy.

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Post on Library Thing

    During todays lesson we looked at LibraryThing. LibraryThing is another online service accessed through the internet which from my understanding is a networked catelogue which enables people to catelogue there books easily. So in this regard this would be useful for librarians/ library technicians to use as it makes cateloguing easy.

    I think in terms of Library patrons using Librarything it would be handy for those avid readers as it connects people who have read that book so they can comment on them, and also instead of searching online for new books Librarything makes it easy as it comes up with suggestions of what books a patron may be interested in thus making the patron want to come back to libraries and borrow more books. 

     I think that it is definitely a resource that Libraries should consider using LibraryThing as it gets users interested in reading. I think they should as firstly they would benefit in terms of being able to catelogue books. Secondly I think that it provides another way for staff to see what resources/items people are mainly interested in when borrowing from Libraries. It would give staff an indication of what items may be in popular demand, so it would give staff the opportunity to perhaps look at purchasing more copies of particular books if they see it is in high demand and popular.

     As well as this I think it would be a handy resource to have available for staff  especially when patrons may come in wanting books from particular authors.So instead of having to rely on current knowledge of extensive range of genres and authors out there, they could easily access this site at their fingertips. By doing so you could show the client how to use this resource and thus they may use it later on to perhaps go and find books by that author or they may stumble across reviews of other books they may not have thought about reading.

   Personally I think that being able to contribute tags, catelogue books at home,ratings and reviews for a book and common knowledge, is a great social network for libraries to have.But for me I would probably only use it to view reviews on particular books I am interested in.

Post on Tag Clouds

During today's lesson we learnt about tag clouds, which are used in Wollongong Library main webpage as another avenue users can navigate to links without having to use the searchbar.

Tag clouds is basically a cloud shape full of words which are links to different areas within the web page. The actual text differientates in size in order of prominance, so that generally more hits that a link gets it appears in larger font in comparison to surrounding texts. In relation to libraries I think that is a valuable tool, the library could use this for several different things such as perhaps subject areas the collections hold, popular topics in relation to the library, collections of novels to name a few. I think that using cloud tags in libraries would be very good as the user can quickly skim the tag to get to a link which they may want to go to, and saving time.

This is link I found to a powerpoint on RSS. Please click the link if you want to check it out.
http://www.slideshare.net/sukhi/rss-and-its-use-in-libraries%20-

RSS Thoughts

Today we looked at using RSS feeds. I found this lesson really good and useful  to learn about this as I have never used RSS feeds but now I know about RSS feeds I will be using them. I think it is useful to have RSS feeds in libraries as it automatically updates to patrons any new things that are occuring. I think it is quite handy particularly for users who contantly may view the same website this gives them instant feeds or updates on the site. I found using the RSS feeds easy to use and overall it would definately save alot of time having RSS feeds and it provides current information to users.

Post 3 - Thoughts on the advantages of Flickr in Libraries

These are just a few ways that I feel Flickr could be useful and utilized in libraries.

 * Collecting and organising images into topics in the library which enables images to be shared easily.

* Libraries could create a Flickr account showing a virtual photographic tour of the library online. This could be useful for patrons and also to new staff who are not familiar with where different parts of the collections are located.

*  It could encourage patrons to tag pictures/photos in Flickr photo stream. This would be handy as it would engage the collection in a new way therefore really creating that avenue for direct communication between staff and patrons about the collections.

* If all libraries started using it they could have pictures of activities, events etc happening in libraries this than could be streamed to other libraries where they could organize similar activities, events etc. So it could be an excellent way to get across ideas/ advertising of what is occurring.

* With older material such as archival historical photos Flickr would be useful so you would not have people handling the original photographs thus they could view it electronically. This I feel would be valuable as it is a way of preserving these unique items for future generations to have, and make these items more accessible to patrons.

* Lastly it could be handy for reference type questions for instance the Librarian could take an image of the page of text and title page to answer questions for basic questions.

State Library

State Library IMG_8387, a photo by OZinOH on Flickr.

This is a photo of the State Library of New South Wales. I have never been but would like to check it out sometime.

This is a photo of me and my sister Julia.

Post 2 - Flickr

Hi again, I'm back, are you ready for my second post it is time yes, time to get excited!!. Well than let's get started. I will begin by discussing Flickr. Flickr is basically an internet computer application which enables users to share photo's, comment on photo's posted, and you can re-post photos through other applications such as emails, facebook, twitter, tumbler and blogger.

Personally I found Flickr easy and straightforward to use considering I have never used this before. I found it was easy to add photo's to my blog and include text with it was simple. I also liked how on the side panel there are like little thumbnail photos taken by the same person. This would be good for people who may perhaps like photographs produced by a particular person, so they may be inclined to go through and look at the other photo's done by that person. However, I will say I did come across something negative that I disliked about Flickr. When I happened to have found a photo I wanted to display on my blog it would not allow me to do this because the person who had taken the photo (owner) had disabled sharing. So that was rather annoying.I guess however the way around this dilemma is just to see if there is an alternative photo you could use and fingers crossed hope that one is not disabled to other applications.

Now in terms of Flickr being used in Libraries I think it would be a valuable electronic application/ tool to have. I see Flickr  being useful in  school and public libraries as you may have children doing an assignment on a particular topic area in which case they could simply type in their subject topic in the search bar and in an instant all these photo's are available to use.

One last thing I would like to add is as libraries are becoming more exposed to these applications it would be pointless to avoid using Flickr so I say libraries should start using Flickr as it is another avenue for patron's to get information or shall I say photo's. Well, you have now reached the end of my post, these are just some of my thoughts if you have any of your own comments or thoughts to add to my blog please feel free to do so. Till my next post see ya .

Rainbow Roses to brighten your day

Rainbow Roses, a photo by Richard Singh on Flickr.

This is a photo of rainbow roses. I like this image, the colour' s on the roses look amazing. When I came across this I thought this is so unusual, so I wanted to share this with you all, I hope you like this.

Via Flickr:
The highly colourful flowers have been developed by a Dutch businessman who dyes each bloom in the colours of the rainbow. The dyes are produced from natural plant extracts and are absorbed by the flowers as they grow. Aspecial process then controls how much colour reaches each petal – with spectacular results.

Benny

This is a picture of Benny. This time he is awake.

Benny

This is a picture of my dog sleeping and soaking up the sunshine. His name is Benny and he is a Maltese Terrier. I think he is a cutie... don't you.

puppies

puppies, a photo by www.petian.net on Flickr.

Puppies

Puppies, a photo by Xu83 on Flickr.

Photo of puppies.

Hello all fellow bloggers welcome to my blog.

In my view I think that blogs will play an integral role in libraries particularly as technological changes are emerging.  I assume that through libraries implementing blogs it would be useful towards perhaps users to comment on particular books they have read. Clients using the library could also perhaps comment on activities that have occured in the Library. This would definately be useful to staff as it could provide them with feedback on how to perhaps make improvements. I feel that in terms of libraries using blogs it would definately prove to be valuable.