Facebook,Twitter

Facebook

Facebook is the world's largest social network. It gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. People use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

With this in mind it makes sense that the library should also be on Facebook.  Adding  the library to social networking site Facebook is yet another way of providing access to our services.  It is a good way to let people know of upcoming events and the various services we offer and for them to provide feedback. Some libraries provide a link to their catalogue on the Facebook  home screen which is a good idea.

Twitter

Twitter is the best way to share and discover what is happening right now. With only 140 characters or less it is for quick comments.

Although I have never used twitter before this course and am not likely to use it again I like the idea as it is short and sweet not like having to do a 100 word blog!

I know our library has twitter and I think it is a good tool to send out reminders of library news  and events but to the question - How else could libraries use twitter ? I have no idea.

Week 6. Delicious, Library Thing

Delicious

I found this week very difficult, probably because I was trying to do it while on front desk and was not able to watch the video on Social Bookmarking in Plain English, and I was also  being interrupted. I realised that if I had watched the video first before attempting the tasks I would have saved myself some of the anguish. I don’t believe I would use Delicious personally as I would be happy just to use my own bookmarks rather than share others. But having now watched the video can see it would be useful in some circumstances.

LibraryThing

LibraryThing is a cataloging and social networking site for book lovers. It helps you create a catalogue of books: books you own, books you've read, books you'd like to read, books you've lent out ... whatever grouping you'd like.

Well I think this is pretty cool - of all the things covered so far in this training this is something I would use. I like idea of keeping a record of what I’ve read and I especially like that it gives recommendations of other similar books. It is a good way to discover new books outside your own library and gives reviews and ratings on them.

Wikis

I hadn’t heard of wikis before, besides of course Wikipedia and Wikileaks. I think it could be a good idea to have for library staff, to include things like policies and procedures. All staff could contribute and procedures would be uniform across the various libraries in your council.
  I found Antioch University wiki site quite interesting.  Did anyone notice the rules in the Staff Roles and Responsibilities section for front desk staff (click on Trainees: Front Desk Need to Know then 8. Staff Roles and Responsibilities.) Check out rules 9 and 10 - 

9.  No Knitting.

10. Please do not clip nails (toe or finger) while at the front desk.

Are these for real?

RSS Feeds

Well I have had some trouble grasping this lesson but after much help from the more computer savvy members of our team I finally managed.   

The RSS feeds I chose were -   

                                                       google news
                                                       thewest/news
                                                       thewest/entertainment
                                                       you tube
                                                       cockburn library
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
I chose the first two as they keep me up to date on local and national news and it is good to be informed on these events when working in a library. The entertainment one, to keep up with the latest movies. I had to have five so stuck you tube in there.

I have just discovered the library’s RSS feed and like the idea of being able to choose an author, subject, music or latest DVD’s and be advised on what the library has and of new stuff that comes in.  You can also keep up to date with current library events. For those like me who didn’t know about this function, you go to the catalogue and search for something you’re interested in and the results page will have the RSS icon or in case of events click on current events to show icon.

Kitty

My daughter just had to have a kitten and nagged us so much that we finally caved in and let her buy one.

A couple of months ago 7 month old Kitty started meowing all the time and sitting in a strange position.  She had been doing this for a few days so I started to get very concerned - thinking she was either sick or injured.  Even though it was a Sunday and vet fees were a lot more expensive I took her to the nearest vet hospital not wanting her to suffer further.  

What was the problem?  She was on heat!  

The Tom from down the road had his way...now Kitty is expecting kitties any time now.



Where's the pickles?



Web 2.0 learning

I am really eager to learn more about technology as I am a bit of a "newb".

The following are excerpts from Urban Dictionary explaining  what a "newb" is -

A newb is a person who is new to some task and are a very beginner at it, but they are willing to learn and fix their errors to move out of that stage. A "noob" on the other hand know little and have no will to learn any more.

Newb is the abbreviation of Newbie, a term describing someone who is new at an activity. Not to be confused with Noob, an annoying ignorant b.......

Newbs are meant to be nutured and cared for, least they become a noob. If you deal with a newb carefully, they may become a respected member of any community.