Farewell Learning 2.0!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Summary
So this is the end! Yeh...yippee, fantastic, I have made it to end. What a journey!
After beginning the program with the second group of participants I knew I was behind the others and had to work hard. I look back at the first couple of exercises and asked why am I doing this. This is all too hard but now as I jump in and out of my blog, it all seems so much easier. Flickr was good to use as well. Even walking away with the familiarity of new terminology and technology is a great outcome of the program. However, if I ever lose my list of usernames and passwords I will scream...........
Drawbacks of the program. The lack of instructions was frustrating. Trying to follow and find instructions online was hard work. And boy did you feel stupid when the exercise said 'this is easy' and then it didn't work. Some of the material would be more straight forward for people in the field of IT however we 'information technologists' are trying to embrace the terminology and may need to be spoon fed a bit more. I would not have been unable to complete the program without the technology assistance of my 'better half'. Many thanks!
So what am I going to do now? Well as you may have discovered my daughter plays ice hockey for the Sharks Ice Hockey Team. I have been asked to do a newsletter for the club. I said tonight, on the way home from the hockey rink, I could change my blog name from Sparky Snippets to Sharky Snippets and continue the blog for club information. I never thought I would hear those words come out of my mouth!!!!!
After beginning the program with the second group of participants I knew I was behind the others and had to work hard. I look back at the first couple of exercises and asked why am I doing this. This is all too hard but now as I jump in and out of my blog, it all seems so much easier. Flickr was good to use as well. Even walking away with the familiarity of new terminology and technology is a great outcome of the program. However, if I ever lose my list of usernames and passwords I will scream...........
Drawbacks of the program. The lack of instructions was frustrating. Trying to follow and find instructions online was hard work. And boy did you feel stupid when the exercise said 'this is easy' and then it didn't work. Some of the material would be more straight forward for people in the field of IT however we 'information technologists' are trying to embrace the terminology and may need to be spoon fed a bit more. I would not have been unable to complete the program without the technology assistance of my 'better half'. Many thanks!
So what am I going to do now? Well as you may have discovered my daughter plays ice hockey for the Sharks Ice Hockey Team. I have been asked to do a newsletter for the club. I said tonight, on the way home from the hockey rink, I could change my blog name from Sparky Snippets to Sharky Snippets and continue the blog for club information. I never thought I would hear those words come out of my mouth!!!!!
Week 9: Audio Books
There is definitely a market for downloadable eAudiobooks. Visiting the Historical Children's Ebooks site highlighted just how precious some of our older and out-of-print books are. The classic novels that are no longer available or are too fragile to be handled can now still be viewed online. What a great service to library patrons.
As the price of books sky rockets, there is still the demand from patrons. Viewing ebooks certainly gives patrons another source to tap in to. Brilliant.......
As the price of books sky rockets, there is still the demand from patrons. Viewing ebooks certainly gives patrons another source to tap in to. Brilliant.......
Week 9: Podcasts
I thought a more local podcast would be great to have access to so I found the State Library of Victoria's podcast and with assistance from my little helper I said up an RSS feed. Podcasts I looked for in the directories, for topics I was interested in, were quite out of date so that is why I wanted something close to home and current. SLV seems reasonably up to date.
Podcasts can be a great form of technology and I can listen to the podcasts while doing my chores! In the library situation, podcasts of recent guest speakers at Library Events @ ERL could be placed on podcast for patrons that are unable to get to the library to hear the speaker live.
Podcasts can be a great form of technology and I can listen to the podcasts while doing my chores! In the library situation, podcasts of recent guest speakers at Library Events @ ERL could be placed on podcast for patrons that are unable to get to the library to hear the speaker live.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Week 9: YouTube
You Tube can be great! If you have the time! It is a bit of a worry when a television station has a new show which shows downloads from the internet. What the?
The significance of my You Tube selections? I managed to find a You Tube which combined my interest in polar bears and ice hockey. Where else in the world would I find that but on You Tube? The Ice Hockey Rap video is of my daughter! She submitted the video as part of her Year 11 Studio Art Photography. She compiled 154 photographs @ 7 second intervals time exposure, added music and then added it to You Tube. I am proud to say she got at A for the project! And all her fellow team mates can have a look at the video.
How can we apply You Tube to the library scene? Well I thought Library Dominos was great and I had a great laugh at the Medieval IT Help Desk. As an instructional tool, You Tube could be good. Instead of showing the Monitor system for the 100th time to the patron I could just hit a button on a screen and say 'watch this'. Want a tour of the library? Watch this video!
Once again I found the notes for uploading the video to the blog really unclear. Had to resort to my 'better half' again for help!
The significance of my You Tube selections? I managed to find a You Tube which combined my interest in polar bears and ice hockey. Where else in the world would I find that but on You Tube? The Ice Hockey Rap video is of my daughter! She submitted the video as part of her Year 11 Studio Art Photography. She compiled 154 photographs @ 7 second intervals time exposure, added music and then added it to You Tube. I am proud to say she got at A for the project! And all her fellow team mates can have a look at the video.
How can we apply You Tube to the library scene? Well I thought Library Dominos was great and I had a great laugh at the Medieval IT Help Desk. As an instructional tool, You Tube could be good. Instead of showing the Monitor system for the 100th time to the patron I could just hit a button on a screen and say 'watch this'. Want a tour of the library? Watch this video!
Once again I found the notes for uploading the video to the blog really unclear. Had to resort to my 'better half' again for help!
#7 Technology
As a family historian I love digitisation of family history records. How this technology has changed the field of genealogy and brought so much information to the public.
The National Archives of Australia and the Public Records Office are continually undertaking digitising of records for the public. The National Archives commenced a national digitisation service in February 2007. The service provides online access to the Archive's collection across Australia, featuring both on-demand (whereby the user pays for the record to be digitised) and proactive digitising (whereby the NAA will actively digitise all records in a series eg. naturalization records).
'So what?'you say. By being able to access these digitised records online, so far free of charge as the documents had already been digitised, I have been able to find out a wealth of information about my great-grandfather. Information I have not been able to locate elsewhere. But the beauty of the technology is that I can view the original records of his naturalization papers and discover from his internment records of WW1 that he died in internment. And all from the comfort of my chair in my own home! I find this technology great and it is the direction that family history is taking. Some say this is a shame as this is isolating people. They say half the fun of genealogy is visiting repositories and obtaining the documents.
But for me, I don't have the time to visit places such as the National Archives in Canberra or even the Public Record Office of Victoria in North Melbourne. To have the technology such as digitising is fantastic. At a recent Family History Forum, at the State Library of Victoria, I listened to a lecture by the Newspaper Librarian. He said digitising technology has meant that users are demanding that more and more newspapers are digitised and made accessible online. The State Library has listened to its users and is now undertaking a massive newspaper digitisation project.
So digitisation is a form of technology that has helped me greatly!
The National Archives of Australia and the Public Records Office are continually undertaking digitising of records for the public. The National Archives commenced a national digitisation service in February 2007. The service provides online access to the Archive's collection across Australia, featuring both on-demand (whereby the user pays for the record to be digitised) and proactive digitising (whereby the NAA will actively digitise all records in a series eg. naturalization records).
'So what?'you say. By being able to access these digitised records online, so far free of charge as the documents had already been digitised, I have been able to find out a wealth of information about my great-grandfather. Information I have not been able to locate elsewhere. But the beauty of the technology is that I can view the original records of his naturalization papers and discover from his internment records of WW1 that he died in internment. And all from the comfort of my chair in my own home! I find this technology great and it is the direction that family history is taking. Some say this is a shame as this is isolating people. They say half the fun of genealogy is visiting repositories and obtaining the documents.
But for me, I don't have the time to visit places such as the National Archives in Canberra or even the Public Record Office of Victoria in North Melbourne. To have the technology such as digitising is fantastic. At a recent Family History Forum, at the State Library of Victoria, I listened to a lecture by the Newspaper Librarian. He said digitising technology has meant that users are demanding that more and more newspapers are digitised and made accessible online. The State Library has listened to its users and is now undertaking a massive newspaper digitisation project.
So digitisation is a form of technology that has helped me greatly!
#5 Flickr
It was interesting searching Everyone's Photos in Flickr. Searching the term 'polar cubs' yielded 936 posts for a full-text search whereas searching for the same term in the tags only field only came up with 6! I would much prefer to search 936 photos because I find polar bear cubs cute and could easily look at over nine hundred of them.
To be able to modify tools under Flickr Services looks like great fun.
To be able to modify tools under Flickr Services looks like great fun.
Week 8: Online Applications & Tools
I love this application! I found Zoho Writer's features easy to use and it was actually ease to post it on my blog! Hooray - now I am getting somewhere!
Testing
Testing, testing, 1,2,3................
I like this idea. As a casual staff member I am often at different places and this application would be great.
Week 7: Wikis
It is always a worry when the instructions say 'it is easy to do if you follow this simple syntax'. You follow the simple instructions and it just doesn't work.
In steps my wonderful, fantastic, brilliant life-saver of a husband to save the day. Who I might add has been of great assistance to me along my journey (is that enough grovelling dear!). The problem we think was with the browser that I was using so this is just something to be aware of.
As I approach week 8, I have found the instructions for Learning 2.0 Activities really poor. Often the instructions have been followed and then a large amount of time has been spent trouble-shooting trying to find out how the applications can be applied.
In steps my wonderful, fantastic, brilliant life-saver of a husband to save the day. Who I might add has been of great assistance to me along my journey (is that enough grovelling dear!). The problem we think was with the browser that I was using so this is just something to be aware of.
As I approach week 8, I have found the instructions for Learning 2.0 Activities really poor. Often the instructions have been followed and then a large amount of time has been spent trouble-shooting trying to find out how the applications can be applied.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Week 7: Wikis
A Wiki allows a group of people to collaboratively develop a Web site with no knowledge of HTML or other markup languages. Anyone can add to or edit content. Sound interesting!
Advantages - Easy to use; anyone can make changes; free and open source options; flexible and extensible.
Disadvantages - Disorganized; too open; not enough control; vandalism and spam.
So where do wikis fit in to libraries? I believe there is a place for wikis in the library world. The lack of editorial control and a wiki being prone to being subjective, or strongly influenced by opinion, is of concern. If a wiki is designed around a specific subject/topic and directed towards a very specific audience, eg. reader's reviews (such as the Book Lover's Wiki, developed by Princeton Public Library) or family historian's discussions on a specific topic then I think there is potential for wikis.
However the suggestion of adding 'wiki functionality' to the library catalogue - I don't think so....... A 'community wiki' via a library would be a great idea. With libraries becoming the 'hub' of the community, a wiki would be great for the local community to advertise certain materials. For example, local schools or community houses could advertise their activities via the wiki. They would then have flexibility of making changes to the entry.
Library Success: a Best Practises Wiki was a wiki created to be a 'one-stop shop' for great ideas and information for all types of librarians. Under specific categories which can be added to. But once again, I think it is successful because it is targeting a specific audience and is less open to abuse.
I also enjoyed the You-Tube on the campers using a wiki to co-ordinate the camping trip instead of emailing many people. That has huge potential but I have visions of families organizing thier Christmas lunches and what to bring via a family wiki - 'no you said you'd bring the plum pudding' 'no you were supposed to bring the turkey'' you forgot the bon bons'. Aaah - roll on Christmas! Ho, ho, ho.
Advantages - Easy to use; anyone can make changes; free and open source options; flexible and extensible.
Disadvantages - Disorganized; too open; not enough control; vandalism and spam.
So where do wikis fit in to libraries? I believe there is a place for wikis in the library world. The lack of editorial control and a wiki being prone to being subjective, or strongly influenced by opinion, is of concern. If a wiki is designed around a specific subject/topic and directed towards a very specific audience, eg. reader's reviews (such as the Book Lover's Wiki, developed by Princeton Public Library) or family historian's discussions on a specific topic then I think there is potential for wikis.
However the suggestion of adding 'wiki functionality' to the library catalogue - I don't think so....... A 'community wiki' via a library would be a great idea. With libraries becoming the 'hub' of the community, a wiki would be great for the local community to advertise certain materials. For example, local schools or community houses could advertise their activities via the wiki. They would then have flexibility of making changes to the entry.
Library Success: a Best Practises Wiki was a wiki created to be a 'one-stop shop' for great ideas and information for all types of librarians. Under specific categories which can be added to. But once again, I think it is successful because it is targeting a specific audience and is less open to abuse.
I also enjoyed the You-Tube on the campers using a wiki to co-ordinate the camping trip instead of emailing many people. That has huge potential but I have visions of families organizing thier Christmas lunches and what to bring via a family wiki - 'no you said you'd bring the plum pudding' 'no you were supposed to bring the turkey'' you forgot the bon bons'. Aaah - roll on Christmas! Ho, ho, ho.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Week 6: Web 2.0-Library 2.0
So what is the future of libraries?
I decided to look up my daughter's year 11 recommended dictionary, The Oxford Australian Student's Colour Dictionary, 3rd ed, 2005, for a definition of a library. Library (noun): 1. a collection of books for reading or borrowing; 2. a room or building where these are kept; 3. a similar collection of recordings, films, computer routines, etc. 4. a series of books issued in similar bindings as a set. Librarian (noun): a person in charge of or assisting in a library. Mmmm, I think Melvil Dewey could have written those definitions! I only hope that year 11 students never have to look up the definition of a library and see such an archaic definition of a library in the year 2007! Especially when these students could do a blog in their sleep!!!!!
It is for this reason that I initially listed in my profile that my occupation was 'information technologist' not librarian. We need to change people's fuddy duddy image of libraries as quiet repositories for books. In an information technology age, libraries need to be seen to be embracing new technology and passing on advice to users. According to Michael Stephens, in 'Into a new world of librarianship' ........'this librarian will help users become their own programming director for all of the content available to them'. I think that is being rather optimistic.
Libraries in five or ten years from now will look substantially different from libraries of today. I agree with the State Library of Victoria's vision statement in that we need to be able to offer worldwide information resources to enrich the patron's cultural, educational, social and economic lives. However we still have to live in a 'real' world.
We do need to find new ways to bring our services to patrons rather than insisting that they come to us - whether physically or virtually on the web. However, I agree with Rick Anderson's article, 'Away from the 'icebergs''. Libraries of today are facing severe cutbacks and facing severe budget constraints. Yes, libraries are poorly equipped and insufficiently staffed for teaching. We need to remove the barrier that exists between a patron and the information they need. We can assist and educate patrons when we can however, on a daily basis, I do not believe we have the resources to teach patrons.
As Web 2.0 evolves, patrons will expect access to everything, such as digital collections of newspapers (especially relevant in regard to family history research), books, blogs, podcasts, etc. Librarians, in their new role of 'information technologist', can and should be able to assist users to access such services but we are highly under-resourced to teach such new technology at present.
I decided to look up my daughter's year 11 recommended dictionary, The Oxford Australian Student's Colour Dictionary, 3rd ed, 2005, for a definition of a library. Library (noun): 1. a collection of books for reading or borrowing; 2. a room or building where these are kept; 3. a similar collection of recordings, films, computer routines, etc. 4. a series of books issued in similar bindings as a set. Librarian (noun): a person in charge of or assisting in a library. Mmmm, I think Melvil Dewey could have written those definitions! I only hope that year 11 students never have to look up the definition of a library and see such an archaic definition of a library in the year 2007! Especially when these students could do a blog in their sleep!!!!!
It is for this reason that I initially listed in my profile that my occupation was 'information technologist' not librarian. We need to change people's fuddy duddy image of libraries as quiet repositories for books. In an information technology age, libraries need to be seen to be embracing new technology and passing on advice to users. According to Michael Stephens, in 'Into a new world of librarianship' ........'this librarian will help users become their own programming director for all of the content available to them'. I think that is being rather optimistic.
Libraries in five or ten years from now will look substantially different from libraries of today. I agree with the State Library of Victoria's vision statement in that we need to be able to offer worldwide information resources to enrich the patron's cultural, educational, social and economic lives. However we still have to live in a 'real' world.
We do need to find new ways to bring our services to patrons rather than insisting that they come to us - whether physically or virtually on the web. However, I agree with Rick Anderson's article, 'Away from the 'icebergs''. Libraries of today are facing severe cutbacks and facing severe budget constraints. Yes, libraries are poorly equipped and insufficiently staffed for teaching. We need to remove the barrier that exists between a patron and the information they need. We can assist and educate patrons when we can however, on a daily basis, I do not believe we have the resources to teach patrons.
As Web 2.0 evolves, patrons will expect access to everything, such as digital collections of newspapers (especially relevant in regard to family history research), books, blogs, podcasts, etc. Librarians, in their new role of 'information technologist', can and should be able to assist users to access such services but we are highly under-resourced to teach such new technology at present.
Week 6: Technorati
The show goes on.......
It was interesting looking at the results of searching the term 'Learning 2.0'. For whole blogs -6,369, as opposed to searching via a tag- 622 posts! Big difference in numbers. Is 622 posts more maneagable and more relevant as the blogger considers it important enough to warrant the tag?
Searching for 'ice hockey' in entire posts yielded 6,895 results as opposed to searching the term in tags only came up with 245. Find searching for tags much less overwhelming.
It was interesting looking at the results of searching the term 'Learning 2.0'. For whole blogs -6,369, as opposed to searching via a tag- 622 posts! Big difference in numbers. Is 622 posts more maneagable and more relevant as the blogger considers it important enough to warrant the tag?
Searching for 'ice hockey' in entire posts yielded 6,895 results as opposed to searching the term in tags only came up with 245. Find searching for tags much less overwhelming.
Week 6: Del.icio.us
Mmmm. I like Del.icio.us. It is practical and useful. As a casual worker it is great to be able to access all my favourite websites from whatever site I am at. Tagging is great. One click and I can easily access the information. Goodbye 'Bookmarks' as my bookmarks are growing and growing and finding it difficult to find a favourite.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Week5: Rollyo
Sparky Rollyo is now installed. It is suprising just how much you do learn and remember from the prior lesson. Applications once again are limitless..........
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Week 5: Image Generators
My dream.... to be a chocolate bar!!
Easy Image Generator to use....www.glassgiant.com/chocolate_bar/
Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders
Not another user ID! Not another password! But worth it. Can see the usefulness of RSS both in my work and personal life.
My interest is in genealogy which is growing daily on the internet. To be able to draw together in one place my favourite web pages, without the hassle of visiting each site individually, should be a great time saver. Also worthwhile professionally keeping up to date with library sites.
In my personal life, I have been asked to produce a monthly newsletter for a Melbourne ice hockey club. I should be able to set up RSS feeds that interest me and assist me with material for the newsletter.
I now move on to Week 5: Play Week. Not sure about the word 'play' though. Oh well, if all else fails, I can ask my 8 year old for help!
My interest is in genealogy which is growing daily on the internet. To be able to draw together in one place my favourite web pages, without the hassle of visiting each site individually, should be a great time saver. Also worthwhile professionally keeping up to date with library sites.
In my personal life, I have been asked to produce a monthly newsletter for a Melbourne ice hockey club. I should be able to set up RSS feeds that interest me and assist me with material for the newsletter.
I now move on to Week 5: Play Week. Not sure about the word 'play' though. Oh well, if all else fails, I can ask my 8 year old for help!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Flickr fun
Have to get my skates on and try to catch up! Have been struck by gastro and lying low for the past few days....
Like the potential of Flickr. Have always wanted to post cartoon captions to photos and hopefully now I know how.
I was asked to produce a monthly newsletter this week so I am looking for the full potential for all applications. There is nothing like a time constraint to get you moving....... soooooo this is why I have to get my skates on.
Friday, October 19, 2007
#5 Flickr fun -Polar-bear-cubs
There, there you shouldn't listen to a thing those nasty penguins say.....
First Snippet
Welcome to Sparky Snippets.
Disciplining myself to sit down and commence the project has been the hardest part so far! But that is part of the learning curve......
Disciplining myself to sit down and commence the project has been the hardest part so far! But that is part of the learning curve......
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