Exercise 16

I have made a comment on Gary's blog, on Investigative Exercise 5 Social Networking:

With millions of daily users, I believe social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr provide an ideal outlet to engage a broad spectrum of society and maximise the libraries’ exposure, allowing them to promote services, collections, events, resources and easily facilitate communication with the client base. These networks also function as platforms for sharing media, with specific applications in library services such as Flickr photostreams of historical photographs forming part of the Local Studies Collections, and Facebook applications such as JSTOR allowing patrons to search the library’s JSTOR account directly through Facebook. By integrating these services into social networking, the library is able to maintain an active presence in the community. This is especially useful because many members of the community that may otherwise not be able to sacrifice the time to physically visit a library are able to remain informed and involved with current events and news. 

Exercise 15

I have made comments on Ruchi and Diane Gelder’s blogs

Ruchi: http://ruchimonitor.blogspot.com.au/

Ruchi: Filter Bubbles Exercise 8

I completely agree with your views on this ‘filter bubble’. Users of the internet should not be constricted to certain information, especially if they are looking for new information on that topic. I think that especially in a Library, where search engines are also used, all material should be available to users, instead of certain information being filtered based on what they believe visitors and the community need. There was a speculation back in March that Google was going to launch a social network, when it was announced that there would be no more private Google profiles after July 31^st. More and more of these sorts of things are coming up, where internet users do not have access to relevant information or their privacy is invaded! This is something I greatly disapprove of, and I’m glad that others like you agree with me on this.

Ruchi: Exercise 11 

You have some very good ideas that could be implemented to Parramatta Library, which I would also like to see happening in my library. My library is Concord Library, and I can already see modern elements and technology slowly surfacing, with a modern design and good search engines, however, like you said, more could be done. I agree with the idea of having an interactive site for the Children collection, as nowadays children seem to drift further and further away from reading and going to the library, so fun, interactive technologies such as touch screens and online stories would possibly incite a love for reading at an early age. For the Youth and Adult sections I think that they already know how to use their own laptops, ipads etc. in the library, which means less work in that section.

Diane Gelder: http://dianegeldermonitor.blogspot.com.au/

Diane Gelder: Exercise 6 

I agree with you on the fact that reading reviews are good and that they don’t necessarily belong in the library catalogue. I find reviews very helpful, especially if no person has recommended a particular book to me, and I’m just browsing. If you have a book already in mind, reviews appear tedious and useless, really, however if you want something new I think they’re very helpful. While my library does not have reviews in their catalogue, most books in the catalogue are accompanied by a link to their amazon page, the author in Wikipedia, Google Books and Library Thing, where reviews can obviously be found. Here is an example, http://webopac.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/libero/WebOpac.cls?VERSION=2&ACTION=DISPLAY&RSN=288992&DATA=CON&TOKEN=T7bQKqK5i73750&Z=1&SET=1
However, I think that more and more reviews are emerging on pages such as Amazon and library catalogues, with advancing technology making it easier for reviews to be posted.

Diane Gelder: Exercise 4

I really admire Nancy Pearl’s love for libraries! She says, “When you walk into a library, you’re the equal of anybody else and your options are unlimited”. I completely agree with this statement. I think many people today don’t realise the amount of knowledge, the amount of treasure, really, that a library holds. I remember when I was younger, and we had no internet, no computers etc. whenever we wanted to know something or research something we used to go to the library and I recall it being a wonderful experience. It’s so easy to lose yourself in a book, and I can’t wait till I can work as a librarian and spend much more time in the library! I feel like in a library you can explore almost the entire world, and widen your knowledge of the world without ever leaving the same place. 

Exercise 14

As asked, I invited three other bloggers to my blog.
These are:

Diane Gelder, Colin Edgar, Nili Chen as well as Sharon Luhr who was already an author of my blog.
Also, thank you so much Sharon for the helpful forum posts, it helped me find the authors to invite!

Exercise 13

Changing the arrangement of my blog:

I think this function is very useful. In order to make my page just a little more interesting and fun for visitors I have added the ‘Fish’ gadget which enables viewers to feed fish in what appears to be a fish tank on the right side of my blog. I have also changed the order of my sidebar, dragging the history above the contributors, making it easier for visitors to navigate to previous posts. I've also moved my blog posts to the right, and the contributors and blog archive to the left. I like this new arrangement :).

Exercise 12

Changing themes and colours for my blog:
I found this very exciting, as I found the plain black and white style that I previously had rather dull. My new theme features a background of books on shelves, rather suiting I thought, and I played around with the colour schemes (ranging from grey to blue to green to red) till I chose a nice green to complement the background. I found the template idea very good, as it enables users to choose from many, varying possibilities that are easily installed and changed.  

Exercise 11

One of the most ubiquitous emerging Library 2.0 technologies are blogs. Due to the immediacy of content delivery, these allow staff to market or announce library news and events, publish reviews of new releases which would generate discussion among the library clientele and inform customers of any changes taking place at the library. By extension, they could also be used for professional development, where staff can write about their work experience or training they have undertaken. Due to the wide scope of these blogs, their posts could be specific to any of the five categories of local studies, children’s, teenage/youth, adult fiction and information/reference. An example is the Mosman Library Blog (http://blogs.mosman.nsw.gov.au/library/), where recent posts include a news bulletin, information on the historical event “Mosman Dresses Up” as well as information on philanthropy such as the donation of books to Mudanjiang Library in China.

            Specific to Adult Fiction could be the use of an RSS feed to keep clients iformed of author talks, workshops as well as podcasts or vodcasts of guest speakers. Take for example the RSS feed of the Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/rss/, which lists dozens of free concerts, lectures, exhibitions, symposia, films, notifications of upcoming readings and presentations at the library.

            An interesting use of Library 2.0 Technologies is the application of instant messaging services in the Information/Reference area/. This is used in the reference service for quick questions and clarifications. This was trialed in the AskNow chat service in Australian libraries, http://www.asknow.gov.au/. The interactive chat software enables librarians to message users webpages as well as provide guidance on search techniques, or even take questions as referrals so they provide a more detailed response later on.

            To engage younger clients, such as teenagers, libraries often keep social network profiles such as facebook, http://www.facebook.com/. In particular, facebook groups can foster a connection with these customers by creating a virtual environment where they can gather based on shared interest, such as particular genres or even collaborate or forms study groups. They can also be used to keep the clientele in general informed of upcoming events, as posts are merged into their newsfeeds. An example is the State Library of New South Wales, http://www.facebook.com/statelibrarynsw?fref=ts. 

Exercise 10

           The Local Studies collection at Concord Library specialises in reference material covering diverse aspects of the City of Canada Bay Local Government Area. The resources include both historical and contemporary material in a variety of formats that reflect themes such as the original indigenous community, colonial settlement, industrial history as well as the natural and man-made environments. Digital collections include environmental reports, newspaper clippings, historical maps and photographs. Also available is the Ancestry Library edition database, which includes records of births, deaths, marriages and cemetery records. One of the most innovative application of Library 2.0 technologies is the Canada Bay Connections, a digital collection of the Library's historical and contemporary photographs. These include images of the City of Canada Bay and many local organisations, ranging from the nineteenth century up to the present day. A selection of these are also accessible via Flickr.

            For youth, the library has a “Project Y - Youth Space @ the Libraries”, which includes a Facebook page, X-Box Competitions and online collaboration homework groups. In addition, there are interactive programs regarding cybersafety on the library website, as well as a plethora of external links to youth forums and so forth. Furthermore, the Library provides access to a range of databases to assist students.  These include ANZ Reference Centre, Health and Wellness Resource Center, Literature Resource Center, Science Resource Center, Factiva, Standards Australia Online and Britannica. This is an extension of the many databases already available in the library’s information and reference service areas.

            For Adult Fiction, there is the OverDrive eLibrary 24/7 Digital Media Collection. There, you can download hundreds of audiobooks and eBooks, bestsellers or classics from home! Your OverDrive eLibrary24/7 never closes and is available anytime, anywhere. All you need is an internet connection and a current City of Canada Bay library card. 

           For children, there are seemingly no Library 2.0 Technologies, but rather there is a rhyme-time, story reading and playgroup. This is presumably because young children are more active, preferring to play together or sing a rhyme, rathen than use a computer. Furthermore, many parents believe limited exposure to television, computers and other technology is beneficial to their child's upringing. Furthermore, these younger children may have trouble navigating or accessing traditional computer user interfaces. 

            

Exercise 9

Investigative Exercise 9 - Community Profiles

State which local council area you live in – you will be investigating your local library service.
Write a post (about a paragraph long) giving a “community profile” of the people/area your library service is for. Include links to the Council website for your Library service and to the Library section of this website.
This might be a good post to add an image of your library or Council area. 

Concord Library - City of Canada Bay Council

The library caters to a very diverse demographic. For senior citizens, there are Author Talks, Wrap with Love knitting group, Reader's cafe at Concord Library, Reading group at Five Dock, Local Studies and Home library service. Youth activities including youth space, game space, school holiday activities, HSC resources, HSC talks, schools collection, book week activities as well as recommended good reads. Children’s activities include baby rhymetime, toddlertime, preschool storytime, school holiday activities, afterschool book group, research skills for primary school kids and other reference links.

Exercise 8

Exercise 8

Watch the two following Youtube clips – post a comment in response to one of the clips.

Robots

The Automated Book Delivery System and Virtual Browse Technology being implemented at the James B. Hunt Library Jr. Library heralds an exciting new era in library technology. The print collections which will be housed in a climate controlled environment, containing up to two million volumes, will be serviced by a state-of-the-art bookBot. This allows the library to maximise shelving space by storing less frequently viewed collections in the ABDS as well as those more fragile which would benefit from environmentally stable conditions. This technology is derived from high-density automated shelving processes already in place in automotive manufacturing. This fascinating new technology will engage patrons and extend the accessibility of the catalogue. Materials can be requested only, with a robotic crane retrieving the order only minutes later.

Filter bubbles

I am very surprised to learn about these ‘filter bubbles’ as I have recently noticed things disappearing when I go to news sites and do a Google search. I think the concept behind this idea is  so incredibly foolish, because the internet was made in order to bring people together and connect the world with the ability to share knowledge. The notion only hinders growth of knowledge and makes us blind and ignorant. I almost feel as if we are being treated as children, search engines such as Google covering our eyes to stop us from seeing what goes on in the world. The internet enables users around the world to have a voice, something which everyone has a right to see. Especially in today’s society where media has an immense effect on our choices, I strongly feel that this biased technology takes away my rights to information in a democratic society. Although some people may prefer keeping out any unwanted information for convenience, I prefer to know current events and not constantly feel ignorant. I am concerned of what the culture of the world will transform into if the internet is so incredibly selective with its information for individuals.