aahhhh social networking

The social networking scene............

While I had some understanding of what this is all about seeing the different sites and watching the video clip gave me a better grasp on this whole thing and I must say that I am not that impressed. I mean in Second Life it does seem like a game, you even have virtual sex??!!! How sad is that. To me the whole Second Life thing seems just like an electronic version of the Game of Life board game with a lot more twists.

Social networking i beleive is a sad sign of the times. People are loosing their skills to mix face to face and deal with life and its issues. While I do see it as a way for some to seek help for problems they are having withouth having to use their real identity the basic concept of talking to others and living your life through a computer is very sad.

As far as libraries go I dont see how people would benefit with a social networking library. I mean what has happened to customer service and face to face contact. Good honest face to face is the only way to really asertain if someone is being honest with you. In the computer world you can be anyone you want to be and use it as pure escapism if you want to. Social networking that way would be more like a hobby but I sadly believe that for many it is a way of life.

The idea of using the Second Life 3D for a virtual tour etc of the library is about the only plus I can see. While some libraries are using the social networking sites to promote things withinn their library I believe that with all the things we have looked at in this course we could adequately set up a web site with podcast or mashups included to promote the library in much the same way.

Though I may sound negative I cant apologise for my opinion. The social networking I dont really see as a professional tool at all. For the most part I see other ways that the same goals can be achieved and I really think that living your life through a computer is a very very sad existence indeed.

Now that I have finished this whole course I feel quite excited about the things I have achieved and learnt. It seemed quite daunting at the start but I am feeling far more computer literate now that i have done the whole thing. There are some aspects that I will definitely use in my own personal life and keeping a blog has been a lot of fun. As a team I am sure our library staff will meet together and discuss ways we can utilise what we have learnt when the entire staff has finished the course. It will be interesting to see where our knowledge will take us in regard to promoting and improving our library's assets and generally seeing if we can make our library more user friendly and up to date for those who live in the computer world. Thank you to all who made this journey possible. It has been a wonderful opportunity.

week 11 word processing online at google docs

First let me say that I was blown away by the fact that there was such a thing online. No need for a fancy wordprocessor as the google docs seemed to have all the basics that you would need for simple documents./letters/ memos. I prefered to use google docs to zoho. zoho was having a lot of trouble with the site when I was trying to use it so I would much rather use the google one.

I am wondering how this would affect our library in relation to charging for word processing facilities yet to search the internet is free. One could argue that a customer could use the internet service for free rather than use the Word program on the computer for a charge.

I was thinking too that in relation to staff meetings this would be ideal for setting up and agenda as each person on staff could enter the issues he/she had that needed to be discussed. Branch libraries also could document issues and concerns, send in statistics on a spreadsheet, tell us the latest happenings in their library etc.

As far as the public go using the google docs is something they probably dont even know about. I am sure many committees could benefit from this if they knew it existed.

On a personal front I think this has been a great find. Instead of having to email so many people whether it be for work or just a personal thing, I could send them a code to check it all out online by clicking on the Share button once the document was finished.

I also cant believe that I have only one week left to do and then this is finished. I think it a great achievement as Ionly work part time and there fore made the choice to do the work at home so I could keep up with everyone and get the same qualifications and certificate that full time learners were going to get.

mash ups on a personal front

Mash ups proved to be a lot of fun! I have discovered something new that I could use at home too. Making your own calendars etc would be a blast. There are so many options with the maps. I wish I had known about it last year then my family and I could have mapped out the travels of my hubby who went outback. We could have kept a map going of all the places he visited. Some interactive family fun. Just thought that I would make the comment seeing as I thought about it from a library perspective but after playing about more realised just how handy it could be for every day life as well.

choosing another mash up adventure

http://www.programmableweb.com/mashup/alphalearnr

I picked this mash up because I like butterflies but the whole alphabet concept is an interesting one. This could be a mash on a computer in the children's section of the library showing different things for different letters of the alphabet-a learning tool so to speak. each letter has real photos of things rather than just drawings. I am a big believer in young children being exposed to real photos of objects rather than just drawings or sketches. The mash up itself states that it is set up for children to learn the alphabet in english using pictures.

Another good use for a mashup in the library is for display as a screen saver in the public access area. Libraries could have a mashup of the people at an opening exhibition etc or at a special function such as harmony day that has been held or alternatively use it to advertise what is coming up next.

mashups, maps and mayhem

trip to the USA
this was fun to create!!!!

I was a bit overwhelmed when I first went in to play about with big labs. I was trying to get a photo from flickr but i couldnt remember what the password was so after sevreal attempts decided that at this late hour of the night I would choose to use maps instead! What a great place Big labs is though. So many things you can do with your photos. I was very impressed with the maps idea and also the calendar idea. This is only a small map but it shows the places I have actually been in the USA. The world map was available or several countries in the world but I didnt see Australia as an option. Either I am too tired or the map people have decided to leave us off the world.I think the whole mash ups thing is a very creative. I can see it would be useful for something like a floor plan of the library and showing everyone where things are. A calendar mash up would be great to show the up and coming events of the library. I am going to see if I can do a jigsaw or something else now. Then i will try and tackle the last part of the challenge for week 10.
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/map.php
">trip to the USA

podcasts

I think I understand this concept. My first thought was this is an example of something that could serve the vision impaired so they could hear things of news providing someone set up the computer for them. Once I got in to see different podcasts I must say that the storytime option seemed good. Kids could listen to a story and likewise libraries could use the podcasts for different stories changing them frequently. Due to the security system on my computer at home I wasnt able to access all the podcasts but I did get to the ABC site. I have been working from home so I may try at work next time I have to go in. I think that this could be a good way to teach / train staff or keep in touch with branch staff. To me the whole thing seems like it is a talking email rather than a written one. It is just another way of keeping in touch with employees and keeping them up to date on the world of technology. Members of the library may use podcasts to listen to what's new at the library or events are up and coming or listen to other members reviews on new items just for example.

yahoo answers week 8

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080331171629AAoKRcf&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFPgTNVUCp7wE_vx8l9JGcMSrJJjyJcdHyZiA--&paid=answered#B7BLBFH0Cksbq0fh1R7p

Above is the link to the question I answered as part of week 8.

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080331173201AAIalYT&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHzJL1mFOMyQ7HB7Fi7JZtuqWgJ64Gpye8Smw--&paid=asked&msgr_status=

Here is the link to the question I posted on yahoo.

while I read through the questions I thought that some of them were just simply ridiculous and obviously put on there by people with small minds and nothing better to do. For a library to work with an answerboard I think there would have to be some way of sorting the trash from the treasure.