Well this is the end of Old Gregg's Web 2.0 training and he has learned an awful lot, especially for a man fish!
Some of the technology I won't use a lot like Twitter (although I will still follow people but I doubt I'll tweet myself) and geocaching. Some things I already use a lot like Facebook and You Tube but I have given more thought to how they could be used by a library to reach customers.
Other things like RSS feeds, podcasting and Delicious I have found really useful and I will continue to use regularly.
This was a great course and even though I found it difficult to find time to do it at work, I'm glad I made the time to do it at home as I've learned new and valuable things.
Thanks to the wonderful Mark and Mel for co-ordinating the course and patiently answering all of our questions!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
The hunt is on!
Geocaching is new to me and it seems like it would be fun. Not having a fancy phone I haven't given it a go yet, maybe I will try it when I do get one.
It's great that libraries are using this as a fun way to run activities for patrons. I don't know that this would work particularly well in our libraries, maybe as part of a special promotion to get people into the library or for children's activities. Running a session on how it works may be beneficial for patrons who have not heard of it before.
Overall it's a great way for communities to connect, I'm glad I finally found out what it actually is and I didn't realise it had been running for such a long time. I will keep it mind for future activities!
It's great that libraries are using this as a fun way to run activities for patrons. I don't know that this would work particularly well in our libraries, maybe as part of a special promotion to get people into the library or for children's activities. Running a session on how it works may be beneficial for patrons who have not heard of it before.
Overall it's a great way for communities to connect, I'm glad I finally found out what it actually is and I didn't realise it had been running for such a long time. I will keep it mind for future activities!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Casting off
Old Gregg has never subscribed to pod/vod or screen casts before. The possibilities for personal and professional applications has opened up.....
Looking at the libraries that currently use podcasts it seems to be mostly book reviews, author talks and other informative talks. It's a great idea but Old Gregg honestly found a lot of them quite boring! Old Gregg thinks if it is done right podcasts can be a great way to reach people and engage them but the participants have to be engaging as does the subject matter. Our libraries run some bookclubs, maybe a book synopsis and the group discussions would be interesting and show those who are curious how a bookclub can be run. Staff and patrons enthusiastic about a particular author/genre could review their latest pick. Storytime complete with sound effects would be good. Oral histories about the history of the area would be interesting. The possibilities really are endless.
For his own interests Gregg has added Triple J's live music podcasts as an RSS feed to google reader, this way Gregg never has to miss a Like a Version again!
Looking at the libraries that currently use podcasts it seems to be mostly book reviews, author talks and other informative talks. It's a great idea but Old Gregg honestly found a lot of them quite boring! Old Gregg thinks if it is done right podcasts can be a great way to reach people and engage them but the participants have to be engaging as does the subject matter. Our libraries run some bookclubs, maybe a book synopsis and the group discussions would be interesting and show those who are curious how a bookclub can be run. Staff and patrons enthusiastic about a particular author/genre could review their latest pick. Storytime complete with sound effects would be good. Oral histories about the history of the area would be interesting. The possibilities really are endless.
For his own interests Gregg has added Triple J's live music podcasts as an RSS feed to google reader, this way Gregg never has to miss a Like a Version again!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Old Gregg stars in....
Old Gregg is no stranger to online video fame, his song Love Games (Lady Gaga totally ripped off Old Gregg) is gold. Watch Old Gregg and his fiance Howard getting funky (in the musical sense) Warning: there is a reference to a 'mangina' at the end.
Libraries can use online videos to promote events, teach users how to use library services and share events such as storytime and author talks. Old Gregg likes this video made by Harper College Library, it's silly and lighthearted but still pretty informative and professional looking.
Libraries can use online videos to promote events, teach users how to use library services and share events such as storytime and author talks. Old Gregg likes this video made by Harper College Library, it's silly and lighthearted but still pretty informative and professional looking.
I like to follow Stephen Fry
Facebook can be a great way to connect to people, either your friends or in the case of an organisation your users. I first joined Facebook when I went to live overseas, it's an easy way to keep in touch, sometimes I learn things I didn't want to know though!
For an organisation however you can never have enough information available, having a Facebook page can open up a whole new way of reaching users who use social networking tools to find information.
Twitter is a new experience for me, I'm not really interested in keeping people updated with what I'm doing (I'm just not that interesting!) but I'm enjoying following people and organisations, this definitely has a lot of potential for libraries to use to promote the library and keep users informed.
If you want to be bored to death follow me @teengirlsquad1
For an organisation however you can never have enough information available, having a Facebook page can open up a whole new way of reaching users who use social networking tools to find information.
Twitter is a new experience for me, I'm not really interested in keeping people updated with what I'm doing (I'm just not that interesting!) but I'm enjoying following people and organisations, this definitely has a lot of potential for libraries to use to promote the library and keep users informed.
If you want to be bored to death follow me @teengirlsquad1
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Deliciously addictive
Just like sweet, sweet Baileys, Delicious is an addictive tool to use. With library use in mind I started adding all of the links I often use at work. I was soon lured by the chance to find new places to shop so I added a great online shopping site Mod Cloth and then looked at other people who also had this on their Delicious page. I now have many more ways to spend my money and fill my underwater manfish pad. If you'd like to share my addiction my Delicious page can be found at:
http://www.delicious.com/jacqueline.oh78
This is a useful tool for both work and play!
Library Thing is also a fun tool to use, Old Gregg added some of the books he recently read or wants to read. By looking at other readers' pages there are lots more on the 'want to read' list now!
http://www.delicious.com/jacqueline.oh78
This is a useful tool for both work and play!
Library Thing is also a fun tool to use, Old Gregg added some of the books he recently read or wants to read. By looking at other readers' pages there are lots more on the 'want to read' list now!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Wiki-ty wak!
Wikipedia has always been a useful starting point for researching a topic giving useful keywords and avenues to explore. Old Gregg hasn't really explored the world of wikis before so this was a great opportunity.
The Montana History Wiki is a great way to put resources together by subject to make life easier for staff and patrons. This could be applied at a public library with pages and links for popular school projects/local history studies etc
The Antioch University Library Staff Training and Support wiki is a fantastic idea. This would be very useful to be able to click on a link to a procedure rather than looking through a hard copy.
The wiki I liked the most out of this list (although I did refuse to look at the Twilight wiki!) was the NSW Readers Advisory Services. This is a great resource for public libraries to share and gain new ideas. I was inspired by a couple of the suggestions for the year of reading in 2012. I liked the 'drop everything and read' idea, like a flash mob, obviously reading a book isn't as visually stunning as dancing but in a busy enough place and great enough numbers it could have quite an impact! I also really like the 'books and beer' idea, not sure how it would be implemented but it involves beer so I'm there!
I also liked the wiki that had links to all the libraries with blogs in the US. Some of these libraries are very impressive! I really liked the Baldwinsville Library (I like to imagine that Alec Baldwin has bought this town and has given jobs like Mayor and Sheriff to his less successful brothers).
http://baldwinsvillelibrary.wordpress.com/
The Montana History Wiki is a great way to put resources together by subject to make life easier for staff and patrons. This could be applied at a public library with pages and links for popular school projects/local history studies etc
The Antioch University Library Staff Training and Support wiki is a fantastic idea. This would be very useful to be able to click on a link to a procedure rather than looking through a hard copy.
The wiki I liked the most out of this list (although I did refuse to look at the Twilight wiki!) was the NSW Readers Advisory Services. This is a great resource for public libraries to share and gain new ideas. I was inspired by a couple of the suggestions for the year of reading in 2012. I liked the 'drop everything and read' idea, like a flash mob, obviously reading a book isn't as visually stunning as dancing but in a busy enough place and great enough numbers it could have quite an impact! I also really like the 'books and beer' idea, not sure how it would be implemented but it involves beer so I'm there!
I also liked the wiki that had links to all the libraries with blogs in the US. Some of these libraries are very impressive! I really liked the Baldwinsville Library (I like to imagine that Alec Baldwin has bought this town and has given jobs like Mayor and Sheriff to his less successful brothers).
http://baldwinsvillelibrary.wordpress.com/
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