definitely all mashedup

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Mmm del.icio.us

A del.icio.us account has been on my list of things to do for quite a long time now and finally thanks to L2TD I have finally started something, however lacking in content it may be..check out the excitement at http://delicious.com/MackayLibraries. The product has some nice applications in public libraries that is for sure...for one thing, at our library, we've been strictly limited with the number of pages allowed on our internet site, delicious is a great alternative to pages of website links within the library site itself...delicious will allow us to move this content off-site essentially. Unfortunately, delicious is currently a blocked site for most of us at my workplace, but I think that will change in the near future. I think our customers could really benefit from the delicious service in terms of retaining bookmarks that would otherwise be lost when they log off a public access PC...

RSS Feed-Back...

Bloglines is not only a nifty little aggregator but it has some other great features that you could use to make it a nice little information centre for yourself...my blog feeds include 2 of my favourite loves, music and movies, an obligatory library-related blog and my "fake" colleague Graham's experiences as a Leed's librarian working down under which are documented in his blog "Librarian Down Under". My real colleague Donna's blog can be found also - Donna is doing Graham's job and vice versa. Of course, SLQ gets a look in there also.
Subscribing to feeds certainly makes keeping up with blog posts much easier, otherwise it can be quite a daunting process. Our library currently has news site RSS feeds embedded into the website but we aren't pushing out RSS content yet - it does have some great possibilities though, particularly for newsy and events content that needs to be pushed out to customers. I have posted a response on Bookishtype Reads blog regarding RSS feeds and their use for libraries...technology like this needs to have a true purpose, not just exist for the sake of 2.0 - great blog Bookishtype Reads, I really enjoy it - especially your Eleanor post...

Facebook does not rule my life!!

My husband would beg to differ, but Facebook does NOT rule my life! I have been a Facebooker for about 12 months or so now and have found it a great tool to touch base with old friends, friends I otherwise would have no hope of reconnecting with. Our Library isn't using Facebook or any other social networking tool for promotion or delivery at the moment...the council that our library is part of does have a Facebook site and I question the true advantage of their having a Facebook site. I think it has great potential for our Young People's Services area...
In the meantime, without Facebook we couldn't share the latest breaking news and teasers with each other from the New Moon film...

Finally catching up...

I feared I was falling way behind with the L2TD...got that wiki activity under control. They are mostly very easy to use and add content to...Wikipedia was a bit more complicated so I added my content in as simplistic a way as possible..I didn't register to edit so perhaps that was a little slack...I added some content about the correct pronounciation of my town to this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackay,_Queensland
I wouldn't make a habit of editing wikipedia, it was all a little too complicated, but those other apps like Wetpaint, they were great. Really hoping to integrate wikis into our information services in the library in the near future...

Wiki-mania

I have been contemplating kick-starting a bit of an entertainment wiki for my town for some time...it may happen eventually
Wikis are a great little tool for information sharing, professional development, and, of course, pure pleasure. The slq library 2.0 wiki looks to be a great resource for libraries outside of Brisbane - allowing us to keep abreast of the types of Web2.0 technologies that SLQ are pushing and promoting. It is easy to feel disconnected from the goings on in our state centre, but this wiki could be really useful in establishing that connection. Library success: a best practices wiki offers some great ideas regarding initiatives and great successes in the library world. Seems to be a US-centred wiki, would be good to see more Aussie wikis like this one. Last but not least, pure pleasure with the Wookieepedia wiki - I am a bit of a Star Wars geek so definitely a very entertaining wiki...who knew there was a made-for-TV "Star Wars" special featuring Carrie Fisher singing words to the famous theme music?
Our Library is in the process of getting our intranet-based wiki fully-functioning as a work-assistance tool. It will be a fantastic way to publish all those bits and pieces of information about our workplace that don't really have a better home and thereby create an easy-to-use knowledge base.
Our customers have gone mad for Stephenie Meyer and Twilight so that would perhaps be a good wiki to create that customers and staff can share - or of course just a general "good reads" type of wiki...

Thought of the day...

Why is it that in 2009 we still have to endure draconian and wrongly stereotypical representations of libraries and librarians by the media! I know that we all know the truth...that librarians rock...but how long before this accurate portrayal is taken up by the media at large.
This week, an job advertisement for a position at a radio station is being aired on said radio station...the ad suggests that the job will be fun and exciting and nothing like working in a library!! Needless to say there has been outrage at my workplace over such a ridiculous positioning of libraries NOT being fun and exciting places to work...
I guess the important thing is that we all know the truth...despite what the media keeps telling us to the contrary

Flickr'ing

Well...I successfully posted some photos on Flickr and even invited my mother-in-law on so she could view the photos I had put up. Check my page out at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thingsalwayshappen/ It's kind of cool and I am still getting my head around sets and batches. As a librarian, tagging just drives me and I find it just too difficult to add them because they ARE NOT AUTHORITY CONTROLLED...and I am not even a cataloguer...I can only imagine the brain explosions that our beloved cataloguers are having with the notion of un-verified subject headings...eeekk! Thanks to Mary K whose page I used for setting out and administrative inspiration...

What librarians look like...

So I'm checking out the internet to see what librarians look like. The results were interesting if a little scary...it seems that the majority of the images that exist out in cyberspace of our lot are (a) traditional Nancy Pearl types complete with twin-set and, well, pearls ; (b) cartoon drawings which seem to take their inspiration from the aforementioned type and (c) perhaps the scariest depiction which was made quite an ongoing appearance, buxom librarians with their boobs hanging out and suspender stockings...some doing suspect things with other librarians dressed in the same garb....
So rather than open myself up to critique..which I am sure this will anyway, I have decided to go with this totally draconian and a little bit goth representation of our lot...hey its actually kind of Twilight, so maybe that makes us really darn cool - which, who are we kidding, we sure are!
F*ck Google....Ask Me!

So I've realised...

So I've realised that I am really bad at committing to my blog...plenty of bad things have been happening but I don't really want my blog to degenerate too quickly into a "bagging of library customers" tirade...although, you have to admit, they usually are the key contributors of bad days - for instance, I have to post this one because it is just begging to be posted...we have a particularly needy and persistent customer who has been stalking our manager to have his exhibition for Q150 to be displayed in the library. He was telling our manager that he would like to have his exhibition opened by not only the local member but also the Premier. Said "exhibition" arrived at the library yesterday and consisted of a few A4 sheets (created in Word) depicting a time-line and some photocopies of some key documents designated by the timeline...
I think Anna would be suitably impressed...NOT!

Negative thought of the day...

I checked that my blog had made it onto the L2TD listing and low and behold, the link to my blog was someone else's link that had overtaken mine...this could only happen to me I am sure...

Thought of the day

I always related to that Travis song "Why does it always rain on me"...perhaps I will start another blog and call it that...apparently I come from a long line of whingers and defeatists which is making it all the harder to overcome the stranglehold that negativity sometimes has on my life...even though the sun is shining, I can't avoid the lightning

Licence 2 Test Drive...

SLQ's L2TD is a truly fantastic idea...I mean I was going to implement a 23 things program among my own colleagues but figured it was going to be heaps of work and would require lots of setting up and monitoring and blah blah blah - but now the wonderful SLQ has saved me much time and trouble! We heart SLQ!