Blog about how your library could use podcasts for your clients and staff.
Well this weeks blogging and learning has led to me enjoying my first podcast. The first was a book review of some novel I had never heard of by an American lady who was a book enthusiast but not connected to a library. I can't even recall how I came to find or choose it. The podcast only ran for about 3 minutes and was straight to the point. Apparently the book wasn't what she expected.
My second podcast was a more professional (if I can stretch to say that) from Roy and HG off their triple j program This Sporting Life. It was as I expected typical Roy and HG their brand of comedy, punchlines and tone throughout. I may very well have to start either listening in or podcasting regularly!
Podcasting for clients and staff is an interesting topic that should be discussed and seriously looked at. Clients could well find on the library website book reviews, lectures, talks and even information that they can podcast and listen too at their leisure. For the talks and lectures that are booked out or people simply cannot attend this could provide another oppurtunity for them to listen in and not miss out. There are some issues here with the people providing the lectures or talks but with enough goodwill in place I believe this could go ahead without too much of a problem.
Staff of the library could use the podcasting as another training method. Staff could podcast and undergo training at their desks whilst listening to the instructions. There would need to be some form of helpdesk or face to face classroom learning in place for any problems or issues that did arise. Another form that podcasting could be used is that the weekly email from Regina could well be podcasted out in the future? Just a thought.
Cheers
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Slamming The Boards!
Slamming Boards are something that I could have tapped into back in the HSC! How much easier would this have made some assignments! On a more serious note now however, I can see that by actively participating in "Slamming the Boards" can benefit the Library. I see it as another way of getting the "brand" out there into various mediums and to people in the community that would not have known about us or the services we provide before.
For the second point customers of the library may like to review various parts of the collection and services offered by the library much like they might rate and review movies and books (LibraryThing) much the same as other social sites. Visit this link to see an example of what I am thinking in action. This could be provided for events only, or if modified for all types of services. There could very well be a section within our own website that enables people to give positive feedback in relation to a particular staff member and their assistance provided.
Anything than provides interaction by the client with the library will make them feel more involved and more connected to our "brand" and products.
For the second point customers of the library may like to review various parts of the collection and services offered by the library much like they might rate and review movies and books (LibraryThing) much the same as other social sites. Visit this link to see an example of what I am thinking in action. This could be provided for events only, or if modified for all types of services. There could very well be a section within our own website that enables people to give positive feedback in relation to a particular staff member and their assistance provided.
Anything than provides interaction by the client with the library will make them feel more involved and more connected to our "brand" and products.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
LibraryThing
This is an interesting social network. The main problem I am having now is trying to remember all the books I have read over the past years. I have gotten a few of my recent reads and some of my favourites of all time on there. I am struggling to remember some in between ones however!
I am yet to place tags on my books and upon clicking on another user who read one Matthew Reilly book it put me in my place. The depth of tagging, and also the amount of books in their library certainly shows me the work I have ahead of me to catch up!
I think this is great. The amount of times I have enjoyed a great book and come to the end thinking "whatever will I read next?" Now I have an option to look through others with similar tastes to me so I can pick out the next book for my own experiences.
Now excuse me, I must get back to adding books.
I am yet to place tags on my books and upon clicking on another user who read one Matthew Reilly book it put me in my place. The depth of tagging, and also the amount of books in their library certainly shows me the work I have ahead of me to catch up!
I think this is great. The amount of times I have enjoyed a great book and come to the end thinking "whatever will I read next?" Now I have an option to look through others with similar tastes to me so I can pick out the next book for my own experiences.
Now excuse me, I must get back to adding books.
Del.icio.us
Now this is something that will be really useful for me in my day to day life, let alone from a working point of view! As the Common Craft video mentions Bookmarking certain URLs can be quite messy and cluttered. This is how my "Favourites" look like at home. Anything to con troll and make accessing my bookmarking easier to use and sort through is definitely a bonus!
At having had a look at the Sutherland Shire Libraries account it is quite interesting to see how they have used theirs. It is interesting to see how they have 676 items arranged in much more contained and well organised topics. Now I should actually use the jargon - Tags. There is general knowledge items, curriculum support for students through years 7-12, Australian History, Economics, etc.
This would definitely have been an assistance to my own studies back in the day. Social Bookmarking is more than useful as a tool for research assistance as I believe it extends the library's help into the clients home PC or even laptop. The library will be able to set up specific tags to assist the user with many different topics.
In a sense the library will be able to guide the user through their Internet research more so than just having all the bookmarks in one easily accessible place. I can see the vast potential this could offer users of the SL as it can provide research assistance at anytime of the day and it is able to be accessed anywhere in the world. If the tags aren't managed properly then it can become just a place to keep bookmarks all in the one area - however with the proper procedures and policies in place the Library would be able to help clients in a much more complete way.
At having had a look at the Sutherland Shire Libraries account it is quite interesting to see how they have used theirs. It is interesting to see how they have 676 items arranged in much more contained and well organised topics. Now I should actually use the jargon - Tags. There is general knowledge items, curriculum support for students through years 7-12, Australian History, Economics, etc.
This would definitely have been an assistance to my own studies back in the day. Social Bookmarking is more than useful as a tool for research assistance as I believe it extends the library's help into the clients home PC or even laptop. The library will be able to set up specific tags to assist the user with many different topics.
In a sense the library will be able to guide the user through their Internet research more so than just having all the bookmarks in one easily accessible place. I can see the vast potential this could offer users of the SL as it can provide research assistance at anytime of the day and it is able to be accessed anywhere in the world. If the tags aren't managed properly then it can become just a place to keep bookmarks all in the one area - however with the proper procedures and policies in place the Library would be able to help clients in a much more complete way.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Online Video
This was quite a fun week for blogging and learning. There are just so many possibilities to include in this lesson. The best part of this would probably be the the Mexican wave in the Metcalfe Auditorium! No I am serious take a look!
Other than that I will admit I allowed myself a little distraction for the adventure section - which you can see below.
There are many opportunities to use online video for many different purposes here at the library. As we all know at the moment video can be used to teach users about pretty much everything. Training really is where I see the most immediate benefit to the library now.
- We could incorporate a serious of 'How to' videos and embed them into this page http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/using/index.html of our website.
- A Training Wiki/Blog could be set up in regards to the processes of the library. For example, a video regarding how to process credit card payments through the online system could be made to assist new staff in learning this. A number of procedures and job roles could be stored here.
- We could include snippets or events or exhibitions used to promote future events and boost the number of clients attending.
That's all I have at the moment - but I will attempt to come back and brainstorm some more. For now however I am starting to get a bit hungry. So it is off to lunch!
Cheers
Friday, May 16, 2008
Becks
Well here it is folks - my first embeded video in my blog. Unlike the link I used last time to show you some footballing skill. Just one of the many goals I enjoyed over the countless years of watching Becks play. I was there when he scored in the Match vs Sydney FC last season. That has to be one of my favourite moments in witnessing sport (at the ground).
Cheers
RSS
For today's entry I think some good old question and answer formatting will be helpful. Feel free to play along at home.
What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? It has to be the convenience and time efficiency. Instead of having to log onto however many sites you enjoy following now you can get all your news sent straight to you! It only takes a second to set up the subscriptions and it is much more effective than having a proper newspaper subscrition - no more wet news, or any little buggers stealing the paper from your lawn!
What sites did you select for your RSS reader? The sites I selected for the RSS reader was mostly sporting sites. They were BBC Sport, Manly Warringah, Leeds Unite, I also added the SMH reader.
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work? RSS Feeds could prove useful for anyone working on a project with a number of collaborators. Once any changes have been made to the document/blog/site other workers can go on to check through it or catch up - even prepare contributions on top of the work there. It would also be quite useful to an events bulletin - allow people to see the new calendar of events, see late changes to events, etc.
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? Libraries can make use of RSS by getting news to the client as soon as it is published on the web. Faster communication to the client will increase their feeling of a part of the library and also allow them to plan ahead to attend certain events. It will notify them of exhibitions possibly earlier than they may otherwise find out through other mediums, etc.
Cheers
What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? It has to be the convenience and time efficiency. Instead of having to log onto however many sites you enjoy following now you can get all your news sent straight to you! It only takes a second to set up the subscriptions and it is much more effective than having a proper newspaper subscrition - no more wet news, or any little buggers stealing the paper from your lawn!
What sites did you select for your RSS reader? The sites I selected for the RSS reader was mostly sporting sites. They were BBC Sport, Manly Warringah, Leeds Unite, I also added the SMH reader.
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work? RSS Feeds could prove useful for anyone working on a project with a number of collaborators. Once any changes have been made to the document/blog/site other workers can go on to check through it or catch up - even prepare contributions on top of the work there. It would also be quite useful to an events bulletin - allow people to see the new calendar of events, see late changes to events, etc.
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? Libraries can make use of RSS by getting news to the client as soon as it is published on the web. Faster communication to the client will increase their feeling of a part of the library and also allow them to plan ahead to attend certain events. It will notify them of exhibitions possibly earlier than they may otherwise find out through other mediums, etc.
Cheers
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