Wrap Up

Well  I have finally finished!  Very glad I did it as I have learnt a great deal.  It took a lot longer for me than the time suggested  - I think because I didn't have much knowledge to start with so had to work out the basics and go from there.

In terms of what I will use, hmmm well -  setting up a blog on our library page would be a start, librarything, podcasts and online videos spring to mind as being the most accessible to me.  I will use Facebook on a personal level and would explore the use for the library down the track.

I think the course has been useful in terms of showing what is out there and what can be done and a sense that there is a library community out there I can contact and I have a feeling they would be willing to assist.

Thank you Mel and Mark for all the work you put in.

Geocashing

This is a bit like bookcrossing where people leave books for others to find - but with different items and possibly harder co-ordinates - I had heard of it but hadn't really thought about it in the context of using it to promote library services.  Having read how some libraries are using it I can see how it could be done  - I quite like the idea of having a cache in your library   But in terms of all the other stuff I have learnt this won't be the first on my list to adopt. 

Out of work might be another matter I am a bit of a fan of the old treasure hunt and if I can incorporate this into the annual easter egg hunt for my children (who are now teenagers but the lure of chocolate has no age barrier) then I will.  

Podcasting

I like podcasts I think they are a great way to listen to stuff you may not usually have access to such as radio talks or lectures that occurred in the eastern states or overseas -  just a great way to access information you might not have been able to in the past.

I think they could be very useful for local history libraries as way to record oral histories and place them online. You could use them to give patrons information on particular authors, how to use particular items in the library or on the website - the key is to keep them succinct and relevant

Online Video

There is so much to view you could use up a lot of time here.  But I can see the uses -   getting information out there on a large variety of things.
I think just doing this course has shown how useful online videos can be and you could use the same principal for your library patrons as a different way to get messages across.
How to videos on how to use the catalogues, where items are in the library or just general videos on storytelling, or information about items in the library - I'm sure the list is endless. 
In this day and age where so much of our information comes via a screen with moving objects I think this is the sort of medium that patrons would embrace.

The video I chose is on an ABC pop up book - I'm a bit of a fan on the pop up - they don't tend to last too long in a library but are very spectacular  while they do!

Twitter

Hmmmm!  Not sure about this one. I must admit I was pretty ignorant about twitter I thought it was something you had to do through your mobile phone.  I knew famous people did it and thought it was a good tool for people who are clever and witty but that was about all. 

I can see the usefulness for a library to get information out like a talk coming up or something similar -  what I am struggling with is that a person who follows the library tweet their information is then accessible to everyone else who follows it as well - would that stop people signing up or don't people really care about that sort of thing or have I got that wrong.

Not sure this is something I will be embracing as much as some of the other stuff I have learnt during this course.

Facebook

Becoming part of the Facebook phenomenon is something I have long passively resisted -  apart from peering over my daughter's shoulder to check what she was doing and having friends say to me how can you be a librarian and not been on Facebook I have had little to do with it - the fact has been that I don't go online much when I am not at work. 


Having said that I can see the value that a library could have using it  - keeping people up  to date with what  is going on and as a way to promote the library and it's services.  Also it is interactive in terms of people being able to comment on what you are providing and whether they are happy with it or not and being able to make suggestions about what they would like. 

The list of what we need to add to our library website gets longer.

Library Thing

Personally if you like to keep track of what you have read or would like to read this is the way to do it.

I can see in the future all the people that currently come into the library with their notebooks and lists of what they have read bringing in their phones, iPads, whatever and checking on Library Thing to see where they are up to. 

I am going to explore how libraries use this as I think it could be a great way to show new titles that come into the system on the library website - the bit I need to explore is how to link it to our catalogue.  Any comments on this will be gratefully received especially from Mandurah or Cockburn or any other library that uses it.

Delicious

I do love the name - I think this will be useful for me in my work as I must admit my favourites list was getting a bit unwieldy I would place a website in and then forget which folder I had put it in - so having a variety of tags I believe will work better for me.  Also in terms of sharing websites with other staff it could also be very useful. 

I can see how this could also be utilised on a library website and give patrons much more than they could have ever accessed in the past.  The more I explore the more I realise how much we need to get our current website up with the times - a good project for the year!

Here is my link:

My Delicious Link

Wiki

I quite like the idea of Wiki's - I liked the demo on how it could work for organising a camping trip and I have used one for organising a party where people had to bring a plate -  it worked very well. 

I also like the idea of using this to share information on library related issues - being able to go to one place where you know the information will be relevant.  Also it would be a great way to get staff and patrons to comment on and share particular information. 

RSS Feeds

I have just been shown how to put the RSS Feeds onto my Blog and I am very impressed. This along with learning how to adjust the time on my Blog means it has been a very productive session.  I have been thinking how this would be useful library wise and I can see that if you had an RSS feed on your library website people could keep up to date with what you had on offer. Also if you found some really good review sites that could be useful but I think I would want to be very specific about the feeds I chose so they are relevant and I am not inundated with info I have to wade through that isn't very useful.

These are the RSS feeds I chose - mostly about books and movies with a little news and gardening thrown in!

imdb
State Library of WA
Bookbrowse
abc news
Aussie organic gardening