I'm so excited!
After a couple of hectic weeks trying to sort out the legalities, the financials, & the technicalities of artwork the NSW Reference & Information Services Group finally has a RedBubble account and some tee shirts to sell (at no profit I might add) promoting just some of the various activities they're currently involved in - #bookbinge & #risg2010 for starters.
Check it out - http://www.redbubble.com/people/nswrisg
10-15 days delivery is advertised but I was lucky & my shirts arrived in only 3 business days.
A huge thankyou to the RA team for floating the tee shirt idea & to Ellen for all her hard work in dealing with the legalities & financial aspects (making sure we don't make a profit & don't breach any Australian laws). I have to say I had fun playing with the artwork & using GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) for the very first time.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Playing with graphics
I've spent the last 2 days playing with RedBubble - www.redbubble.com.au - and Gimp - www.gimp.org - turning images from one sphere into wearable art in another sphere. Challenging. Scary. Rewarding. Fun (my bank balance may never recover from the resultant retail therapy!!)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Feb 1 - MashUps revisited
MashUps are one of those things I wish I had far more time for. I enjoy utilising what others have done but would really like to be able to do more of them myself. That said, I'm choosing not to do this week's challenge simply because after 6+ weeks of finding time to fit these activities in I'm still at a loss as to when that will be.
I like the idea of MashUps - not just of images but also of information and see the value of resources like LibWorm which take a search query and correlate rss fed data to answer it. That said, the query requires a degree of sophistication to get the right set of results (like any online search really). It's a flip from my stanadrd rss feeds which direct my searching and querying simply by the nature of the ebb and flow of information as I read through them. Obviously I'm more of an organic thinker (stream-of-consciousness) than structured.
On an RA note I'm curious about the rise of Literary mashups and the blending of established classic pieces of literature (biography/history) and obscure (and perhaps confronting) genres into mainstream (though fairly oddball) fiction - beyond the realms of Jasper Fforde and into the world of the bizarre with titles such as "Abraham Lincoln, vampire hunter" and "Mr Darcy, vampyre" - otherwise known as Literary monster mashups (as a subgenre no less!).
I like the idea of MashUps - not just of images but also of information and see the value of resources like LibWorm which take a search query and correlate rss fed data to answer it. That said, the query requires a degree of sophistication to get the right set of results (like any online search really). It's a flip from my stanadrd rss feeds which direct my searching and querying simply by the nature of the ebb and flow of information as I read through them. Obviously I'm more of an organic thinker (stream-of-consciousness) than structured.
On an RA note I'm curious about the rise of Literary mashups and the blending of established classic pieces of literature (biography/history) and obscure (and perhaps confronting) genres into mainstream (though fairly oddball) fiction - beyond the realms of Jasper Fforde and into the world of the bizarre with titles such as "Abraham Lincoln, vampire hunter" and "Mr Darcy, vampyre" - otherwise known as Literary monster mashups (as a subgenre no less!).
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Library of the future in plain English
Amongst my RSS feeds was this gem - thanks to Hey Jude - http://heyjude.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/library-of-the-future-in-plain-english/.
Friday, February 5, 2010
RA ponderings
Yesterday's RA meeting at Armidale brought with it its fair share of technical hiccups and travel dramas for some. Various topics of discussion were discovered and Ellen ran through some social tools and their uses for RA which was useful for many. Among the topics of discussion was one on the question of strategic ideas for RA work. Now it stands that those present at the meeting would by necessity petrhaps have the support of their managers and co-workers for their RA work, why else would they have been there if not for that support? But it also stands that there were some present who lacked that support and were only present because the meeting was hosted reasonably nearby and made it viable to attend......
The question was posed - what strategic ideas does anyone have for situations where non-RA library staff (including managers) do not value RA work and regard the efforts undertaken by RA staff as nonessential, especially in light of the Rewarding Reading training which states that providing RA is 'core business' in the provision of public library service: how do RA staff ensure that RA planning becomes part opf the strategic plans of the library?
It's a good question and one which challenged many there as they struggled to accept the difference between adhoc RA and strategic RA. Perhaps we may be able to bring more to a later meeting which will also consider this issue - once we get over the comprehension issue of what makes adhoc RA different to strategically planned RA
The question was posed - what strategic ideas does anyone have for situations where non-RA library staff (including managers) do not value RA work and regard the efforts undertaken by RA staff as nonessential, especially in light of the Rewarding Reading training which states that providing RA is 'core business' in the provision of public library service: how do RA staff ensure that RA planning becomes part opf the strategic plans of the library?
It's a good question and one which challenged many there as they struggled to accept the difference between adhoc RA and strategic RA. Perhaps we may be able to bring more to a later meeting which will also consider this issue - once we get over the comprehension issue of what makes adhoc RA different to strategically planned RA
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Social Media Revolution !?!
A friend posted this to Facebook -
"Social Media Revolution: Is social media a fad?
Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? This video details out social media facts and figures that are hard to ignore. This video is produced by the author of Socialnomics. "
"Social Media Revolution: Is social media a fad?
Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? This video details out social media facts and figures that are hard to ignore. This video is produced by the author of Socialnomics. "
Friday, January 29, 2010
January 25 - Instant Communication
Try some IM tools - what did I like?
I first started tweeting (occasionally) following Chrystie Hill's visit to the CPLA Conference at Tamworth in 2008. Along the side of my blog you can see where I've already linked to my Twitter page.
Lately I've probably been a little more active - though I do tend to lurk just a little and get a real laugh out of the many tweets from friends and others that I'm following. I like Twitter (personally) because for me it has that nice mix of personal touches and Library related info (like the ALIA tweets).
As an aside though, I noticed at a recent seminar/conference that sometimes the use of a mobile phone for Tweeting whilst in the auditorium can interefere with the sound system .......
I'm also on Facebook and when I've been lucky enough to be on there at the same time as another friend we have had a nice catch-up. The same has occured with a few of the Nings I'm on - though given that most of my frinds here are in the US it's often a little trickier to get us all together in the one IM space. Facebook for me is probably more about friends but I do have a few Library related organisations that I follow - A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette being just one (okay that one's mainly for the laughs).
Work (Clarence Regional Library) actually bought webcams for all our branches and 3 for HQ staff (lucky me). We subscribed to skype (free) and set up usernames, etc which reflected our Library Positions rather than our names/personalities (I'm 'Information Services Librarian'). As a Regional Library we're pretty far flung and often branch staff simply can't all come together in one space/place (for various reasons including lack of staff, insufficient training budgets, etc) so we invested in some webcams so that we could still get together without having to get in a car and drive for 2 hours. It's worked out great except that by only having a free subscription to Skype we can only video conference between 2 webcams at a time. If we link in a 3rd or 4th (or more) camera/attendee we lose visual and are left with teleconferencing only. For me it's a little bit of a bug but at HQ we work around it by piling staff into one office for a chat with another branch. For more than 2 particpants we resort to teleconferences (and now we've got our new phones and new headsets that should be a lot better - people won't be telling me they can't hear me anymore!!). A big drawback of the webcams though has been that because the mike is on the webcam and sits on top of the monitor (obviously so it can take a lovely reversed image of you) it tends to pick up some of the external office noises a bit which can make conversations a little difficult when you're in a meeting and there's crazy laughter in the background.
Would IM tools be useful in a library?
For us here at HQ obviously these IM tools are useful - webcams, Skype, especially. But I do see an advantage to have IM capabilities for Reference staff - many are the stories of Reference staff being in seminars/conferences and using IM to answer queries from their library's patrons whilst there. I'm a big believer in not being seated at the Reference Desk to answer questions - so many come in through internal LMS modules (eg, Spydus Request module), over the Internet, via email, phone, walking 'round the library, etc. The point to these particular IM tools is being available and accessible and where the user is - not hiding in a library building and demanding the user comes to you - face it, it's just not gonna work! It's the same principle as Slam the Boards - answering Reference queries where the question is being asked and highlighting public libraries while you're at it.
Let's face it, those who are IT savvy are online and asking questions, they're not walking down the road to their local library and they often don't even know where their nearest library is. Not to mention those LGA's who seem to think that having a public library is a waste of rate-payers money. If we cannot meet our community where that community is then we fail to engage fully with our communities. This is why Kevin Rudd Tweets, this is why Barack Obama had a brilliant blog which engaged with America. It's more than clever marketing, it's recognising that if I'm out there in an IM world I'm more inclined to come across someone who wants my help now and whose only access to me (for them) is via one of these many tools and then I can start a relationship with them which leads to them using and accessing my library and perhaps coming back again and again and again.
The challenge for Public Libraries and Local Councils (and their IT departments) in particular is to realise and accept that enabling libraries to go online and use IM tools is fundamental to improving service, engaging with communities, and acknowledging that the local library is an integral element in a community's identity.
I first started tweeting (occasionally) following Chrystie Hill's visit to the CPLA Conference at Tamworth in 2008. Along the side of my blog you can see where I've already linked to my Twitter page.
Lately I've probably been a little more active - though I do tend to lurk just a little and get a real laugh out of the many tweets from friends and others that I'm following. I like Twitter (personally) because for me it has that nice mix of personal touches and Library related info (like the ALIA tweets).
As an aside though, I noticed at a recent seminar/conference that sometimes the use of a mobile phone for Tweeting whilst in the auditorium can interefere with the sound system .......
I'm also on Facebook and when I've been lucky enough to be on there at the same time as another friend we have had a nice catch-up. The same has occured with a few of the Nings I'm on - though given that most of my frinds here are in the US it's often a little trickier to get us all together in the one IM space. Facebook for me is probably more about friends but I do have a few Library related organisations that I follow - A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette being just one (okay that one's mainly for the laughs).
Work (Clarence Regional Library) actually bought webcams for all our branches and 3 for HQ staff (lucky me). We subscribed to skype (free) and set up usernames, etc which reflected our Library Positions rather than our names/personalities (I'm 'Information Services Librarian'). As a Regional Library we're pretty far flung and often branch staff simply can't all come together in one space/place (for various reasons including lack of staff, insufficient training budgets, etc) so we invested in some webcams so that we could still get together without having to get in a car and drive for 2 hours. It's worked out great except that by only having a free subscription to Skype we can only video conference between 2 webcams at a time. If we link in a 3rd or 4th (or more) camera/attendee we lose visual and are left with teleconferencing only. For me it's a little bit of a bug but at HQ we work around it by piling staff into one office for a chat with another branch. For more than 2 particpants we resort to teleconferences (and now we've got our new phones and new headsets that should be a lot better - people won't be telling me they can't hear me anymore!!). A big drawback of the webcams though has been that because the mike is on the webcam and sits on top of the monitor (obviously so it can take a lovely reversed image of you) it tends to pick up some of the external office noises a bit which can make conversations a little difficult when you're in a meeting and there's crazy laughter in the background.
Would IM tools be useful in a library?
For us here at HQ obviously these IM tools are useful - webcams, Skype, especially. But I do see an advantage to have IM capabilities for Reference staff - many are the stories of Reference staff being in seminars/conferences and using IM to answer queries from their library's patrons whilst there. I'm a big believer in not being seated at the Reference Desk to answer questions - so many come in through internal LMS modules (eg, Spydus Request module), over the Internet, via email, phone, walking 'round the library, etc. The point to these particular IM tools is being available and accessible and where the user is - not hiding in a library building and demanding the user comes to you - face it, it's just not gonna work! It's the same principle as Slam the Boards - answering Reference queries where the question is being asked and highlighting public libraries while you're at it.
Let's face it, those who are IT savvy are online and asking questions, they're not walking down the road to their local library and they often don't even know where their nearest library is. Not to mention those LGA's who seem to think that having a public library is a waste of rate-payers money. If we cannot meet our community where that community is then we fail to engage fully with our communities. This is why Kevin Rudd Tweets, this is why Barack Obama had a brilliant blog which engaged with America. It's more than clever marketing, it's recognising that if I'm out there in an IM world I'm more inclined to come across someone who wants my help now and whose only access to me (for them) is via one of these many tools and then I can start a relationship with them which leads to them using and accessing my library and perhaps coming back again and again and again.
The challenge for Public Libraries and Local Councils (and their IT departments) in particular is to realise and accept that enabling libraries to go online and use IM tools is fundamental to improving service, engaging with communities, and acknowledging that the local library is an integral element in a community's identity.
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