The Last Post

Sounds like there should be music playing or at least a bugle...
So Kathryn has asked the following questions:
What have been the highs and lows of the 23 Things for you? Highs have definitely been the collaboration and team work amongst ELS staff. Also how creative they have been and outcomes like the WA VDX users blog.
Highs have also just been exploring the technology.
Seeing posts by people like Dianne and Pat who I know aren't into this stuff at all.

I'm not sure if finding out more about other people has been a high or low - sometimes its interesting to find out info about other people, sometimes it feels like it is blurring work with the personal a little too much for my comfort zones.

Helping lead a team of people through this has definitely had highs and lows - there's enthusiasm, energy and innovation; and there is also fear, resistance and negative responses. I'd have to say though the highs definitely out-weighed the lows on this one - though it was time and energy consuming to keep this sort of positivity going.

It can be frustrating too - with all the systems down yesterday - Twitter felt like the perfect medium to let people know what was happening - msn is one to one, email wasn't working, not everyone can access the refdesk blog - but no-one was on Twitter....

Where to next with emerging technologies? I think Library wide we need to discuss what would be useful for us to start using. Benefits of different tools, possible guidelines that we may need with their use.
For you? For me I want to look at a few things in ELS. I have ideas and haven't had time to do them. It will be one step at a time and is the sort of thing you keep putting off because it is so big - jobs that you can break down into manageable chunks are easier to tackle.
For libraries? For Libraries in general I just think we need to keep informed, keep skill levels up there and slowly the technologies will be incorporated into our services. For our Library I think what we need to do is not so much keep looking for new things to learn about (though good to do this) - but to actually spend some time working with the tools we've just learned about - as there is so much potential from them, and it would be very sad to lose that.

And no - I don't really think this will be my last post.......

The Info Game

Was it just me or did anyone else find it annoying that the Info Game didn't tell me what I got wrong and give me the correct answer?

Retro hair

Well I did promise Tuesday night that I would post images of my 80's hair....

Retroland

Retroland - that was fun. I've just brought back memories of neon and mesh shirts, leggings, acid-wash denim, flashdance and wham fashion and making countless friendship bracelets...
Can you guess that it was the 80's?
They didn't have boob tubes though - and the boob tube dresses - maybe that was an aussie thing (or just a busso thing even)
I am very sad that in recent unpacking I couldn't find my Choose Life t-shirt.
Had a nice conversation Tuesday night about retro hair and rat's tails - fits in well with this week's thing!
Scritty

Learning 2.1 blog

Well I got to the Learning 2.1 blog and only got as far as a reference to Retroland.
How did they know!!!!
I am now going to have a play......
Scritty

My goals revisited

Hi - well Kathryn asked us to look back at our goals form the beginning and see what we have achieved over these past few weeks.
Let's see:

• Learn more about this technology and feel comfortable using it - well I definitely feel comfortable using most of it and would love more time to spend on using some of these tools to their full potential. That is probably my main regret - there's always been a little more that I would like to explore - particularly under the "for those that want more" sections of the weeks, but as the weeks have gone by its been more a matter of getting done the bare minimum of the week and a "I'll try and play with that later". Later is a little like tomorrow - it never comes... I would say that one tool I still don't feel comfortable with is Facebook. Its probably just me but I just don't "get it". I mean I can see what people say about the benefits they get out of Facebook, but it just doesn't sit comfortably with me - maybe its to do with networking, I've never felt comfortable with that either and Facebook in a professional sense is about networking. I can see it as a possible tool for a Public Library - but would need to explore it a lot more before really deciding on this.
• To look at ways we can use the new technology in our section and to make our services better for our customers - We have definitely already started on using some of these things in our section - the Doc del wiki for WA VDX users is one great example, plus the Doc del delicious account is another. I think because we have been doing this project as a collaboration between staff the natural progression has been to start using it as part of our work practices (Google docs is another one people have picked up and run with) and we haven't really had a chance to think yet about using it with our customers. But that will come, there are already many ideas running around in my head about things we could do for External students - maybe over the break I will have a little more of that thing called "time".
• Promote teamwork and communication across the Library and enabling staff to feel more confidant and a little empowered by this technology - well that one has been a fantastic and rewarding thing to see. Staff in ELS have buddied up at various times when a couple of them are falling behind (2 are twittering together this week as they missed doing it last week), everyone is helping each other, sharing what they've found and incorporating it into their work. The energy has gone up and down over the project, but there has always been a trigger from someone to set it off again. Then there's the comments after a night shift, that show that the Reference desk Librarian and the ELS staff have been discussing and exploring these tools together, plus there are all those tea-time conversations.... I think it has been really empowering for some of the staff - there's the power in knowing that you can do it - doesn't matter if you will use some of the technology again - you have had the chance to explore it with others also learning. And then there's those who have really gone beyond their comfort zones and presented info at a WAGUL forum - that's brave! I have to say I've been really proud of the way staff in ELS have explored this technology.
• Have fun and Enjoy work - well that one has happened nearly all the way - thanks Kathryn and Murdoch Library for giving me this opportunity!!!
  

Creative commons etc

Just wondering as I do this - are we supposed to be acknowledging who's videos and slides we are embedding - or is it enough that people can link back to the slideshare and youtube sites? This part of it all feels a little grey to me?

Slideshare - feeling jealous of Sue

Couldn't go past this one as Sue's recent photos made me jealous, I don't know if anyone else has been here - but for me it was a magical place, Scritty

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And just to prove that I really meant it...

when I said that I loved tacky and kitch, one of my faves from Eurovision......

I was in love with image generators...

but then they all disappeared (except my comic strip one)

You Tube and online virtual worlds

Hi all - found a clip about online virtual worlds - was just interesting to look at an overview of 3 different online virtual worlds. There.com looks pretty kitch which always appeals to me! I love the fact that they can go surfing and have tacky bands playing....

Which tools seem the most useful so far?

I'm waiting for an update to install so thought I'd do a post (it seems to let me write and update at the same time).
So reflecting back on what we've done so far (nearly at the end too!!)

Well the software loaded and its now a weekend later.
Its a hard one - which will be most useful - some things are obviously useful - rss, blogs, wikis, delicious - others not so obviously so.
Second Life is the most fun - but maybe not so immediately useful - and then things that I would have dismissed straight away such as Twitter - I have actually found quite good in a work sense (though it needs to some how automatically refresh).

I think most things have potential uses and maybe learning about all the things combined is what is most useful - it means as you are doing something in the future you can think - "I wonder what would happen if I tried to use a xxxxxx for that?"
And the more you keep learning and trying the new tools - the more familiar some of them are becoming - which means that sometimes you may in fact been using them without thinking about it at all.....

As we approach social networks

Hi all,
as we approach the week on social network sites - I found the post from Fiona Bradley on Libraries.interact.info interesting - How to manage your online identity
She talks about not leaving your online identities behind as you decide to no longer use these tools - how many times in all this have we joined up to things and then promptly left it there in Cyberspace to be used never again.
Particularly with social networking sites she also talks about not leaving stale information behind if you decide to stop using that site or if you no longer want to have your details available for people.
Some sites are easier to disconnect from than others. And that old thing that keeps bugging me - privacy and how people new to these tools manages their online identity is also discussed,
Scritty