Podcasting is another tool that libraries have already embraced and seem to be developing. I see suggestions from others on using them to distribute author talks, storytimes, training, book club meetings, etc. I can see that they allow staff and the public a chance to experience events/training at the library when they may not be able to make it into the library because of various reasons.
I know our library has Royal Blind Society volunteers who read the local paper onto cassette, perhaps in the future this could be a podcast from the library website for everyone to enjoy. Also perhaps library meetings could be podcasted for remote locations, or sick staff rather than having to read the minutes.
IT Restrictions could be a problem though as I was unable to access this at work due to recent downloading restrictions because of a virus attack on council.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
week 8 Answer boards and social searching
This is another application that I have often looked at and used but never thought of in a library environment and it was an eye opener.
I know many libraries have ask a librarian spots on their websites that patrons can email questions and I see this as another way of doing that but with the added bonus of input from the public as well. This could be in the form of helping with the question but also in the feedback. How often have we helped someone and thought I wonder how they went or did those books really help and could I have done better. Answer boards enable you to get that feedback and help you improve your skillset.
I can also see answer boards helping library staff gain some experience and improve their skills. A library could use answer boards to hone and improve the skills and knowledge of their staff (Preparation for those tricky questions always sent to the reference staff as well as practice at getting to the information faster which another blogger mentioned in their comments) Something to think about
Also I had fun with answering the questions and I'm curious how my answers will be received.
I know many libraries have ask a librarian spots on their websites that patrons can email questions and I see this as another way of doing that but with the added bonus of input from the public as well. This could be in the form of helping with the question but also in the feedback. How often have we helped someone and thought I wonder how they went or did those books really help and could I have done better. Answer boards enable you to get that feedback and help you improve your skillset.
I can also see answer boards helping library staff gain some experience and improve their skills. A library could use answer boards to hone and improve the skills and knowledge of their staff (Preparation for those tricky questions always sent to the reference staff as well as practice at getting to the information faster which another blogger mentioned in their comments) Something to think about
Also I had fun with answering the questions and I'm curious how my answers will be received.
Week 10 Mashups
I must admit it took me a while to get my head around mashups. It took quite a lot of searching all the different websites to get a feel for how it would be useful in a library environment. I could see how the maps/images etc worked but stuggled with how it could be used
. Once I got a feel for it though (and after a substantial break) I can see how libraries could use it for marketing and also the maps are very handy to show locations on. I was also very surprised at the scope of mashups on the net and found some very interesting ones using crime statistics as well as one where you can get a picture of a road in disrepair and send it to council. A way of staff and patrons commenting on the library surrounds by being able to show a picture of it
I also created this mashup of a library I know well
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Week 7 Tagging
I found this very interesting. I had very briefly looked at most of these sites but on actually exploring them I found a lot of things I did not know and saw how useful they could be. An excellent way of keeping all your blogs/bookmarks centrally so you can access them anywhere. Also to be able to have videos etc there as well was excellent. And of course being able to see what other have done is also very handy. I had used library thing before but really was surprised at how much more it can be used for.
My library thing page is here and it was a fun exercise to add books (and very easy). Took me a while to add it in but I decided to go with it on the sidebar with a search. Good fun and interesting to see what others thought about the books on the booklist. Also very interesting and useful to be able to link all these things back to your blog. Those libraries with book clubs could find this very handy.
My library thing page is here and it was a fun exercise to add books (and very easy). Took me a while to add it in but I decided to go with it on the sidebar with a search. Good fun and interesting to see what others thought about the books on the booklist. Also very interesting and useful to be able to link all these things back to your blog. Those libraries with book clubs could find this very handy.
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