Finding Information - The New Wave

An awe-inspiring presentation from the TED talks this year (Technology, Entertainment Design) about how we may be obtaining entertainment in the very near future.



For more fascinating talks from the best across technology, entertainment and design, go to www.ted.com

Librarians In the 21st Century

I found this wonderful news video piece from the New York Times, which is about librarians of the new age. Click on the link:

21st Century Librarian

It is essentially about a school librarian, but many of the principles and philosophies are relevent to ALL libraries.

Enjoy!

Edit: For a companion article, Click here.

Librarian's Manifesto

Over on Sue's News blog, Sue has posted this wonderful "Librarians Manifesto" video from YouTube.



A wonderful presentation and message.

Wonderful Wiki Work

Another fantastic example of how a wiki can be used is Sandgate's entry.

http://bcclssupport.wetpaint.com/page/Sandgate+Library

It's fun, it's informative, it's attractive, and it's easy to do.

Well done Sandgate!

Two Weeks Notice

Well, we have two weeks left before 23 Things closes. Is this the expression on your face right now:



Well two weeks is a long time in the blogosphere. You can get through this without it being a high pressure thing. Just keep going at it, a little each day. It's been wonderful to see people plugging away who've not really been sure about Web2.0 technology and then something clicks and:



They get it! They understand that it's not about playing with fads, but learning what the tools are and how they can apply certain ones to their daily life. What ones are fun, interesting, informative, useful, efficient things that you can use.

Before long, you've saved so much time by using these tools, you can be like this:

Congratulations Mitchelton!!

I'd like to congratulate Mitchelton, who are our third library to have all of their staff fully registered and active in 23 things.

Why LibraryThing and Tagging

Bronwyn at ASH found these two wonderful videos on tagging in LibraryThing (below). They are well worth watching as they give a simple, clear perspective on why LibraryThing and subject tagging can be really useful tools for librarians and our customers.

There are lots of other book/reading tagging (social cataloguing and databases for readers and libraries) tools out there, LibraryThing seems to be the one that is taking off the most, but if you are interested, take a look at:

Shelfari

Good Reads

Bookmooch

Bookcrossing

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

The one thing I am hearing from the libraries at the moment, is that motivation is a problem. In particular, the following two issues:

1. "I am just not getting into it/I don't have time."

My advice to you is to do SOMETHING Web2.0 every day. That's where to get started. If you read one blog, check your Facebook/MySpace account, upload one photograph, post one blog yourself, look at Flickr or YouTube, answer one question on Answerboards, edit/read the wiki once... any of these things, once per day, every day will get you kicked off. You will find yourself finding information or tools to help you get into 23 Things and that will save you time in the long term. I promise you, if you start with one small step each and every day, before long it will become automatic and it will grow. Commit yourself to one Web2.0 interaction every single day.

2. "I just don't know what to say on my blog."

This one is easy. Open up your blog post box, and start typing, about anything. Or put a video/photo/link in it that interests you and then start talking about it. Just start typing. You can always edit it before you hit "post" and once you start, you've got over the toughest part. If you think of things you could post on your blog at other times of the day, scribble them on a post-it note or in your diary, and save it for later. That's what I did with the quote in my blog post today (http://kathx23.blogspot.com/). I read a groovy quote yesterday, I copied and pasted it into an empty email and sent it to myself for "later". I do that with all sorts of things, pictures, videos, links to cool stuff, you name it. I jot it down or email it to myself and save it for when I can sit down and blog. And there is a really good book in our collection by Margaret Mason called "Nobody Wants to Know What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog." I really encourage you to borrow it and have a look. It's lovely and simple, fun and really helpful when the inspiration just won't come. I just randomly open a page and use the idea that I land on.

The main thing is to keep going with 23 Things. As the great wise fish Dory in Finding Nemo says, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."



(She speaks whale you know).

Wiki Wonders

It's good to see more and more folks getting deeper in to 23 Things as the weeks go by. Especially now that we've got our BrizEsticks to help us along.

Lots of people are signing up to our BCC wiki, which is great to see. Don't forget that when you do join the wiki, YOU have the power to create pages and sub-pages on the existing ones, add images, videos, links, text, widgets and such. It's only limited by your imagination as to what you can do with this wiki as a tool for communication and collaboration in BCCLS.

Make sure you watch the WetPaint "How To" videos that are provided on the site, as they'll show you in simple language how you can edit the wiki to share the creative input.

Every branch has a section, and it's up to you in each branch to decide how you would like to use it.

Happy wiki-ing folks!

Mind Your Manners - Blogging Etiquette

I've had some emails and even questions on people's blogs about what kind of etiquette is expected in the "blogosphere". So I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learnt in my time as a blogger (about two years).

• Always credit anything you use that is not yours. If you use Flickr and YouTube embeds, they will automatically link back to the original owner. But if you use information from another website, provide it's name and a link back to it. Or if you quote an article, link back to an online copy of that article.
• If you want to offer critique of something, use a polite, constructive tone. Remember, people are very attached to their work (be it blogs, photos, videos, whatever) and it's ok to share constructive criticism, but openly bagging something is not cool. How would you feel if you were on the receiving end of that yourself?
• Give your blog a title, and tags (labels).
• If you read someone's blog, comment on it from time to time - all bloggers love to hear from their audience.
• Keep your blog clear, the paragraphs reasonably short and check your spelling!
• Don't assume your audience understands something as clearly as you do. Explain!
• Keep it upbeat. A raging rant just gets your readers cranky... and they're likely not to come back.
• Use pictures and videos to break up the text.
• Try to use a template or layout that is easy to read. Some of the grooviest looking sites give the reader a headache after two paragraphs.
• Variety is the spice of life. Don't post the same subject or same format every time you post. It makes your blog easier to read if there is some variety.
• And remember: Do unto others as you would have done unto you. If you wouldn't like something said about you, or your work not referenced, or criticism aimed at you, think twice about doing it to others.

Happy Blogging!