Last post

I have  uploaded pictures, embedded a video, audio, changed some of the design elements on my blog blog. I also invited classmates to be authors on my blog, I made comments on at least 2 of my classmates blogs and  commented on one of my teacher's posts ..

As a final step, I have sent email to my teacher to let her know I have completed my blog.

Exercise 16, commenting, blogs, etiquette

I have commented on my teacher's blog about the importance of reader's reviews and social bookmarking.

Exercise 15, commenting, blogs, etiquette

 IDate

I have commented on Todd's and Louise Sinclar's blog. I liked the simplicity of Todd's design. Louise has such an engaging blog, I like her witing style and sense of humor.. I' ve added several comments to her site.

Exercise 14, authors, invitations

I have sent 3 open invitations to 3 potential authors to contribute to my blog. Earlier this semester I' ve removed the contributors  gadget from my template design and so far I have not been able to put it back, so I am not able to add contributors to my blog .....

Investigative Exercise 11 Recommendations

My local library is one of the branches of the City of Sydney Library Network. This library network does an excellent job using web 2.0 technologies. Their different web activities include:                                                     

• • Email Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Videos & Podcasts
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/library/
   The above list is excellent collection of web 2.0 gadgets, but somehow those posts  are not addressed to the smaller local communities of the branches. So here is a suggestion how my local library could improve on that.
  
  The population is young and the community is just forming in the Alexandria-Zetland area...The Green Square Library already does a good job in providing mums and babies some programs. Rhymetime  for babies is now on weekly at Green Square.( It is a lapsit program that combines rhymes, music, singing, board books, puppets and toys to develop early literacy skills.)
  
  The interest is obviously there from the patrons, so a collection of great parenting  blogs posted on the library's website  would definitely catch the attention of a lot of  mothers. Miscalenious Mum on http://miscmum.com/ or The Sharpest Pencil on http://sharpestpencil.wordpress.com/    are just two  great examples about the community these blogs create. 
  
  
     Here is a futher  example from the NSW State Library about how   to   collect and share blogs on different subjects and make it accessible to the public/ patrons:http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about/publications/blogs.html?HomeLink=Share
  
  

Exercise 13, arrangement, design,

I've rearranged my blog's layout today : I placed ( dragged and dropped ) the "Labels" gadget onto the left side. I changed the display from the Cloud format to a List.  Previously I was drawn to the Cloud , it looked appealing and innovative, but the list arrangement  allows clearer browsing.
This is how I selected the current display of labels on my blog :

Title
Show	All Labels Selected Labels Selected labels: 31 of 31 edit
Sorting	Alphabetically By Frequency
Display	List Cloud
	Show number of posts per label

Exercise 12, colour, design

The template background I use for my blog has darker tones while the letters are  in white font so the text stands out. When browsing through other blogs I realized, that the black background for my posts looked rather gloomy, so I decided to change it from black to dark gray. 
It is not a huge change, but it made a huge difference in the overall look of my  blog....I am still using quite a dusky tone, but that simple shade change made the pages  less dramatic and the white letters are not disturbingly bright any more. I added a slide show of nature pictures to  the right side of the screen just to bring some more life and colour to it... 
 Pamela Wilson, an award-winning graphic designer and marketing consultant has very interesting tips on using certain fonts and colours for online businesses, blogs and brands: http://www.bigbrandsystem.com/typography/

Exercise10, library 2.0, evaluation

  The Green Square Library is a part of  the City of Sydney Library Network, so the members have access to over 500,000 items through the 8 branches.

Unfortunately only a couple of thousands monographs being held at the Green Square branch making it one of the smallest of the libraries in the network. Only popular literature / young and adult fiction and the hobby / particularly the  DIY, gardening and parenting/ non- fiction section had substantial number of books, just a few monographs were dedicated to local studies. 

The online catalouge is where the clients can access services and the above mentioned 500,000 items and resources. There is a  general  e-mail address for requests askthelibrary@cityofsydney.com.au.

I have to point out that the  Online Database and Online reference collection of the City of Sydney Library Network is  very impressive. Through the E-library members have 24/7 Online access to information and full-text databases, electronic publications, videos, images, full-text newspaper archives simply using their library cards, although some of the databases  are for in-library use only. Examples are : Oxford Reference Online, Science Reference Centre, Business Review, Reuters...and age appropriate versions of the Britannica / Britannica Student, Britannica Junior /and the World Book Online for kids.

Kids corner at my local library

Children’s collection: The library's  activities  reflecting that Alexandria is a suburb of young families : Rhymetime held every Wednesday and there are several other programs for mothers and their babies. The selection of children's books seemed to be well chosen and shelves looked tidy. The kid's corner is simple but inviting, bright  and clean with pillows and bean bags scattered on the floor. 

Community profiles, exercise 9

I live in Alexandria, an inner city suburb of Sydney. This used to be a largely industrial suburb with medium to high density residential areas. The suburb was once mostly terraced housing, that was demolished for light industrial use and warehousing, which continues to this day, but more and more apartment buildings are on the rise.

Alexandria-Beaconsfield  has a total of  6,592   residents. 26 %  of the residents are born overseas , 43 % were born in  English speaking countries (New Zealand and United Kingdom).

Majority of the population are adults 18 to 64 years  5,569 and only  242 senior citizens. There are 369

Infants 0 to 4 years  and 394 Children 5 to 17 years( sourced from the ABS, 2001 census).

The median age of the suburb is 33, this data clearly reflects a young and growing suburb. The local library, located on Green Square, it is a part of the City of Sydney Library Network.

Green Square Library

The library's  activities reflecting that Alexandria is a suburb of young families:  Rhymetime every Wednesday and several other programs for mothers and their babies.

Exercise 8, Robots vs. Sacred Human Contact,

In 2010 the Automated Book Delivery System has been introduced at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at NC State University. They had to find a solution to store and handle their immense collection of  2 million books...

 The Automated Book Delivery System in my opinion, is not a threat to the  labour force in the libraries , but  a solution to smart storage and material access. The problem of storage space and access to library materials, especially rare and/or rarely used items is a significant issue  in today's libraries. In fact, this dilemma has been mentioned and discussed numerous times at various Tafe classes. We all know that librarians forced to weed out the collection on a regular basis, just to free some shelf space!

So we should not be intimadeted by this technical ( rather hi-tech ) answer to the storage problem! It does not mean that the libraries will become warehouses without hiring anyone !! The above mentioned library still has 40000 books on a traditional shelf system. ABDS exist partially only, to free up space on the cramped bookshelves of the main libraries, while the traditional browsing experience  and the sacred human contact is still available.

Exercise 7, Podcasts, Tom Keneally at the State Library

Schindler's List

 

 Podcasts bring amazing lectures and talks into your home, onto your laptop, or to any other device that plays an mp3 file.

The State Library of NSW has an interesting selection of podcasts on its website.These were recorded at public talks and open seminars on literary, historical and contemporary issues representing  the Library's collections and events.

Tom Keneally, the award-winning author, tells the story behind his influential novel Schilndler's Ark. It is fascinating to hear the writer, himself talking. I am always besotted reading/listening artists reflecting on their own work.... with his carefully chosen, slow words and amazingly articulate sentences he holds the attention of the audience.The podcast is approximately 33 minutes long.

 To download the file to your desktop, right-click the title  above and choose Save Target As..., to listen to the mp3 file: just left click

Exercise 6, book reviews

 Book reviews are important and the writers of those reviews are never should be discouraged. God bless every person who has read a book from the first page to the last one and gave an articulate opinion on it!

 Sadly, in these days, when the airwaves are littered with swearwords and easy to digest popular culture, when gossip magazines multiply by the dozen, we have to treasure every single book reader, keep them motivated and give them platform to express their view....Obviously, these reports could be way too subjective so we have to handle them with caution.

 In an earlier post I unintentionally gave my opinion on a certain book that of I found on the train: I declared my personal connection to the subject and  how it made me instantly connected to this book. Others might think that  particular book  is nothing else but a part of a media campaign attempting to clean up some sporting figure's image in order to resuscitate his career. Nothing demonstrates better, how subjective a reader review could be, then this example.

 ... and above all:  De gustibus non est disputandum! We all like different things and we should respect that.

unless they express extremist views.....but that is the question of censoring.

 If I want to know more about a book,  I do a proper research on the particular title and read the critic's essays in  notable pulications, but I might peak into readers reviews for fun and curiosity. My local library has a Readers Club, but does not publish reviwes.

Lost and found books

I found a book on my way to work. It was left on the seat of the early morning train. It was probaly left behind by an other commuter just like me, who was too tired at 6 am to remember  take the book with her....I opened up and started reading that morning...Yes, I still have the book.

Please, read my debate, and tell me what should I do!

1. The book is not the greatest gem of literature, it is an autobiography of Ben Cousins, but I lost a dear friend to drugs and I am eager to learn about one's struggle.

2. As I said, there is not much artistic or aesthetic  value to this book, but it certainly describes an important character  development : someone's battle with their demons, committing then admitting their wrong doing. It has always been a  fascinating theme since  Faust and Raskolnikov .... In this book we find  the very same personal battle even if it is lived through by a spoiled / overpaid football player. Could  I be mistaken and maybe this book was written just to clean up his public profile and revive is career? I can not tell it yet..

3. My mother had an ex-libris stamp in her books, so the books could be returned to her , in case she lost one... Ex libris is now old fashioned, if not non-existent. How do I know that this book will be returned to it's rightful owner?

4. I am learning a lot about AFL.

5. I promised myself to turn the book in  to CityRail after reading ...after all, it's someone else's property.... They must have got a Lost and found Department full of umbrellas and paperbacks .

 So, kind visitor to this blog,  please be my judge and give me your verdict...should we ever keep a found book ? What would you do?

Exercise 5

Social Networking – It is the way the 21st century communicates now and libraries would not want to miss out. They are using the power of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Linkedin and so on...and they do it well. It is the new way  of building relationship or self advertising...Although, I could not help notice a tendency: libraries seem to use Facebook as a platform of fighting against extinction.
Facebook become the Greenpace of Libraries, in my opinion.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is one of the most effective way to give a shout out for the community, get people commited (befriend, "Like"...) or take notice of their case.
Let's just do a search on Facebook, and be amazed by the number of campaigns! Here are some examples :
Save Libraries
Save the Los Angeles Public Library!
I'll Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Think Libraries Are Pennsylvania’s 5.6 Million Library Cardholders Can’t Be Wrong
Library Voices
Public library advocacy

Exercise 4

This youtube video created by the UTS Library explores the question we all interested in: when digital information becomes more and more important, what is the future of the library will be?

The presentation is not a promotion for an actual library event, but it markets a concept to  librarians, library students and visitors in general. It explores the possible new roles of libraries, puts forward new, logical and adaptable ideas.The video describes how the organisational structure and  work conditions in libraries will inevitably change in the future, details new service models libraries will / should offer by as early as 2015.

Through exploring and looking at new ideas this  video motivates librarians, students and visitors not to give up on the future!

Exercise 3

The New York Public Library's photo stream on Flickr lets us to peek in their collection: thousands of photographs, lantern slides and postcards documenting New York Public Library buildings, collections and programs are uploaded here as well as a link to the NYPL Digital Gallery.
In their Profile they gave such a smart reasoning on why the library is decided to be a part of this photo sharing website:
"....we are here to rub digital shoulders with the other illustrious institutions participating here. Flickr is among the most lively and innovative social media communities on the Web, with millions of users capturing and describing the photographic present. "
Here is the link for their photo stream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/sets/

One of the surviving copies of the Gutenberg Bible is exhibited in the NYPL Rare Book Collection : http://exhibitions.nypl.org/treasures/items/show/113. Although viewing the digital version of those pages  not accesible on the internet (The Brirish Library done a great job at that!), a  visitor sneaked in a camera to this very same exhibition in NY and shared her experience on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyallcock/3669471059/!

Exercise 2

There is a slideshow on http://www.slideshare.net/ about  how to conduct a reference interview in public libraries. I found this presentation very similar to the  study material of the  previous semester's Research and Analyse class.The content is practical, includes simple examples not just theoretical  and abstract ideas. I like the fact that the  writer used photos of real life, everyday people, ones you can meet in the library. In fact, this presentation as real as it can get: it was created for the Kaukauna Public Library Staff Training Day in June 27, 2011.

Reference Interview 101

View more presentations from Bradley Shipps

Exercise 1, Ultimo Tafe Library ,blogs

Glad to see, that our library at Tafe has an interesting and informative blog. There is information not only about the library but other Tafe events too, such as the Health Expo or the Sparkies,
Foodies and Fashonistas Exhibition...The blog is up to date and well managed, find it at http://sydneyinstituteonline.net/ucilibrary

test2

Open Day at the Opera House

Date: 16 October

Cost: Free

Have you ever been backstage, looked inside the dressing rooms, wondered around the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House? Now you can do that for free, as a part of the great events celebrating the 10th anniversary of Art & About.

To be honest, since I arrived to Sydney Art & About has been my favourite annual event, but this year it has truly exeptional happenings and exhibitons around the city from 23 Sept - 23 Oct.

As always, libraries all around the city are active participants of the event with various late night programs, exhibitions or children specials such as Cratfernoons. All events are free! I'll keep you posted or you can visit http://www.artandabout.com.au/ for details.

The Concert Hall