Week 6

I rather enjoyed looking at what everyone was doing with video in their libraries – lots of potential to put a different face on things. I enjoyed the 3 reasons for loving your library and the play on the drive-through theme. Do I have three reasons for loving my library? I could probably find more than 3, but the one I would like to name is lost to me. I’ve forgotten what it is to be just a borrower who comes through the door and find it impossible to recapture that feeling/sense of place/aura of the building etc. that used to inhabit the moment of entry to any library in my pre-librarian days.
I thought the new employee orientation from PLCMC was a great innovation. With our worksites being so spread out it would be excellent to have a welcome from the higher echelons introducing themselves and welcoming new staff. It could also be used to demonstrate information about a new procedure or to reinforce a policy.

You may note there is no video embedded in my blog. Did I set off on the “adventure” oh yes! Did I complete the journey – NO! Did I try hard to complete it - you bet! The frustration of having YouTube available for such a limited time was only surpassed by the difficulty in finding the code which was only surpassed by my inability to embed it without my blog telling me there were HTML errors.

What do I think of YouTube and its ilk? On the whole they look like they are there to provide a bit of downtime for the info-junkies while they wait for their next RSS feed. Infotainment that monopolises our time
Satisfaction rating: 6 (I am starting to appreciate the expanding of my horizons)

Week 5

Well what can I say about Wikis? I’ve completed the week with a couple of omissions I should own up to. The system was far too slow to take the pbwiki tour and I have not contributed anything to the nswlearning 2 wiki, but I did explore the site and wondered where all the cataloguers were.
The SJCPL subject guides – what can I say “in an ideal world” – where would we ever find the time and resources to maintain such an excellent wiki. Mint Museum – much more manageable. The full library success: a best practice wiki – I liked this one although not its Wikipedia format. Have added an RSS feed to my blog (just like that! At the beginning of Week 1 just that statement would have been gibberish to me)

The library environment could certainly benefit from the expert and controlled use of Wikis, but there is so much unreviewed and uncontrolled stuff out there that is not subject to ethical restraints. I recently read Andrew Keen’s book The cult of the amateur : how today's internet is killing our culture and assaulting our economy. He describes the rise of the “Citizen journalist” offering up opinions as fact, rumour as reportage and innuendo as information. He also describes blogs as the greatest outburst of mass exhibitionism in human history and here at the end of Week 5 as fascinating as it all is I am no less inclined to agree with him.
Satisfaction rating: Can’t think of a number this week – it was OK

Week 4

Week 4 is now complete and I have had all the adventure one person needs in a week. Still I suppose it is testament to my growing confidence that I tackled the adventures. It was thanks to Pete’s post of the 17th March that I eventually worked out how to put the feed onto my blog. I selected Google Reader as my reader of choice – mainly because the password to use it is the same as my blog. Will I make RSS feed watching part of my daily routine – definitely not. I already feel we have an overwhelming surfeit of information coming into our lives (its too noisy out there), however there are a few blogs that are relevant to my work and life that I now know how to arrange in a convenient location and that is good for me and I recognise that on a larger scale this is good for the Library.

Week 3

Well week 3 is finally complete. I have created a Flickr account blogged a photo, uploaded a photo, made a contact, joined a group and inadvertently breached the etiquette by not giving myself a profile before looking at MerryJack's photos.
Satisfaction rating this week - well OK 5 - the amount of time is takes away from "real" work is always going to be a frustration, but yes I did enjoy it

About Silence

About Silence
Originally uploaded by globalindex

Werbellinsee, Biosphere reservation Schorfheide Chorin, Brandenburg, Germany

In keeping with my theme this is photo from Flickr titled "About silence". Certainly need something peaceful to counter the stress of working out how to do it all

Week 2
Well that wasn’t too hard although I am very much aware there is much to learn and I experienced much frustration in the process of producing this meagre effort
Thoughts on blogs – are they just an outlet for unexpurgated and unreviewed musings? Do we underestimate the time and effort required to maintain a blog?
Should I acknowledge that secretly I would probably enjoy a post on my site even though my rhetoric is to the contrary?
Where are all the people who used to share the lunch table with me – are they all blogging at their desks? What does that say about modern communication?
Satisfaction rating: 3 out of 10 – I did get it done, but I need convincing it was a worthwhile use of my time