Michiem's Weblog

Snow in The Basin

michiem — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:57:58 +0000

Snowing @ home in The Basin, just like a white xmas. In the three years we’ve lived here it has never snowed, so this was quite a treat.

a few of photos taken @ home when it started to snow in August this year…

feedback

michiem — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:15:47 +0000

23 things has been a great experience. Extending my browser has made web searching far more user friendly. I feel as though I have everything where I need it. Morning coffee was a great suggestion (thanks Jason) and I open it every morning @ work. I’ll probably incorporate those image generators in to some of our displays. I think that rss feeds and podcasts can be a great source of information about what’s going on in other libraries around the world.

Facebook can definitely be utilised to advertise our libraries. It’s another avenue to reach current and potential students. It could include photos, opening hours, promotions, locations, an opac link and there could be individual facebook pages for each library. Relevant rss feeds, blogs and podcasts could also be added to Internet subject links. Wiki’s could be a great internal communication tool between library staff – both work related and socially. Wiki pages could also be created to aid communication between teaching staff and subject specialists to inform when there are new resources and links to their bib records. Likewise teaching staff could have a suggestions page.

I think to maintain a blog, you really need a purpose, which is why the 23 things blogs work so well. I think I could maintain a blog if I had a reason to do so. I also think i could utilise google docs for my studies, but currently no reason to @ work. Rss feeds, Delicious, image generators and you tube will all be used after the conclusion of 23 things.

A program like this could benefit from informal discussion @ each library about how it could be incorporated @ work, upon completion of the PD. I would definitely be interested in participating in further discovery programs.

library 2.0

michiem — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:58:57 +0000

It was interesting reading different ideas about Library 2.0 and its usefulness and how it may shape libraries in the future. Wiki’s and Blog’s are increasingly becoming de rigueur as communication tools for organisations. What I read seems to indicate that some people are enthusiastic about Library 2.0 as a concept, but not sure how it relates practically. From the blog Library 2.0:An Academic Perspective, Laura Cohen quotes from another blogpost created by John Blyberg, Library 2.0 debased, commenting that “ we rarely take the time to adequately determine if our users would value the new service. In a nutshell, our approach is to identify a solution before we fully understand the problem.” It’s something to think about. Having said that though, I think 2.0 adds a new dimension to libraries & keeps them relevant. Wiki’s could be used here as communication tools within our libraries – an alternative to so many emails perhaps.

igoogle

michiem — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:35:12 +0000

I now have a nice Akira Isogawa themed igoogle page (check out the image above – cool huh), tailored to my every frivolous whim. I can now search youtube, create a to-do list, be inspired by a Bhuddist thought of the day and quote of the day, sound more intelligent than I am by learning a new word of the day, create joy in the workplace with a joke of the day (other than myself), know what time it is, and catch up with world events. Whew! Look out world!

I would love to work @ Google. It seems as though employees have a pretty cushy work space and can afford to be daring with their ideas. The annual income would also be nice. Oh to dream…

wordpress doesn’t like javascript – how annoying

michiem — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:45:17 +0000

I just tried to upload my library thing book as a text widget (again), to no avail – enlisted the help of Amy, but still no success. Explored their forums and discovered that wordpress doesn’t accept javascript – Library things html link is javascript. I find this a little curious and frustrating. Limiting options seems counter productive to usability. So now I have a Library Thing widget with no books. Here are the book covers uploaded manually

Google Maps, Docs & Book Search

michiem — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:06:34 +0000

It was interesting zooming in on my own home. At this point, I don’t think I would have much use for it other than the novelty factor.

Docs could be quite useful when working in groups. I was thinking about when I need to do group work as part of my studies, it probably would save time having something there that can always be accessed by each group member. Will do more exploring if I feel up to creating another email address!

Book search is something I’ve known about for a while and it’s not something I think of using, I guess because of Bookfind. Not sure if it’s good or bad, but I’m not that impressed with it to start using regularly.

Facebook & Myspace

michiem — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:29:40 +0000

I haven’t taken the plunge and joined up with facebook. I have joined in the past and found it all a bit pointless. Unless you have a purpose, or in the case of the library where they can use facebook as a form of advertising and connecting, it can be a bit of a time waster. My ‘friends’, were all people I see on a regular basis anyway! This would be beneficial for those who have friends and family overseas. Real time communication was useful at times, but I would probably find sms more convenient.

You tube

michiem — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:32:41 +0000

Searching for videos worth watching can be quite frustrating – there’s so much rubbish. But when something super reveals itself, it kind of makes it worthwhile. Placing a video in my blog was a quick and painless task, unlike Flickr!

Anyway this is a video that one of my lecturers @ uni played for us and think I its quite appropriate. It’s called The Machine is Us/ing Us.

flickr

michiem — Fri, 30 May 2008 06:50:51 +0000

I like using flickr. I can see how useful it could be if you were travelling and wanted to share your photos with family and friends. I can also see how libraires could incorporate it as a fun way to advertise. I am having a lot of trouble adding a photo from flickr to this blog, but here is the link to it…http://www.flickr.com/photos/27170447@N03/2535904516/

Technorati

michiem — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:06:57 +0000

I’m not sure I would use technorati as an information source. Who are all these bloggers and why is their word on any topic worth reading?