Gratitude

My how time flies!  It is so incredible to think that the year is nearly half way through.  It is time once again to reflect upon the things that matter in my life, and to be truly grateful for them.

1.  My poodle!  I was out  for the count yesterday with a migraine in my left eye, and my beloved, old poodle kept me company for the day.  It was so lovely having him snuggled up next  to me on the couch.    He turns 12 this year and has been one of the best things to have happened to our family.  We have had him for 9 years and took ownership of him from some people who were going to put him down.

2. A job.  I am truly grateful that I have a job.  It may not be the job I want as a librarian, but it is in the same industry, and it pays the bills! This week I have heard 2 heartbreaking stories of families who have lost jobs due to the current financial crisis, and listened in horror/awe as they try to get their lives back on track.

3. Learning new things.  I was lucky enough to spend a week out in Oakey at one of the regional libraries, and be on the receiving end of learning 'librarian' things.  It was great to be able to put into practice some of the theories that I learnt whilst at uni.  I am truly grateful to Fay, the librarian out there for sharing her knowledge so freely with me.

4. Hope.  Have been thinking about hope a fair bit this week, and the part it plays in our lives.  The hopes and dreams I have for my life and for my kids, for my country and for our world.  I have just finished a book about Joseph Fritzel, the man who locked his daughter and her children in a cellar for 24 years.  I wonder at what point she gave up hoping to be released? I wonder what her hopes and dreams are now, one year on.  Hope is a very powerful emotion, and I am still hopeful that one day I will find a job that utilises my degree.

5. Literacy.  I am so glad I can read and write.  I was thinking about this yesterday as I was unable to read for the day due to my migraine.  I am grateful to my parents for fostering my love of reading, I am sure it drove them crazy finding me still up reading by torchlight under the covers every night!  I hope (there is that word again) that I am instilling the love of reading writing and learning in both of my children.

Library and Information Week

Last week across Australia, Librarians and Information Professionals celebrated Library and Information Week , the aim of which is to 'raise the profile of libraries and information service professionals in Australia'(ALIA 2009).  It is a chance to promote the Library to the local community and to introduce new services or resources, and in all honesty, it is a chance to showcase the broad range of services that the library provides.

As an Associate member of Alia, I read with interest the theme for the week:  Libraries - Your passport to discovery - Connect, Access, Discover.  Alia gave examples of what Libraries from around the country had previously done to celebrate the week, and offered great ideas for  future events.  Our Young People's Team participated in National Simultaneous Storytime at 11am last Wednesday,  with Councillor Ros Scotney reading Pete the Sheep to a group of Prep, Year 1 and 2 students from a local school.

I decided to celebrate LIW in my own way. I talked about it on twitter, and enjoyed the Australia wide conversations.  I also decided to interview some of the parents and children who attend storytime at our library.  What better way to promote the library and its services than by the people who actually use them!

Library and Information week also saw me participate in my first New Generation Advisory Committee teleconference.  I was both overwhelmed and very excited to be part of that group.  I also had the privelege of giving my first radio interview with ABC Southern Queensland.  The conversation cenetred around Library and Information Week, technology and the services that our Library provides.  You can hear it here!!!
So, there you go. One new grad, not as yet employed as a librarian's attempt at celebrating Library and Information Week. Am looking forward to the next one....

SLQ's Week 6 Folksonomies and Tagging

This fortnight we are looking at tagging and folksonomies , and the tools that enable us to create and share our content.  I like the idea of tagging, and have been using tags for some years now to add what I perceive to be keywords,  that will help describe my content.  I love the word folksonomy, or the unstructured categorization scheme that tagging is part of.  It at first glance seems in direct contrast to the Library's taxonomy, or formal categorization scheme, but I think eventually we will end up with a combination of both.  One of my friends is writing an essay for her Grad Dip on this topic, and I have enjoyed discussing this topic with her.

I have rediscovered Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking tool that uses tags to bookmark my favourite web locations in the cloud.  This means I can access my information from which ever computer I choose to sign in on.  I have always meant to get around to using Delicious, but am determined to import my favourites from home and work and then retag them so I can always have access to them.  It is funny that as I write this I am following a discussion on twitter on this exact topic!

I have been using Technorati for a few years also, and have found it a great way to find new blogs on a certain subject.   What I love even more is the Technorati State of the Blogosphere an annual report that provides an in depth look at the who, what, when and where of blogging, how to use it for profit and how brands enter the blogosphere.  It is always a good read.

Library Thing is another web tool that uses tagging for classification.  I love my Library Thing account, and try each month to update it (though I sometimes forget).  It is a great way to keep track of what I have read, but also to find new authors.  I love scrolling through other people's accounts and reading their book titles.  I have often used this to source a new author!  Though this in no way compares to real conversations with customers as to their likes and dislikes and suggestions.  I can admit to actually reading and finishing my first Nora Roberts book on the advice of a customer just last week, and discovered Patricia Briggs and Linda Le Plante from conversations at the help desk! But Library Thing is truly the next best thing as it facilitates through tagging the 'if you like.... you will like ....'

 The Horizon report (2007) has this to say:

"A little group of Web 2.0 technologies—tagging and folksonomic tools, social bookmarking sites, and sites that make it easy to contribute ideas and content—is placing the power of media creation and distribution firmly into the hands of “the people formerly known as the audience” (Rosen, 2006). No longer satisfied to be consumers of content, today’s audience creates content as well. Producing, commenting, and classifying are just as important as the more passive tasks of searching, reading, watching, and listening."

I love this quote as it alludes to the notion of engagement, active participation. 'No longer satisfied to be consumers of content.... but creating content as well(Horizon Report, 2007).  Now if only we can provide services that allow our customers to do this!