A week of discoveries....

I love being a librarian. I don't actually have a job as a librarian as yet, but I still love the possibilities of what could be. I love that part of what I need to do to keep relevant and up to date is keep learning! This week I discovered Audioboo , and my mind has been reeling with the potential. My twitter friend @dramagirl shared some thoughts about what she was doing with Audioboo, and I was intrigued. Above is a link to my second Audioboo, recorded using my iPhone at the Toowoomba City Library. It contains an interview with my friend and work colleague Kelly, talking about her SLQ's License 2 Test Drive online learning experience.

I would also like to use Audioboo to record interviews with some of the teens who attend our young writers group at our library. Also to record snippets of conversations with customers as to why they use our facilities/resources.  Also would be great for collecting oral histories as part of the Local History Collection. Imagine a link on a website that allows the user to hear an interview with a patron about a favourite book, or author, or service....

This week I also discovered the Columbus Metropolitan Library's 2008 Annual Report. Sounds boring? I don't think so! It is a visual representation of their report, and contains amazing interviews, news promos and conversations with staff, customers, friends of the library, board members and their executive director. What a wonderful marketing tool! Was a half an hour well spent.

I spend alot of time thinking about marketing and promoting our library, and read alot about organisational change. I discovered a quote this morning and was very taken by it. It was from a slideshare presentation on The New World of Word of Mouth . It talks about how to give customers an experience that they will want to talk about and share.

"You must decide what you stand for, and then align every one of your systems to reinforce it. You must recruit for it, you select for it, you orient for it, you train for it, you reward it, you promote for it, and you terminate those that don't have it"         John Young

Lastly, I turned 40 this week, and enjoyed a week of festivities! I also discovered a few things about myself. I am overwhelmingly grateful for the friends who share my life! Thanks to all for spoiling me so rotten. Thanks also to my many new friends who share my digital spaces. I am really loving the relationships that are being built there, and hope one day to meet IRL. I am also grateful to have such a wonderfully supportive family, who love me and encourage me to reach for the stars.  Thanks for everything.  Lastly, I discovered that I like being me, and  that being 40 is great :-))

Next Gen Librarian

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hansdorsch/2862635664/

I can't believe I forgot to share one of the best parts of my Relay for Life experience!  Our tent displayed a sign which stated, 'will read books for money', which was out team's attempt to raise more play money for the Relay for Life.  I was in charge of bringing books to read.

Instead, I bought my trusty iPhone!!  I have blogged before about Stanza,  an ebook reader app that I have downloaded onto my phone.  Stanza would be one of my favourite applications, and I love the sheer volume of free books that are available.  So, being the nerdy, geeky, tech loving librarian that I am, I used the many opportunities I had to share with people information about literacy, and the many forms it can take.  I talked about Stanza, and font size, about Project Gutenberg and downloading free books.  I showed online catalogues, showed ebooks, and read pages from books.  I also talked about vision impaired people downloading stanza to their desktop, and choosing a font size that suits them.

I talked.  And shared two of my loves - reading and my iPhone.

My MacBook

http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamblackall/2945489969/ 

Just a quick blog post to brag about my new Macbook.  I sooo couldn't resist this awesome photo in Flickr  which captures some of my new favourite things!  My kids tell me that I love my iPhone more than them (sometimes true) and now I have another new gadget to love!

The last week has been a massive learning curve as I learn 'Mac', and I am hoping to attend some beginner 'mac' classes next sat so I can continue my learning journey!  Even blogging - something I love to do and which had been like second nature to me tonight has been a whole new adventure with my Mac.

Will blog again tomorrow and share some more of what has been happening lately.  Thanks for taking the time to drop by :)

jo

PS Still can't find my user photo, and this will be my first question in class!

On holidays - or how not to have a relaxing week off

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eqqman/3120691002/

I am having my first week off work in over a year.  Last year I needed to take all my annual leave to attend my prac in Brisbane and a conference in Melbourne.  I envisioned myself relaxing, hanging out with the kids, watching some tennis and being able to get some stuff done online that I needed to do.  The reality has not been this at all!  It has been very hot, our poodle is still not well (more vet trips and $$$), my kids are at the end of 8 weeks holiday and are going stir crazy - fighting with each other -and more importantly I cannot get them off our two computers.  Normally I am ok with this, as we encourage digital literacy in our house, but not when it means I cannot get to my computer.  I have changed passwords etc, and today I will resort to taking keyboards (again) when I go out of the house.  I so need a laptop that is just for me. Sigh.

When I have been able to get to a computer, I was able to download Stanza to my iphone and to my desktop.  What a wonderful piece of software.  I have downloaded books onto my iphone and can now read at leisure in a font that suits me best whenever I am out.  I really think the two outstanding features for me is Stanza's ability to change font size, and the inclusion of books from Project Gutenberg.

I also was able to download the DCPL app and road test it.  What an amazing application.  I was able to show it to a few staff where I work, and was excited by the people who actually 'got' what is was all about(we still don't have a website that is current or relevant).  A catalogue that is user friendly and available in a medium that is relevant.  I loved the simple look of the app and have had a great time putting the search interface through its paces!  I now know where all the DC Public Libraries are, along with their opening hours and phone numbers.  So if I ever get to the States, I can find my way around all the DCPL because of my iphone library catalogue application!

I stated previously in my blog the need for us to promote ourselves in digital spaces, but as I am not yet employed as a libarian where I work, these decisions and actions are not up to me to try to be involved in.  Quite frustrating really.  As there are no projects in our library, there is not any way to even get onto a project team that can be looking into these things.  And even if there was a project team, I would not be able to be part of it because I am employed as a library assistant and not a librarian.  So all that makes me less employable in the future as I have no experience in even being part of a team!  Another sigh.

So enough of me feeling sorry for myself.  Once school goes back I can start my volunteer work and hopefully start learning new things that can and will make me more employable.

Thanks for stopping by :)

To promote or not to promote, that is the question...

I have been thinking about this topic alot lately, and my conclusion inevitabley ends up the same.  Our library needs to promote who we are and what we do.  And not only to our physical customers but to our potential virtual customers also. 

I read with interest David Lee King's post Ask a Librarian service needs a reboot, and the 41 - at time of writing - comments that were inspired by his post.  The notion of digital vs physical customer, and how our libraries serve, or fail to do so is at the heart of his post.

I then followed a link posted on my facebook this morning to a blog post from a digital initiatives librarian from the states:  DCPL iPhone application ready for download.  WOW.  How amazingly cool is that.  I am going to download the application (when I get my itunes back up and running as it crashed when I was trying to install stanza a new ebook reader app) and give it a workout.  I loved the very clean interface.  I will post more about this after I've tried it!)  So congratulations to DCPL for creating an application that can and will meet the needs of the very mobile, digital natives whose technological expectations/expertise are often mind blowing to a Gen X'er!

So, all this leads me back to the promotion of our services and resources, and in particular starting to promote our library online.  I have found a few local websites, and am going to put together some info and then email it to the powers that be.  If you have suggestions, or ideas that have worked well for you please feel free to comment.

Nice things do happen to me sometimes!

I had some really nice things happen this last week.  I received my last assignment back in the mail, and when I opened it I saw that I had received a HD!  Yeah!  Very nice way to finish off my Grad Dip.  My family decided to take me out to tea to celebrate, which was great. This photo was taken at my sister's house and my husband is thinking, 'thank god she has finished studying!'

My sister made this very early graduation ice cream cake in the shape of a graduation cap!  Very cool I thought, and I was touched by her creativity and thoughtfulness.

Lastly, some of my friends at work all put in and bought me a new charm for my 'library' bracelet.  I have blogged about my bracelet before, and so was amazed when they gave me a mobile phone charm to add.  My work friends said it's to represent my love of technology and my iphone!  Needless to say when I global emailed my thanks to all involved I used the opportunity to talk about technology as a wonderful tool that can only enhance our work environment and our services!   Thank you to everyone involved for the beautiful gift.  I will wear it with pride.

iPhone

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zkyo/353699064/

I can't remember if I have said lately how much I love my iphone.  I spent the weekend playing on it (I can do this with no guilt as I have finished uni) and added some new applications and moved some bits and pieces about.  I decided to create a new ringtone, add it to my itunes and then sync it to my iphone.  Simple right?  Not so.  Creating my new ringtone was easy, and if it worked would sound excellent!!!!  It all sounded so easy in theory.  After a few hours, reinforcements (my husband) and a dozen or more forums on the topic I am not conceding defeat, just taking a breather.

It should work.  The forums are split 50/50 on being able to do it and swearing at apple.  So, if there is anyone out there who has done this (and it worked), please help.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I still love my iphone though :)