Moving...

I have moved my blog to a new address: http://jobeaz.wordpress.com

Feel free to follow me over and update your info :-)

Keep moving forward.....

Happy New Year!  I cannot believe how fast 2009 flew by, and how so much will be changing for me in 2010.  This time of year brings with it the requisite thinking about the past year and hopes and dreams professionally for the year to come.


2009
-was accepted as a member of ALIA'S New Generation Advisory Committee 
-was accepted into the joint QUT/ALIA's ePortfolio pilot study
-began to build and truly value my PLN
-went back to work full time as a Young People's Library assistant
-turned 40
-spent some time in our Regional Libraries and met many of the staff who work there
-lost and gained friends, and learnt much from this
-accepted a three month contract as a Young People's Librarian
-co-wrote/edited a paper for LIANZA on ePortfolios
-resigned from my job

2010
-accepted a new job as Youth Outreach Librarian with Logan City Council Libraries
-attending VALA in Melbourne in February
-will be meeting in real life some of my online friends
-have written some proposals that may or may not eventuate - will let you know....
-accepted as a committee member for New Grad stream of ALIA Access 2010
-to make the most of every moment and take joy in the little things as well as the big things
-to keep moving forward

My goal for 2009 was proactive participation, and to thy self be true.  The same can be said for 2010:  to keep learning, keep loving and keep growing as a person and in my profession.  To spend as much quality and quantity time with my family and to cultivate things that bring joy to my life, be it reading a book, going for a walk with the family or trying new things.  Oh, and in the words of @KatieTT to have more red lipstick days in 2010!

Don't sweat the small things....

My Grandmother - Norah Dean - passed away peacefully in her sleep on Friday 11th December 2009.  She had recently turned 86, and for her birthday gave me a present, some of her rings.  She has been very sick this last year, and had spent some time in intensive care.  She told me a month before she died that she was happy to turn 86, but that was it.

Our family was lucky to be able to spend a day with her whilst she was in the hospital a few weeks ago.  She was very lucid, and spent the day regaling my kids with stories about her parents, grandparents and her only son (my dad).  It is a memory that I will cherish forever - her in the hospital bed and my kids sitting next to her listening intently to stories about the infamous Granny Cackles.  We took photos of her with the kids, and I am so glad to have these last photos of her.

The funeral was held on the Gold Coast yesterday, and was just lovely.  The service opened with one of her favorite sayings: 'Don't sweat the small stuff, just sweat the big stuff'.  It was just a short service, with my whole family in attendance, as well as some of my Nan's bowling friends, residents from her nursing home, her best friend of 49 years Una, and many of my dad's cousins.

She knitted and sewed right up until a few weeks before she died, with her creations going to various charities across the Gold Coast.  I remember her trying to teach me to knit when I was little, and her deciding that I was unteachable.  I still cannot knit, but when I learnt to stitch and quilt, she was delighted to receive one of my quilts. She took great pleasure in showing the quilt to her friends whilst telling them that I still could not knit!

It is very sad to lose her, but I am so glad she is not in pain anymore.  She will be greatly missed by my whole family and myself.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.  They must be felt with the heart.                                                                                         - Helen Keller

Storylines Q150

I was very lucky to be able to attend a two day workshop run by the State Library of Queensland last friday.   The workshop was part of the Q150 celebrations, its aim for participants to create a digital photostory that captures a memory or story somehow relating to Queensland.

Three staff from our library, four retired volunteers from the Milne Bay Military Museum and a partridge in a.. oops and a retired oral historian attended the workshop.

I must say one of the best parts of the workshop was talking with the other attendees.  I learnt heaps from them, and was on the receiving end of some great tech tips!!!  I was also very moved by the amazing war digital stories that they created.

I chose to create a story based on some interviews I had done with some of the parents who attend our storytime.  Due to time constraints, I only used one of the interviews.  We used a free program called Windows Movie Maker, and below is the end result.  And yes, that is me with the ducklings on my fingers!!!!

Week 6 SLQ Licence to Test Drive Part B

Test Drive #6 looked at the rise of online videos.  This is in part due to increasing improvements in  technology and the decreasing costs of the tools needed.  This has led to a massive rise in creating content, uploading content, and being able to freely share it.   My  9 yr old has asked for a digital video camera for christmas so she can start making movies......   Youtube has made it very easy to upload and share content, and I know our whole family uses it when looking for 'how to' information.

I like how libraries are using Youtube to share staff training, new programs and resources, how to guides, promotion and marketing and talking about the future of libraries.  I have uploaded some of the school holiday programs run by our Young People's team.

I have also used Vimeo to host a couple of digital photo stories that I have created about our library.

I have chosen to embed this clip from Youtube as it is sort of an in family joke in our house.  Both my husband and son game, and WOW terminology features heavily in their conversations.  Heard repeatedly:

Me: That's it! Get off that computer now or I am going to....
Husband or son: I've just got to log off somewhere safe....

My son found these clips on Youtube and they have become family favourites!  I especially like the little brother, and in another clip he talks about how he had to visit the local library and use their resources as his mother had banned him from all technology!!

More Google - or week 5 of SLQ Licence 2 Test Drive

Week 5 is titled More Google!!  I have been increasingly using google for more and more things lately.  I now have a gmail account - as do both my kids - and have customised my google page at work with iGoogle.  I have added weather and news widgets, my google reader, a star trek quote widget, a SLQ search widget, and a coffee quote widget - all the important things, lol. I use google docs and I have also been playing around surfing (or trying not to sink) on the new Google wave.  I use Google maps regularly, and also the Google calendar, synching it to my iphone.

I am constantly surprised by the amount of *things* Google does.  I enjoyed playing around on Google books and wasted spent some time searching and narrowing my searches using their advanced search box (such a librarian, I know..).  I also was amazed at Google translate as I had only vaguely heard about this site, but had not played around on it.  I typed in my blog's URL and then translated the page from english to spanish - just because I could!

This site has great potential for explaining information about the library's services and resources to multi-cultural patrons.

I read somewhere - can't remember where - about people being afraid of Google's domination in our online lives.  I guess this is where we as librarians need to be able to step up to the plate and teach digital literacy skills that equip our customers to critically think, live and learn in an online environment,  I know of many libraries that do this already.  I like this quote that I read in an Educause Journal about digital literacies:

Ironically, while some see the profusion of realities as threatening to us, to our children, and even to democracy, the new media is nothing if not simply another way of viewing our world, of interacting with one another, of opening ourselves to learning in realms of possibility we never conceived of before. In our development as higher-order thinkers, multiple realities are far less important to our survival than our ability to understand what we see, to interpret what we experience, to analyze what we are exposed to, and to evaluate what we conclude against criteria that support critical thinking. In the end, it seems far better to have the skills and competencies to comprehend and discriminate within a common language than to be left out, unable to understand.

PS - I am updating my post with my response to a comment on this post. 'Quite ironic really that I completely forgot to include google as a search engine, google reader, You tube, blogger and google scholar. Just goes to show how completely integrated they are within my life that I didn't even think to include them!'

Licence 2 Test Drive - Part B - Week 4

Week 4 of the State Library of Queensland's Licence to Test Drive Part B looked at web browsers.

A web browser is the software program loaded on your computer, Smartphone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) which you use to connect to the Internet. The browser is used for retrieving, presenting, and navigating information resources on the World Wide Web and email.An information resource is identified by an address or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) this may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content. Hyperlinks in web pages or other resources enable you to easily navigate your browser to other sites or resources. 

I looked at some of the popular web browsers, including internet explorer, firefox, safari and google chrome. When I bought my iphone last year, I used safari for the first time, and now use it as the web browser on my mac.  My work computer uses internet explorer as its SOE.  I was quite surprised watching this You tube video about web browsers.  I have never used firefox, but my friend in IT up the road at council is always telling me how much better it is, and after watching this little clip I am thinking of installing it on our computer downstairs.  But then I was quite impressed by Google chrome as well....

So, this Licence 2 Test drive has been a good one, and has forced me out of my web browser comfort zone and challenged me to try some of the others available.  So, if for no other reason than that, then I am very grateful to have been gently pushed.

Week 3 SLQ Licence to Test Drive Part B

This week I reviewed Podcasts and Audio as part of the State Library of Queensland's Licence to Test Drive Part B.  

A podcast is a non-music audio or video recording that is distributed over the internet. The word “podcasts” is derived from Personal On Demand broadcast – hence podcast. You can listen to a podcast anytime, anywhere. The distribution is what makes a podcast unique. It's also what makes a podcast powerful. Interested listeners can receive updates through RSS feeds when new content is posted.

I enjoyed this post, and was amazed at the variety of institutions podcasting, especially the State Libraries of NSW and VIC and the Powerhouse Museum.


I personally have tried Audacity, though have mainly used it for capturing music.  As I have said before, I have an iphone which I love, and have applications on it which I use for podcasting and listening to podcasts.

The first is Audioboo, an iphone app that allows anyone with an iphone to record and publish themselves.  I have used audioboo to interview parents attending storytime at our library, members of our young writers group, staff members who are participating in this learning program, and to record random bits of information, documenting a specific time or place.  I have also used it to capture an interview to use in a conference presentation.

I also have another application on my iphone called TED, which allows me to watch small video clips about technology, entertainment and design.  I can also listen to podcasts of talks as well.

The mobile device makes creating and listening to podcasts amazingly easy, and this has huge ramifications for libraries.  Capturing family histories, sharing stories and explaining new happenings are just some of the things that could be done.

On my holidays I.....

On the first day of my holidays, I attended two library conferences, participated in a presentation, cleaned my house and sewed a quilt top.  In my trackies.  From the comfort of my lounge.  And loved every minute of it!  How and why I can hear you asking.....

Over the last few weeks, I have been co creating/co editing a conference paper that Gill Hallam was to present at LIANZA 09, in Christchurch.  The paper was on the use of eportfolios as a tool for professional development within the library industry.  My partner in crime Rebecca and I finished editing the paper last week, and Gill presented the paper on Monday lunchtime.  Our paper can also be viewed using the following tiny URL:  http://tiny.cc/ALIAeportfolio .

I had hoped to be able to attend the QPLA conference in Townsville this week, and asked for holidays accordingly. The conference themes of technology, challenge and change appealed to me, and I would have loved another chance to hear Michael Stephens's talk. Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough $$$, and I didn't win the free conference package, thus not being able to attend.  So, I decided to spend my hols at home, catching up on some things around the house.

Sunday evening, I changed the settings on my Tweetdeck, and added two hashtags to the deck - #QPLA09 and LIANZA09.  I was then able to follow in real time - via twitter - the conversations and presentations from people actually attending the conference, and from other twerps (twitterers) who were participating virtually as well.

This worked out really well for me, and I was able to follow all the conversations surrounding both conferences, as well as ask questions, receive responses, and answer comments about the eportfolio presentation, all via twitter.

At one stage I was sewing and watching the conversation flow at the same time!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22229268@N05/4010002499/

I am so grateful that there are technological tools that allows me to participate in conversations that are happening all over the globe.  I am also grateful that I know about them, and can use them to enrich both my professional and personal life.

Good News

I am currently sitting in my local cafe Star gardentown, opposite my work.  I am having morning tea and enjoying using their wifi for the cost of a cup of coffee. My car is in getting serviced, and I had an hour or so before work to fill in.  I am using the time to catch up on emails, RSS feeds and blogging.

I can't believe that I have not blogged about this as yet, but I have a Librarian's job!! Whoo Hooo!!  I am now the Young People's Librarian at the Toowoomba City Library.  It is only two days/week, for a three month contract, but it is my first job!  And so far I love it.  I have worked some reference counters, ordered some books, went through the mending pile to see what can be mended, discarded or reordered, weeded some books, played hopscotch with some kids and begged our council IT guy for help as I stuffed up trying to add an image to our council's webpage.  In my defense, I had a bad head cold, forgot to resize the image and it was my first go.....

Our school holiday library programs were awesome once again, with great feedback from children, teenagers and parents alike.  I created another Animoto of our program, and I know its long, but it was really hard to cull such great photos of the kids enjoying themselves!



So, there you go. A quick catch up on what's been happening in my life lately.

Mashups @ SLQ's Licence to test Drive

View Toowoomba Regional Libraries in a larger map

A mashup is a web application that uses content from more than one source to create a single new service displayed in a single window. - SLQ

Yeah, I have created a mashup of all the libraries that are now part of the Toowoomba Regional Council.  Why on earth would you want to do that I hear you ask.  Week 2 of the SLQ's Licence to test Drive Part B is Mashups, and this week my mission was to create a google maps mashup.  So there you go, done!


I really enjoyed going back and looking at mashups again, and in particular enjoyed viewing Paul Hagan's Flicker and google street view mashup.  It is definitely worth taking the time to follow this link and look at the incredible historical photos of New York and compare them to now.


Just a few weeks ago a fellow twitterer (I call them twerps!) created a mashup of twitter users and the Local Government Network 09 Conference.  Whilst not attending IRL, I followed the conference online using the #LGN09 hashtag, and decided to add my name to the list.  A very cool thing to do, and you can read more about how and why he did it here.

Book Launch @Toowoomba City Library

Local author Deb Pachilke and illustrator Mick Grace, launched their book 'Eric the Echidna Has Lost His Spikes' at the Toowoomba City Library a few weeks ago.

"Eric the Echidna" is a children's book about an Echidna who gets caught in a storm and loses his spikes. Go on a journey with Eric and meet some of his friends who helped him find them.  Beautifully illustrated pencil drawings recreate the Australian bush and animals.

To find out more about the book, its author and illustrator, you can read their blog Eric the Echidna or contact Deb at  harbedinc@internode.on.net


The following animoto is their story:

Licence to Test Drive - Part B

The State Library of Queensland has released Part B of Licence to Test Drive, its online program that encourages library staff to actively participate in learning about new and emerging technologies and the impact that they can have on libraries.

Part B Week 1 is online applications and tools. Zoho writer and Google docs are two of the web based applications looked at this week.  As a member of ALIA's New Generation Advisory Committee, we use Google docs to share agendas and documents, allowing us to edit and collaborate from our various locations around Australia.  I like being able to have access to these shared documents, and being able to access them whenever and wherever I want.   I used Zoho writer a few years ago, and wasn't overly impressed, but went back and looked at the site again and played around.  It has a very 'Google' feel about it now, and seems much more user friendly.

Google Apps Overview

View more presentations from Sharon Elin.

 I love Slideshare!  I love being able to read and participate by commenting on others' presentations.  I have, over the years, followed many links to Slideshare presentations that have been shared. I have learnt heaps and felt I was able to be part of conference presentation, even if I was in a different country or city.

Am signing off quickly as there is an approaching dust storm coming my way. The first shot is from my back deck looking south west.  And the second photo was taken by @oldm8 and is of our Town Hall in Toowoomba just two hours after my photo was taken.

Six word memoirs

Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak from SMITHmag on Vimeo.

I followed a link by @heyjudeonline on twitter the other day, and discovered the most amazing site and concept.  Six word memoirs challenges you to write your life story in just six words.  I have been utterly delighted, amazed, shocked and saddened by the incredible range of memoirs that I have read.  I am still working on a perfect six word memoir, and will share it when I get it just right (that may be never!)

Teenage son may drive me crazy - self explanatory
Love is a mandarin on pillow  - about my poodle

Can you write your memoir in just six words?

Book Week 2009

I cannot believe how much time has passed since I've last blogged - the time seems to be flying by this year.  Since I last blogged, I have spent 10 days filling in as a librarian in Oakey, one of the libraries that helps make up the Toowoomba regional libraries.  This was the first time I was able to use my qualifications, and I loved every moment of it!  Working in a smaller library was a great experience, and I was able to learn heaps and put into practice much of what I had previously learnt at library school.

I returned to my own library and got back into the swing of being a library assistant again, and preparing for book week. The  CBCA theme this year was Book Safari, and our YP team created a jungle themed adventure using books, stories, songs and rhymes. I also made another animoto. The YP team entertained nearly 1400 kids from the local area, and a great time was had by all.


We are now in last minute preparations for the Sept/Oct school holiday programs, having chosen Superheroes as our theme.  Some of the staff have expressed interest in our Batgirl screen print Tshirts, and have decided to bring in their own to screen print! Will post pictures as they come to life :-))

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read.

Harry Potter and the School Holidays

The school holidays are nearly over in Queensland, with most students returning to school this coming Tuesday.  With the much anticipated release of the next Harry Potter Movie this Wednesday, the Young People's team -of which I am a part- decided we would theme our school holiday programs around the 7 Harry Potter books.


We made crystal ball snow globes, sewed owl softies, made Nimbus 2000's and Harry Potter glasses, wands and capes.  We also screen printed HP logos on calico bags, made HP beaded bookmarks, created Meg and Mog collages and made HP themed door hangers.  


Each school holiday we also run a treasure hunt of some sort, and this year it was made up of 21 excerpts from all 7 books.  The younger kids had to find all the hidden excerpts and find the 21 highlighted words within a word search.  The young adults had to find the excerpts and then write down which book the quote came from!


Below is an Animoto video of all of our school holiday activities.



We also hosted two workshops with Gary Clark, the creator of the Swamp cartoons on the last friday of the holidays.  Below is an audioboo interview with some of the teenagers who attended the last session, and a 30 second animoto of his workshop.

Wordless Wednesday - Family

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!