Thursday, June 24, 2010

June 25th

23 things - the end or is it just the beginning?

Although my blogging efforts would suggest otherwise, I have been to and 'fiddled' within all sites listed in 23 things. Like most of the other participants there were some sites and activities I just loved and others I loathed. The social networking sites were approached with caution, why? well....... the bad press some these sites receive, old-fashionedness (is that even a word?) and perhaps a fear of being caught up in the hype and finding myself wasting away in front of a computer, IPad or some such thing!

I feel the biggest advantage to having participated in 23 things is the awareness it brings. When working through the program it is not always immediately evident how and when you will use this in your day-to-day working life but it gives you a heads up about what is available if and when the need arises.

Of course what was experienced in this program is just the tip of the iceberg and there are many more useful applications to be discovered.

Lifelong learning - ain't it grand!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

June 3rd - Wikis

I quite enjoyed visiting the Library Success: a best practices wiki. Lots of interesting stuff there. It's always great to see and read about what other Libraries are doing. Working in a branch with very limited staff, time and attendance are precious commodities therefore it is nigh on impossible to get away to attend sessions or interact with other library people. Also when one does attend a session it is usually with people from the same organisation and this can limit the scope of the interactions.The joy of a website like this is that library staff from all manner of libraries can add their thoughts, procedures, successes etc giving the reader a broader scope of what is happening in the Wide, Wide World of Libraries.

Monday, May 31, 2010

June 1st - Technorati

I have found this site the most confusing, by far, of all the new websites visited. I have spent quite some time and have not progressed my knowledge at all. Time is such that I am moving on.

June 1st - Delicious

Task 13 visit Delicious and blog about the experience.
Well.....
Been there done that, found over 4,000 bookmarks relating to my area of interest. I'm assuming a search in Delicious is one better than a search in Google because: the people who have taken the time to set up a Delicious account and bookmark websites of interest have done so because they find these websites informative and they will be of interest to the like-minded. Google on the other hand retrieves all websites containing the search terms and then ranks them according to who set up their website in the best way to have their site listed on the first page.
Next time I have a new interest or need to find lots of websites on one subject in a hurry I certainly will make Delicious one of my first ports of call.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

May 31st

GoogleBooks
Have been to the site and checked out a few of my favourite titles. Unfortunately the full text to one of my all time favourite children's stories is not available, obviously it is still in copyright.
It is good to hear that Libraries are banding together to digitise their collections for preservation purposes however, there is no way electronically that you can preserve the craftsmanship, the feel and all round touch and enjoyment of these old originals.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

May 28th LibraryThing

http://www.librarything.com/home/everestandme

As you will see from my bookshelf I am somewhat of a cook. My speciality is desserts as I have a very sweet tooth.

As most of my titles were mainstream they were easy enough to locate.

If one was a really avid reader this would be the perfect place to add titles and covers of books read. Sometimes one remembers the covers of books more vividly than the titles so the advantage of this site is the visual as well as the written.

Blogger Pictures

The ezones at PACE. The space can be divided into 2 separate zones by the closing of panels. Other features of the room include: electronic whiteboards and videoconferencing equipment.