2.0 - not the end, just the beginning!

I look back at this blog and realise that the 2.0 journey for me is just beginning.  We have learnt so much and been given the opportunity to just taste what is out there….where am I going to find the time to explore it all properly?  Thank you SLAV and the lovely people from Yarra Plenty for giving us the chance to take part - definitely one of the best PD activities I have been involved in!  Now just where do I start on putting it all to better use……?

Audiobooks and Ebooks

I am very interested in the world of Audiobooks, having a father who is 90 years old and recently lost his eyesight.  His mind, however is as sharp as ever and we have been trying to keep him stimulated by getting him to listen to audiobooks during the day.  It is great to see the ever increasing range of titles available from booksellers and now the internet.  Thankyou for suggesting LibriVox - it’s extensive listing of public domain audiobooks is just great and a resource I will continue to visit from now on.  I have also looked at Project Gutenburg and Google Books out of curiousity only in the past.  I am one of those people who feel reading is a very tactile experience and do not like the whole Ebook thing so far.  I am prepared to continue to have a look at this however and keep an open mind - there are always new developments that may just change my mind!

Why would I need a Second life - my first one gives me enough trouble!!!

It seems to be an ongoing theme - time poor people (like me) do not need Second Life!  I know a lot of people love it but I am going to take a long time to be convinced that it is something I need or can use in my life.  My daughter is a confirmed Sims player - she has her own world populated by her own creations and I am sorry to say that I see Second Life as simply the “grown-ups” version of the Sims.  I guess I am also against it because to access Second Life fully you need to pay to join - something I absolutely refuse to do!!  I had a look at various islands - the ABC one and a couple of the University’s and I just cannot get of the feel that it is all a huge time waster - very pretty at times, but not for me!

Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts!

It is great to be able to access Podcasts when you miss your favourite radio program - ABC local radio has been making available a lot of it’s programs for ages.  You can get a little highlights excerpt, or interviews in full - not of all programs, but cetainly plenty!  It is worth regularly checking out and as suggested you can even link it to your RSS feed reader.  Finding the time to actually listen to these things is another issue again.  It seems that this 2.0 program is highlighting again and again for me that there is so much “out there” and so little time to make use of it!  I had a look at what is listed on The Education Podcast Network http://www.epnweb.org/and found Podkids Australia http://www.podkids.com.au/ wwhich highlighted just what Primary school kids in Australia are doing with podcasts.  Sent this link on to our I.T. teacher!

Teachertube and Youtube

As expected, can only open Youtube at home!  Teachertube, however, works well at school - found a huge range of funny, entertaining and instructive clips (sometimes all three at once!)  Have a look at:  Mr Duey raps the fractions  Thought I might even manage my fractions a little better after this one!

Wiki’s and Rollyo

I have been checking out various wiki’s for a while and thanks to the 2.0 programme all of a sudden a whole lot more!  I do like the opportunity on occasion to add something, and to find out what others have come across.  I have tagged in Del.icio.us the Library Success: A best practices Wiki amongst others (yes I use Del.icio.us a lot!)  I am trying to get my head around how a Wiki might work in my school library - would it be better to just set up a Blog or a Wiki, or both!!

Rollyo takes a little longer to get an understanding of how I might use it in my day to day activities - I feel that I could maybe put together a searchroll of bookretailers when trying to source more obscure books, create subject specific searchrolls for classes and teachers to access - making sure that authoritive, age appropriate sites are listed….requires a little time to put together and at often this is what I have least of! 

Library 2.0

I had a look around for a while to try to understand what is actually meant by the term “Library 2.0″ and even after a lot of reading I’m not too sure if I have got a handle on it.  I guess that the main feeling I get is that Library 2.0 describes the way in which we ourselves use, and facilitate our library clients to interact with Web, 2.0 applications - we have joined Flickr, listed our books on Library Thing, played scrabulous on Facebook and are madly tagging everything for del.icio.us - so now how do we involve our library users to take advantage of this?  From my personal perspective in a primary school library - particularly as a non-teaching staff member, I am simply trying to encourage others at school to get involved by just letting them know what I am coming across in my travels!

Book Week is coming!

It’s Del.icio.us!

I’ve been having a play with Del.icio.us for a few weeks now - trying to work out how useful it is going to be for me.  I tend to work in a few locations - in the library, in the school office and some late at night home sessions.  I love being able to follow up in more detail on a link, website, article etc. that I have come across in passing through my day.  I have stopped saving to my browser favourites and instead just hit the Tag button, make a few notes to remind me why I was interested.  I can return any time and from anywhere - a huge plus.  This is one thing from the 23 things program that I will definitely continue using.

MySpace, Facebook and the whole social networking thing!

I haven’t had a whole lot to do with MySpace so it was interesting having a look at what the various libraries (all American?) seem to be doing with it. All pages seem to be very specifically geared to their main user group - teen readers.  All seem to have links to library information, catalogue searches, noticeboards and discussion groups.  The discussion groups are used by kids to recommend books, ask for reading suggestions and so on.  Many of the groups I looked at had authors also as contributors, often mentioning latest publications and generally self promoting, which may or may not be a good thing.  They generally had “ask the librarian” links for homework help and many links to information and entertainment sources.  I did notice that many of the MySpace pages weren’t that up to date with notices of events and activities way past the scheduled time - sometimes months past.  Any library using MySpace would need to make a commitment to keep current or else risk losing interest of “friends”

I’ve been involved as a Facebook user for a while and have had a great time catching up with long lost relatives and friends.  All of a sudden I am seeing wedding pictures for second cousins and playing Scrabulous with people in Adelaide, Bendigo and the Gold Coast.  All of a sudden the world has become a little smaller.  I know libraries are increasingly using Facebook as a way of connecting with members (Fans) - however a few comments to discussion lists on the British Library page seem to indicate that there is an inproportionate number of librarians as fans - preaching to the converted?  My main concern with Facebook so far is simply what a time waster it can be!!!