• Janeway boldly goes forth

#23 Finis

I chose the fool card from the Tarot as a symbol with the label "future librarians" because like the fool I see the future librarian in real danger of losing their identities falling over the cliff of change and not using the skills they have to save themselves. (curiosity,organisation, a drive to guide and honour the individuals pursuit of an idea, and to respect individuals privacy in that pursuit) Libraries like the fool are moving forward into a world of infinite possibilities. They have all they need to do or be anything they want, they only need to stop and unpack. Like the fool we are on the way to a brand new beginning.
But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop look down, unpack.

Perhaps this is what we have been doing here with this web2.0 play, looking around before striding forward, just changing our names (not a fan of information commons, and knowledge managers) will not be enough in fact it could be a foolish move in re branding(yuck term) Most of the web 2.0 tools are already commonplace in this mobile phone souped up present. Internets have moved into libraries in a serious way we need to free up the controls and trust our users. (get up off the floor) If we strive to bring back respect for the institution of the library as a place of open learning and pleasure. The great unwashed will defend it for us as one of the last free,egalitarian,silent(why not, I think it needs to come back they will see it as a novelty)havens available in frenetic world.

So how do we market ourselves? We need to be aware of the new tools of communication certainly and use them ourselves but I believe symbols are powerful and if things continue the way they have libraries will cease to be a physical entity maybe there will be somewhere online a customer relations person? (cybot) Multi skilling has led to a watering down of the role and an inability to define just who we are and what we do.

(phew just got a load off my chest)
Bye all

#22 To Audio or not to audio,

Wandering around the world book fair I find a section in the internet archive oh my!! heaven is up there. 220,000 ebooks internet sites and cultural artifacts available to researchers and the general public now this is really talking. (pun intended) Google books cannot compete on the quality of the scanned works some are just beautiful to be hold. Curious isn't it that it is new technology that saves the beauty of the old letter press images. The open content philosopy and Googles "don't be evil" seem to be on a similar track but the tools used by Google namely their own search engine and locking people in to viewing sponsered advertising seem contrary. The internet archive provides the option to "flip view" a version of a book that flips over to turn pages to give the feel of a real book. The claim that the internet archive makes key word searching difficult was not found to be true. In fact the way it is done (in the flip view )with a little search box unobstrusively to the side in similar colour tones and pacing tabs on the pages where the term is used is more in tune with the way that researchers study a book. I liked the flipper book viewing options because it retained all the best qualities of a books beauty,and the sense of a solid treasure of ideas in front of you. The options available were to read it yourself or hear it read to you. You could also magnify sections, great if you are studying illustrations. At last I can have my cake and eat it too.
See A short relation of the symptoms of the plague of Marsaiiles

#21poddling

Pod casting as a tool in libraries,well I suppose it works, people are time poor and multitasking seems to be the order of the day. Talking books are racing out the door and not just for the vision impaired. A quick teaching tool at the Opac or podcast from the website may just fit in to a persons lifestyle. Virtual Dave's pod casts (found via Yahoo's podcast search and added bloglines) touch on the concept of the library as a conversation and that the podcast is an important part of the development of that conversation.

#20 Down the tubes

What to do about future libraries? The video below is from Denmark it shows an attempt to completely change what a physical library is. To use the narrators words .."to dismantle the book as a library brand"...They received some irate comments .One person felt the whole approach was contrary to the original mission of libraries .."to encourage reading and good citizenship"... It certainly seems to be taking the library in a new direction . But hasn't this approach been taken already by science works and the museums in general . They do say its just a physical change but difficult to see where the librarians are or where the in depth knowledge access is stored.

#19 So many tools so little time

There seems a definite trend toward saving out in the ether. Security problems may dictate that only shallow tools that focus on narrow projects or at least ones that are not particularly sensitive or of any interest to any one else would be used by a work place. I can see the social aspects could be useful and even fun for some of them, but I can't see the office type tools even though they can be restricted being taken up for sensitive things. The concept of collaborative tools are clearly useful for an organization if they stored on their own server. Knowledge management and group knowledge and information could use prescribed tags (Melville would approve) Important information that cannot be lost or accessed by others will probably not make it out to wide blue yonder. However now that many Libraries have many branches the day to day projects between teams could utilise tools such as Google Doc s and spread sheets just as we are doing in this training and of course we can restrict users to a chosen team.

Frankly only work of no real interest to others except those in the same field is likely to remain open. You can sex it all up with bells an whistles but only key hole peepers are likely to ever see or comment apon it.

Explored wufoo a form building tool that creates its own database it is partially free (different levels ) it could be a useful tool for the many functions ,book talks, training sessions etc that require people to book in it could be online and stats could be used from it for later planning. Feed back forms could also be created with little fuss and bother.

Having said that let me say this (now who does that remind you of) I just discovered ZOTERO and I am in love. This could be the tool that sends me over to to the dark side (dark blue ) it is a research tool that only works on firefox and flock because firefox allows access to more of the background code. It combine all the research tools that you would use in one space and even allows for note taking on a text ,tagging,citation management the works, love it . Problem though my workplace will not allow the use of firefox browser.

#18 ZOHO wandering

Whilst wandering around ZOHO I can see how it could be useful for collaborative work similar to google docs. The need for these may grow with the limitations often placed by IT departments on what one can create and save in the system, these tools by pass this problem by saving out in the ether.

Managed successfully to create the above in ZOHO and publish through to here, it was very fast .The option to email to specific others enabling them to read/ write could be useful it limits collaborative work to a specific document and would not require giving out passwords etc. I like the option of embedding training shows into a staff or public blog.

The wiki option was tempting so I have created a collaborative tale in wiki format. the tale of Janeway 21st librarian Feel free to add to the tale.

#17 sand in my shoes

Playing around in the sandbox adding my love of jersey cows to the list of favorite animals. Such a gentle very civilized animal. A very model of bovine beauty, unlikely to ever be endangered as long as milkshakes (caramel) cafe latte, icy yogurt smoothies (banana) linger on the taste buds.
Where to go with the wikky idea so vulnerable to abuse. More useful as a team tool. It seems somehow only an invitation to inanity (chats about about bovine beauty and such) and pointless chatter unless it is carefully structured and for a specific purpose.

#16 Out in the wikky way

Well now Ok, a wikky could well be one of the most useful tools (along with bloglines) for organizing access to resources for users off site it could be wikky lite (a what’s happening in the library) or wikky heavy as in University of Huddersfield explaining all the electronic resources. This wikky allows users to ask for help or comment. This is equivalent to a real time feed back form that could be immediately applied to improve the service.
They ask that suggestions be on the actual page first and limit editing of the wikky to staff and students only. Currently our library enquiries come through the web page to one place, with a wikky the comments or suggestion are in context to the area concerned and this had advantages and disadvantages.
Pros: solutions can be adjusted exactly where the problem /query lies.
Cons: there will be many more places to look for comments on each page and within the discussion. If someone adjusts the wikky and leaves no comment it may be some time before others realise. If there is and an error this could lead to ongoing problems.

#15 web1234

Rick Anderson in the OCLC newsletter talks of integrating library services into their (the users) daily patterns of work, study and play. Here is the challenge, to get people who do not usually access libraries to make it just part of their day. This is where RSS to the desk top can be really useful I just hope it works better than the alerts we tried to encourage from our library management system I think the fact that the RSS feed can be separate not buried within the daily emails but still as a useful group may work if people get into the habit of opening their feed and their emails every morning the trick is to get them to put the databases (copyright issues?) and library programs into their feeds.
No profession can survive if it throws its core principles and values overboard in response to every shift in the zeitgeist. (My problem with web 2.0 exactly)
..This librarian (the web 2.0 type one) bases all planning and proposals for services, materials and outreach on user needs and wants. (this always happened I hope) I am glad that he feels... honest, human conversations still need to take place even if virtually and in person. I like the way he asserts we should control our technolust (are we doing that in this program?)
However, if we are to provide the tools for users to become their own program directors of their content will we just be pandering to their technolust.
Chip Nilges of OCLC refers to O'Reilly's notion “to reach out to the entire web, to the edges and not just the center,” implies that we are redefining what our community is. Do we need a definition or do we think we can be all things to all people? The edges those places that define communities are changing. (is there an edge?) if the world is our oyster we have some serious thinking to do to stay relevant . OCLC is going to allow non cataloging librarians and other users to access OCLC and create tags, create lists etc .Ok if they keep their own tags that remain relevant to them but browsing through some ones tags is like browsing through their mind very imprecise and cloudy that’s why they call it a cloud. Not sure I am happy about the concept of tags.

The idea of broadening relevance ranking should go some why to tidying up the search
.....wider range of metadata, such as circulation activity, placement of materials on class reserve lists, sales data, and clicks to download, print, and capture citations.....(Reimer OCLC)

So according to Dr wendy Schultz ...the library is everywhere, barrier-free, and participatory. and we are fated to become tourguides.
Her projection of the future library as library 4.0 will add a new mode, knowledge spa: meditation, relaxation, immersion in a luxury of ideas and thought. (Now here was I thinking that was what people were doing each time they opened a book or browsed the shelves
(oh dear I must stop now, where did I leave that gin)

However web 2.0 has very usful tools see below the Google maps mash up of the Boroondara library sites

#14 Technorati tickling

Technorati Profile
Claiming my own.
Searching technorati for Library 2.0 was disappointing way down the list .So is the lesson here that tags must be very relevant to the topic or generic so that more people even know the post or blog is out there. It seems to be very much up to chance and based purely on an individual choice isn' this why Melville put his oar into information organisation in the first place. I mean if you wanted to be contrary (god forbid) you could just put tags that were on the most popular list I can see marketing folks doing this just to get people to the blog ,once you have got them in the door its up to you to hold them.(I have popped few in similar to "boing boing" apologies Mark just testing)

#13 Tagging delicious folks

So many tools so much to learn. I have been checking out the plcmcl2 del.icio.us tags and wandered around pod casting have been meaning to get to this tool for a while and have already been asked about it in the library and can see how it could be yet another way to deliver information . People do not have to be chained to the computer but can jog ,(well walk really) and listen to ebooks ,tutorials etc With the growth of online and off campus learning and the expanding cohort of old boomers this could be a really useful way to expand the library. Linking through to others who have accessed the tag is very useful found one library that uses podcast regularly and includes a small program to down load, they have podcast aimed at different age groups take a look at the pod children
little rollyo search tool started and a del.icio.us cloud billowing out below.

#12 Rollyo

Exploring the wide blue yonder for tools that might be used for libraries. Found a little 30sec creative tool using flicker images and new music (flutterby)30 seconds OK for copyright. Pretty but slow loading this would put users off but might be able to do a quick training tool with it. I am becoming concerned about the the rubbish that comes down with these programs . The reason they are free is to place advertising this could create security problems with library It departments and we would have little control over the type of advertisements.
Rollyo too could be very useful because you can focus the area that is searched but once again free access brings irritating sponsored links. Does this mean that libraries like sporting teams will have to find placement for their sponsors if we are to compete /cooperate /create with the many information services out there. I see librarians in uniforms with logo's or little banners in the corner of blogs and web pages (lets face it it is happening already) Jaded Jane

Flutterby

#11 Me organised?

Library thing is interesting but I realise that many of the books that I choose to keep are unlisted or very obscure. Only those that are relatively recent have covers some I simply did not find and will require a hunt in the usual suspects. Antiquarian bookshops etc. Not much point in listing library books that will go back to where they belong.

# 9 Feeding the folks

News feeds directly to journals in the library databases will be really useful a great way to encourage library users to access databases more because they can have a focused search that is relevant to their interests. Have added my bloglines link to my list of kindred spirits .
My blog roll grows below along with the number of endangered animals

# 6 Remember to look down occasionally

The Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasising and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

A little word to the wise from ancient Tarot (mashup )

# 8 Rolling along

So have added more feeds of interest and one of a kindred spirit who starts their last blog entry to blog or not blog.... I can only add ....whether tis nobler to suffer the slings ..etc etc

# 7 That simple Really

Approaching overload

Ok ,so I can learn to do lot's of stuff, but the challenge is to make it all useful on a daily basis and accessible to others. There are many articles out there on how to do this so that may take a year or two. Bloglines is a very useful tool in this regard ( baby blogroll blooming below) and I can see it getting more action than communicating on a blog as such unless it is really imbedded into the daily tasks.
I can see how we could use some of the google tools docs & spread sheets for training in conjunction with feeds from databases. Some of the mashups etc could be used for marketing.

#5 flikring around

15 minutes a day was someones idea of a joke I suppose . Trawling through the wide blue yonder has made me very anti social.Found a fantastic widget though that allows you to view rss, URL or any feed in a window within your blog called Grazr also found a Flikr set photos of endangered tigers (my enduring sorrow is the gradual disappearance of species)

#3&4 Blog beaming up.

Grab a blog

little steps, little steps.

Personally I think we are deluding ourselves thinking we can compete with the kids out there organizing information isn't what it used to be since keyword searching took over.

Speaking of endangered animals.

Will people in the future (possibly even now) say I remember when libraries were peaceful places of quiet endeavour a haven from hustle and bustle. The librarians were your guides into the realm of ideas, now they seem to preside over a bus stop.

If content is all then all we can do is create pathways that no one will follow. They are blazing on ahead with out us. What I am worried about is the loss of information when formats change or third world war leads to technological break down. Look at the death of the floppy disc. Very few formats translate into the future , simple has survived, paper,microfiche (all you need is a light,a candle would do) Should we be thinking even further ahead to preserve information.? New technology has a window of eighteen months possibly less. What to do....?

#2 life long learning

Well that's life

• Habit 1 – Begin with the end in mind (Well, that's the BIG one )

• Habit 2 – Accept responsibility for your own learning (will it never end, one day I would like to say I am, and this is what I do but the world won't stand still. funny that)

• Habit 3 – View problems as challenges (let me rephrase that ( Say your affirmation at least 6 times a day. Repetition is life. Repetition enhances self-confidence, acts as a reminder, and stimulates your subconscious to help you achieve your goals in life. " My goals are valuable and it excites me.” humph!!

• Habit 4 –Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner(just because you can do does it mean you should be doing it)

• Habit 5 – Create your own learning (how long is a piece of string)

• Habit 6 – Use technology to your advantage (caution here, remember the hydrogen bomb)

• Habit 7 – Teach and mentor others (simply sensai)

• Habit 7 ½ – PLAY!Have fun! It's never too late to become a lifelong learner. (I 'm having a good time don't know about you

#1 Away team to w2.0

The list of obstacles may seem long and the toolbox may be large but it ain’t heavy I have sisters/brothers. (apologies to you know who)