Twitter and what I think

This could be a valuable tool to many people, but to me this would require a major shift in procedure. The use of this form of communication needs constant attention to keep up with the arrival of messages, particularly if you have a large list of people to follow. When I connected to the sites I wished to follow, there was a flood of messages arrived from the past which I am still trying to assimilate.

I found this great site about the use of RFID in libraries to follow on Twitter but the problem is that the website itself is based in Egypt and to read it properly would require a knowledge of the Arabic language. Push the translate button to choose ENGLISH and away we go. This only translates the information in the body of the page, at the moment most of the side menus and links remain in Arabic but they are working on a full English page.

RFIDinLibraries@RFIDinLibraries

Twitter.com. 2013. RFIDinLibraries. [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/RFIDinLibraries [Accessed: 28 Aug 2013].

This account is designed to provide information to others about the applications of RFID technology in libraries particularly in the Arabian area. The site contains links to recent news, articles, field studies and conferences regarding this topic.

The administrator of the site is Mahmoud Sayed Abdou, who is working as a Librarian and Information specialist in the position of Cataloger Librarian at The Library of Congress, Cairo Office. He has a masters degree based on RFID technology and its applications in libraries with the aim of deploying this technology in the Egyptian library system. He was invited to provide a paper at the 78th IFLA General Conference and Assembly in  Helsinki 2012. These qualifications provide the required  authority to this site.

Mahmoud Sayed Abdou

My experience with YouTube

Getting onto YouTube was not difficult as I already had an account from 2011. The problem I had was being able to upload a video. This could not be done without creating a channel which the system did not seem to want to do. Having finally managed to create the necessary channel and uploading the required video that I produced, doing the other required tasks and checks as to the quality of the product were simple actions.

TeacherTube, when I had a short look at it, seemed to be a good source of material for those in the teaching fraternity. The site appears to include a good range of topics, all of which seem to include videos and data related to a wide range of educational standards. There is a bias of material dealing with the USA system but I did see enough Australian items to make the site of some value to anyone within our school systems as well.

I spent some time looking for an appropriate existing video within YouTube to evaluate. I chose a video which was inline with my final presentation as this seemed to be the best choice and provided some additional information to add to my collection of things to include in the presentation.






The process to embed the video into the Blog is made simple by the function within Youtube to copy the Embedding code and the use of the HTML editor in Blogger to insert this code into the post page.

Library Podcast

 Overnights with Trevor Chappell and Rod Quinn

 Perrett, M. Digital Libraries, ABC radio Overnight program [podcast] 27 May 2010 Available at http://www.abc.net.au/overnights/stories/s2911204.htm [Accessed: 20 August 2013]


Digital Libraries
A story broadcast on ABC Radio during the Overnight program Thursday, May 27, 2010         produced by Molly Perrett and vocal by radio personality Rod Quinn who is talking with Dr Alex Byrne

This is a 15 minute segment of the program, discussing the subject of digital libraries. The question under consideration is, 
"As books move towards a paperless future, can Libraries in their present form survive. or is it more likely that we will see more libraries like Project Gutenberg, the world's oldest digital library, founded in 1971 by Michael S Hart?"

As this is a radio program, it is necessary to find authority from the organisation broadcasting the item and from the status of the person being interviewed. 

The organisation is Australia's public broadcasting authority who are a component of the Australian government thus are supported by and gain authority from the Commonwealth.

The person providing the information is Dr Alex Byrne, the university librarian at UTS and the former President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. These credentials show that he has the position and knowledge to provide accurate information

Hong Kong Public Libraries - Smart Return Station (RFID)

YouTube. 2013. Smart Return Station (RFID) 2013 Hong Kong Public Libraries  submission. [online] Available at: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WsE7med_Ik] [Accessed: 21 Aug 2013].

Hong Kong Public Libraries                                 Published on Jun 18, 2013
Smart Return Station (RFID)


This is a short instruction video produced by the staff of the Hong Kong Public Libraries for demonstrating to library clients the techniques required to operate the Smart Return Station installed as part of the Pilot Scheme of 'Smart Identification System' launched in 2012 at six selected libraries of the network.  These stations use the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology applied to the stock held by the library to create a more user-friendly and efficient self-charging and self-return services.

Authority for this video is obtained from the credibility of the authors. This is a government organisation, part of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, controlled by a Public Libraries Advisory Committee which is appointed by the Secretary for Home Affairs and composed of professionals, academics, community personalities and government representatives appointed for a two year term. More information can be found at the following site.


http://www.hkpl.gov.hk/english/aboutus

MY view of podcasts

This proved to be interesting. In my usual way I was expecting more than there actually is. To had a perceived problem that it did not work, only to find that these things are auditory not visual. I was looking to have vision associated with the podcast and when nothing appeared I assumed that it was not working. A blinding flash of realisation and away I went. These things can be very informative if you treat them correctly.

 Having eliminated my problem, the exercise tasks required of me were not that difficult to achieve. I think this is a very good way to disseminate information to a remote audience. Podcasts would be an opportunity for library staff to provide information sessions to customers who could not attend  the library in person to receive answers to requests for information or in-house tutorials. Podcasts may be time consuming to produce but having been made, they would save time in not having to repeat the same information regularly on common topics.

podcast evaluation

10 Benefits To Podcasting [New Audio!]

Posted on February 28, 2012

by Todd Schnick

 

The full post is viewed using this link

http://intrepid-llc.com/podcasting/10-benefits-to-podcasting-new-audio/

 

 

The podcast is accessed using this link

<iframe width="500" height="24" src="http://intrepid-llc.com/?powerpress_embed=14988-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

 

 

 

THe 10 benifits discussed are:

1. Builds rapport with your audience. Hearing your voice works wonders to deepen the connection.
2. Creating audio content is easy. I recorded the audio here via my smartphone.
3. Interview others to create good content for YOU. You don’t always have to create from scratch.
4. Podcasts are easy to share on the internet. The social webs are great for sharing and spreading!
5. Published podcasts become indexed content on the search engines, helping your SEO. Just tie the audio to the appropriate keywords!
6. The interview process for your podcast becomes high-end networking for you. All everyone benefits. The interview process is a great way to learn about someone.
7. Your audio content is available 24 hours a day. Helpful content when your audience wants it!
8. If your podcast guest is a prospect, the show experience is a kick ass sales call. The experience is memorable and fun.
9. Reaching out to invite someone to your show is much easier approach than a sales cold-call. And more effective. A sales call puts people on the defensive. A radio show invitation does not.
10. The interaction builds trust, rapport, and a friendship. Much easier to sell this way.

Evaluation:

This is a commercial site established to advertise the author's Content Marketing Course and to allow people to enrol in this course. The author, Tod Schnick, the   is a consultant to businesses serving in the capacity of marketing, sales and business strategy. He has written books and bloggs since 2008 and regularly is employed as a speaker about his business and life philosophy. He has spent several years as a political stategist during elections and as a radio show host and producer, has hosted many business talk shows in his Alanta studio, on the internet or on the trade show floors across North America. Due to this wide range of experience, he has the authority to provide valuable information about this topic.

Although the podcast was produced and posted in February 2012, the information is of a type which will remain valid with the passing of time. The podcast is short and to the point and I think it is designed primarily as a taster for prospective clients to his courses. It discusses the ten (10 ) most important reasons for his use of podcasts to diseminate information to his audiences. These appear to be very valid reasons in my experience.

extendinformationliteracyskills.pbworks.com

When I first saw the invitation to join this wiki I was wondering what Leone was getting us into. Having accepted the invitation and logging on there were severe doubts as to my ability to use this wiki with any confidence. I could not seem to convince the 30 second videos to work. Oh well, plunge in and try to work it out.

The more I played with it the more I learnt (mistakes make you learn) and more confidence was achieved. There is still a lot to learn but I think I have produced what was required of us.

The system is simple to use once basics are conquered. I can see that this form of wiki could be of value to me in future. The trick will be to convince others who are even more unfamiliar with technology than myself that it is of value and to teach them to use it.

Its the life experience and training and the age group. Not everyone was raised in the age of ever changing light speed technology.

Cyber space can be scary.

What I think about WIKIS

These are a community information sharing sites which can service a group ranging from several members to the whole network of the World Wide Web. I have found that in some ways these can be  much easier to use than some other communal sites that I have encountered. The ability to share and edit documents, project information and ideas with others is very fascinating.

Like many communally edited data bases, verification of the accuracy of added information within the data base could be a problem when a large group is involved. Trust in your group members is necessary, therefore I would prefer to work only with small groups in which I am familiar with each member.

My knowledge and experience of the use of Wikis is very limited. I have used Wikipedia for searching information but have never tried to add or modify information.

I can see potential uses to which this system could be put that would improve and add value to my current use of the network. This would allow collaboration with others when trying to complete my family history, work on the modification or updating of documents in committees or producing reports.

WIKI Annotated Notation

Welcome to the Library Labs wiki

During 2008-2009 the National Library of Australia undertook a major project to integrate our family of discovery services (Libraries Australia Search, Picture Australia, Australian Newspapers Beta, etc.).
The Library also has an interest in using and creating open source software which supports the discovery and management of library collections.  For more about why we are doing this, see our IT Architecture Project Report (pdf file, 627 kb).
The aim of this wiki space, which we are calling Library Labs, is to let our friends and colleagues know what we are doing, to invite feedback and to provide a space for discussion and collaboration.
We are interested in forming a community of Australian business analysts and developers who are working on similar problems and who are interested in interoperable, standards-based solutions. We are also interested in working with colleagues at an international level to develop requirements and prototypes.
We welcome comments on any page of this wiki space.  You can do this without registering, but we encourage you to include your name and contact details in your comment.
If you would like to edit pages directly or add content of your own, you will need to register.  To do this, contact Warwick Cathro by e-mail: wcathro at nla dot gov dot au
This wiki has several RSS feed options if you want to keep track of changes.  

A WIKI created by Alexander Johannesen, Web Technology Manager, National Library of Australia 2010

https://wiki.nla.gov.au/display/LABS/Home                                                      viewed 13 August 2013

This is a simple WIKI created by the staff at the National Library of Australia in 2010 and updated in 2012 to inform people about their activities and the reasons for these activities, as well as a method of involving the users, colleagues and interested people in the change process by allowing feedback, the provision of RSS feed options and the ability to edit by registration to the group. 

It contains information about the wiki creation and editing and supplies links to information about facility provision and service prototypes. There are links also to developing programs and a proposed service delivery framework.

Authority for this site can be taken from the site location (ie .nla.gov.au) which is part of the Australian Government presence on the WWW and from the fact that the creator of the site (Alexander Johannesen)was employed by the National Library as a Web Technology Manager in 2010. Site authority will diminish in time as various changes are made by people not employed by this institution although registation is required before performing this editing activity. 

Mashups

Using a definition from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid)as a base I have developed my own statement:

A mashup is a web page, or application, that uses and combines data, presentation or functionality from two or more sources to create new service and to produce enriched results that were not necessarily the original reason for producing the raw source data. It uses combination, visualization, and aggregation to make existing data more useful, for personal and professional use and to share with others..
 A quote taken from another website states:

"Recent technological developments have created a wave of user-generated content in which pre-existing sounds and images are appropriated, reshaped, and shared with unprecedented ease." Natalie Bennett

http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2011/02/digital-remix-mash-up-culture-explained.html

On searching about I have found a website which demonstrates the skills simply but very well.

By using two photos of the site taken 100 years apart the author has blurred these together (cental picture) to produce an intriguing picture of changes over time. Notice the  buggies,steam train and the Telegraph pole of the 19th century (top picture) combining with the streetlights, freight train  and mobile phone tower of the 21st century (bottom picture). The building itself has not changed noticeably over time.

http://digitaltimetraveler.com/tag/then-and-now/

4May2013

Old Rail Depot – Alvin, Texas

by digitaltimetraveler

The old Santa Fe rail depot in Alvin, Texas.
The old photo is circa 1895 and the new one is 2013.

Noteworthy Bits:

• The cell-phone tower is probably the most conspicuous addition, IMHO.
• The building was incredibly well-preserved.
• I took a set of photos that I thought would work and as I started my car to leave, I heard a train coming in the distance. Well now…having the cool old steam train in one photo and a modern train in the other was too much to pass up. So, I got out of the car and took a few more with the train.

Alvin Texas, Mashup Photo, Now and Then, Rail Depot, Santa Fe, Steam locomotive, Then and Now, Trains

DELICIOUS

This tool could be useful to keep track of developments by individuals or organisations about specific topics, events or tools by using the tags and bookmarks created allowing the user to connect to chosen websites or blogs. This would be an advantage with professional development as it would aid in the notification of trends in technology and may assist when answering customer queries for information.

On investigation of this tool I have found that it contains the ability to track the links established and the tagging used by those people who are included in your list of friends. Also included is the facility to track the information of your friends list in both the Facebook and Twitter provided that you  have authorised a connection from your Delicious account to your accounts on these platforms.

To be honest, this is a tool whose use to me at the moment is very limited. I am not yet savvy enough in the field of social networks and modern technologies to utilise the features to their best advantage. I am very reluctant to venture into the realms of this form of modern communications as I see the social network as invasive of my personal space. I am content to work a lot slower than appears to be the necessity of today's society. If people want me to know something, they will let me know rather than me gathering the information for cyber space and feeling I am spying on them..

There is a section of the population who have embraced this technology with enthusiasm but they have never know any other way of communicating. This technique of sending information into the ether and assuming that others will collect it does not sit well with me.

I guess my age is showing.

An old style library

The Picture Gallery, Mitchell Library, Sydney, Dec 1923,by the Daily Mail, a photo from State Library of New South Wales collection on Flickr.

Flickr. n.d.. The Picture Gallery, Mitchell Library, Sydney,. [online] Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/4415810808/ [Accessed: 6 Aug 2013].

 This is a photograph showing the picture gallery taken for publication in the Daily Mail upon the official opening of the Mitchell Library occurring on 8 March 1910, and opened to the public the next day, 9 March.
The photograph was originally taken on a glass plate negative, one of a set of five taken on the day and presented to the State Library of New South Wale photographic collection by the Daily Mail in December 1923. This photo is now part of Manuscripts, Oral History and Pictures Collection and was reprinted as part of the display for the 100th anniversary of the Library.

The authority of this site is attributed to the fact that this picture is part of a collection taken for the Daily Mail, a well regarded Sydney newspaper of the era, and now held in the photographic collection of the Mitchell Library which is part of the State Library of New South Wales. Included in the work required for the accessioning of these pictures by the Library is verification of authenticity, ownership and copyright details for the items.

The set of five photos can be viewed using the following link
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/albumView.aspx?acmsID=430623&itemID=824096

Library picture from FLICKR

DSCN7258, a photo by ron gerrard on Flickr.

This photo was taken to demonstrate the fact that the library is used as a community space. The fashion and design school within the campus has mounted this display located between the entrance of the library and the main desk to highlight the skills which are taught and mastered by their students.

The picture was taken using a NIKON S3300 COOLPIX pocket camera set at 16 Megapixels. This  camera has an automatic focus and flashlight and contains a 4.6 - 27.6mm lens. 

This is one of five pictures taken and loaded onto FLICKR. The process of loading to Flickr was a fairly simple procedure which can be achieved with a little practice. Uploading pictures to the BLOG is also a simple procedure once you have linked the blog to your FLICKR account. I must thank Andrew for showing me the method.