Week #4 - RSS Feeds

I love the way news comes to you! I have used the RSS aggregator, Google Reader, for some time and here are a few RSS feeds that I’ve signed up to:

Top stories - Google
I love food - so SMH’s Table Talk
Powerhouse Museum - Photo of the Day
National Art School
Would love another opportunity to travel - so SMH’s Travel Blog
and a tennis RSS feed.

I have also subscribed to a Google News alert on the library where I work, allowing me to monitor media coverage on the library.

While I found it initially difficult to find RSS feeds, they are very easy to set up using Google Reader.

I love the way that RRS feeds bring tailored information straight to you, saving on hours of crawling the web - although as the feeds are personalised to one’s own interests, I find that I often spend hours reading them!

RSS feeds are a great way for libraries to promote aspects of their collections, services and events. They are also a good resource for Reference Librarians to monitor their library and for complex and ongoing reference queries.

I am finding the CommonCraft explanations really useful - thanks for including these presentations.

Week #3 - Photo Sharing

I am totally new to the world of photo sharing and like others am reluctant to upload pictures of my family but see the benefits of these communities to public libraries. I can see from my searching on Flickr that some libraries have really embraced the world of photo sharing and are using it to promote events such as author talks and Library and Information Week activities.

I recently visited Boston and I just had a trip down memory lane searching using key words such as Red Sox, Back Bay, the Boston Common, Faneuil Hall and Harvard University. There are some beautiful historical photographs of Boston Public Library on Flickr, just search for Boston Public Library in the search field.

Here is a photograph of Central Park, New York, that I uploaded on Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrnnhr/5780027767/in/photostream. I can’t remember its exact location within the park but the picture reminds me of the great time that I had in New York and the beauty of the park in Winter. Although it was such a cold day, the sky is blue and there were many joggers, walkers and tourists enjoying the park.

Off I go to do more exploring on Flickr…

Week #2 - Blogs

Well, here I am writing my first blog entry about my adventures undertaking the NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0 program.

It was remarkably easy to set up a Gmail account & blog webpage, which was a nice surprise. I’m quite excited about this program and hope that it will give me a better understanding of 2.0 technologies; how other libraries are using these technologies to promote their collections, encourage different user bases and encourage collaboration; and how I might apply what I learn to my workplace.

I was interested to see how the Southern Tablelands Regional Library (STRL) uses blogging to facilitate knowledge sharing of its history, the end result being a knowledge rich resource where staff and users collaborate through comments and questions. Successful blogging challenges the concept of the physical library, removes geographical distance and promotes accessibility. I might spend a bit of time now exploring how other public libraries use blogging to promote their collections and how successful these initiatives have been at promoting collaboration.