I have a talk do to at the LIANZA conference on wednesday . The initial idea was to repeat the one I did in Sydney but the focus in Christchurch is
"He tangata He tangata He tangata
(You ask me, what is the most important thing on earth?
My reply is it is people, it is people, it is people)"
very different to the Next Chapters one in Sydney which focussed on the "Next stage of library users-- older adults. The LIANZA conference is not focussing as much on older people but on all people. So the content is still very relevant -- just needs to be tweaked a bit.
The subject area is particularly relevant as the adult education sector has been hammered with the loss of a lot of funding.We need to ensure that what we are providing are the most relevant programmes we can in the right place, on at the right time , for the right people and for the right price. If people don't come is that because the programmes are not the right ones, or because they do not know about them or something else entirely!
So as I did a brain and presentation refresher I found some articles which are worthwhile.
One is Lifelong learning and the new social order by John Field . The link only gives you bits of it but is still worth reading. IT mentions the aspects of the permanent learner which is an important part of my talk. Some people can't be bothered to keep on challenging their brains, Others can and do and the ones who attend our programmes are examples of this group. .
Use it or lose it applies as much to brain stuff as physical body stuff --- says she whose body is feeling quite good after a few days in Central Otago on the rail trail.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Making the most of I -google
or organsing things in a better way. That is the plan.
I had not realised you could create tabs within I- google which means I can create tabbed pages focussing on different things. So home with basic weather and news stuff, then family organisation then research and so you keep going with favourites also in there. Must see if I can link Delicious account to it. Have got Facebook and trademe in there as well as library links -- both national and local.
I am having a wee challenge getting flickr or similar in but will keep perservering.
This along with the delicious type of resources is fantastic for keeping things mobile which is what I and many others need more and more. My next wee challenge is to HELP Geoff take some of this on board as he is technologically competent but frustrated and has many things scattered on his machines. He has 3 computers he uses so a comprehensive resource which he can access at all of them could be useful.
In Libraries or at work a very useful tool and even for someone like me who works at home as well as in the Learning Centre. Things can be in both places.
Maybe I could do this with some of older groups. They would have less they had to find each time they opened the machine as things would be waiting for them therefore less chance of error.
Yes an I-google session is coming up next term.
I had not realised you could create tabs within I- google which means I can create tabbed pages focussing on different things. So home with basic weather and news stuff, then family organisation then research and so you keep going with favourites also in there. Must see if I can link Delicious account to it. Have got Facebook and trademe in there as well as library links -- both national and local.
I am having a wee challenge getting flickr or similar in but will keep perservering.
This along with the delicious type of resources is fantastic for keeping things mobile which is what I and many others need more and more. My next wee challenge is to HELP Geoff take some of this on board as he is technologically competent but frustrated and has many things scattered on his machines. He has 3 computers he uses so a comprehensive resource which he can access at all of them could be useful.
In Libraries or at work a very useful tool and even for someone like me who works at home as well as in the Learning Centre. Things can be in both places.
Maybe I could do this with some of older groups. They would have less they had to find each time they opened the machine as things would be waiting for them therefore less chance of error.
Yes an I-google session is coming up next term.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Research e-Labs » Tools for the Online Community Circle
For example you could provide search aids - “users who searched for this type of information also looked at …” etc. Or you could let individuals flag issues and use algorithms to escalate persistent stuff up to admins and respond back to users. Even the biggest sites can be made more personal this way and encourage more engagement.Research e-Labs » Tools for the Online Community Circle
Web 2.0 use in NZ organisations A goer or not?
Government shared workplace - secure and using and sharing resources and information economically and sensibly. I wouldn't know how well it is working but it is potentially a good use of web 2.0 tools.
How often are they used. e.g. tertiary group one seems to be used infrequently but as many of the links are password protected it is a bit hard to see.
At our team meeting last week, Nina was discussing a wiki she set up for a disparate group of southern traverse adventurers. They were planning their next attack on the race and the emails were flying think and fast. She suggested they needed to set up a wiki and they could then see all the comments everyone was making and could all access the same information. So they did . That was a couple of years ago and it is still functioning. It had/has a real use for the group and they can see its direct and current value so it was worth keeping it up. It was not something an IT guru thought they should be using but which gained no real traction with the user group. There is only so much time in the day.
The article on tools for the community circle
in the research e-labs documnet supports this by saying "One of the interesting things about the most successful online communities seems to be the desire of participants to do stuff together in the real world."
Further on in that article there is discussion about which tools to use to aid the community.
"For example you could provide search aids - “users who searched for this type of information also looked at …” etc. Or you could let individuals flag issues and use algorithms to escalate persistent stuff up to admins and respond back to users. Even the biggest sites can be made more personal this way and encourage more engagement."
Even this blog has not really recent entries.
But ones to do with library and reading have had more recent use, including the library tech one, but this also supports the theory that IT people spend a lot of time online and it is easy and quite natural to explore and add things as part of the normal day .
As I move further down the list of e-government web 2.0 social networking initiatives they look
more worthwhile relevant and better used.
This AMA is not a NZ resource but something similar could be ------ the kete idea, but it is worth looking at. It is just saying you are part of the community come and add your stuff to further build your community.
NZ GLAM resources were discussed on Radio NZ on thursday 17th September . The links provided there are worth investigating and the whole tone of the discussion was inspiring and exciting . So many opportunities but when!!!! That keeps coming up again and again and today it is a gorgeous day outside and I am in here doing this -- finding it interesting but also wanting to be outside:)
All of the links in this part of the project are very cool and have many uses ---- including the KRIS ones. Must come back to this. Even Matapihi is updating itself to include more of the things we now expect in that sort of historical but current encyclopedia format.
How often are they used. e.g. tertiary group one seems to be used infrequently but as many of the links are password protected it is a bit hard to see.
At our team meeting last week, Nina was discussing a wiki she set up for a disparate group of southern traverse adventurers. They were planning their next attack on the race and the emails were flying think and fast. She suggested they needed to set up a wiki and they could then see all the comments everyone was making and could all access the same information. So they did . That was a couple of years ago and it is still functioning. It had/has a real use for the group and they can see its direct and current value so it was worth keeping it up. It was not something an IT guru thought they should be using but which gained no real traction with the user group. There is only so much time in the day.
The article on tools for the community circle
in the research e-labs documnet supports this by saying "One of the interesting things about the most successful online communities seems to be the desire of participants to do stuff together in the real world."
Further on in that article there is discussion about which tools to use to aid the community.
"For example you could provide search aids - “users who searched for this type of information also looked at …” etc. Or you could let individuals flag issues and use algorithms to escalate persistent stuff up to admins and respond back to users. Even the biggest sites can be made more personal this way and encourage more engagement."
Even this blog has not really recent entries.
But ones to do with library and reading have had more recent use, including the library tech one, but this also supports the theory that IT people spend a lot of time online and it is easy and quite natural to explore and add things as part of the normal day .
As I move further down the list of e-government web 2.0 social networking initiatives they look
more worthwhile relevant and better used.
This AMA is not a NZ resource but something similar could be ------ the kete idea, but it is worth looking at. It is just saying you are part of the community come and add your stuff to further build your community.
NZ GLAM resources were discussed on Radio NZ on thursday 17th September . The links provided there are worth investigating and the whole tone of the discussion was inspiring and exciting . So many opportunities but when!!!! That keeps coming up again and again and today it is a gorgeous day outside and I am in here doing this -- finding it interesting but also wanting to be outside:)
All of the links in this part of the project are very cool and have many uses ---- including the KRIS ones. Must come back to this. Even Matapihi is updating itself to include more of the things we now expect in that sort of historical but current encyclopedia format.
Working in the cloud is good in theo...
Working in the cloud is good in theory and in practice for some areas. If you want your docs to move with you ( from one office to another or one country to another), if you want a completely flexible place to save things, such as when you are using computers which are not yours ( in the library, at a cafe etc), or if you do not have the software available any other way. Excellent. But if your connection to the internet is slow, and it still is in many places ( including the South Learning Centre offices and my home in the country) , using the clouds is too slow and frustrating to make it an full time alternative.
Has potential though. I used it a couple of years ago to store travel itineraries with accommodation details and transfer details and could access them anywhere and could also share the access links with others and they could also access the most up to date docs and details .
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
cloud computing
I heard a discussion on the radio in the last couple of weeks and wanted to put a link to it in here BUT now I can't find the exact discussion but this one is also interesting.
Radio NZ
Radio NZ
productivity and public machines
the range of facilities on the Library public machines are very impressive. It is interesting though how many different ways there are now of editing pictures, playing with music etc and to become proficient wiht all the new ones is a time consuming challenge. I suppose it will always be the problem with new technologies being developed each one with something in it which is jsut a bit better than the last version. This aspect was a good point for discussion at our feedback session yesterday. I think it means we just have to keep on learning and challenging our heads. Yippee!!!!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
passing on facebook
Well two people are now more users than they were. Geoff's 89 year old mum has her picture profile up, has altered her details so she is not quite as exposed to the world, has accepted some friends and we talked about chat but that was just too much for the one session. She was very excited about being able to see pictures of how her grandchildren and can now see a bit!!! more of their lives.
My sister-in-law, a teacher, had an account as well but was very wary about using it and having too many people wanting to be her friend and becoming her friend with out her permission.She sorted out her privacy boundaries and deleted all the suggested friends so they do not keep popping up. She now has to decided about being her childrens friend or not. Chat was more useful to her and so w had a wee look at that but now she can just play as much as she likes. Two short and sweet well focussed sessions with lots of play and explore and time for practice.
My sister-in-law, a teacher, had an account as well but was very wary about using it and having too many people wanting to be her friend and becoming her friend with out her permission.She sorted out her privacy boundaries and deleted all the suggested friends so they do not keep popping up. She now has to decided about being her childrens friend or not. Chat was more useful to her and so w had a wee look at that but now she can just play as much as she likes. Two short and sweet well focussed sessions with lots of play and explore and time for practice.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
well wikis !!!!!!
Backwards and forwards, round and round, edit save edit don't save....... then remember to save!!!!
I did not follow the best route but a bit like being a scientist of some form, I experimented and came to a conclusion through a series of indifferent and not very satisfactory results. Not the most efficient way but I think I will remember it. So long as I do it again in the near future.
I did not follow the best route but a bit like being a scientist of some form, I experimented and came to a conclusion through a series of indifferent and not very satisfactory results. Not the most efficient way but I think I will remember it. So long as I do it again in the near future.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies
Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies
A continuation of the social networking part of the CCllearn programme. I was searching for things ot support the session I am running at the South Learning Centre tomorrow on social networks and found this article. An interesting diversion.
A continuation of the social networking part of the CCllearn programme. I was searching for things ot support the session I am running at the South Learning Centre tomorrow on social networks and found this article. An interesting diversion.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
social networking by libraries -quite a cool idea
A jolly good idea. I was checking through the list on the wiki
and one site in particular stood out -- Hennepin Library -- especially for what we do at the learning centres. They have on their Facebook page, links to a number of movies created for their "quiet on the set" short movie competition. The Dewey Dating system one was quaint - made me smile -- and could be used in a number of different ways-- but the others looked worth exploring. Not sure what the age range was as I haven't checked that out.
Can't do everything at the moment as I am trying to catch up on these tasks.
The link on the wiki to to the My space site for Arapahoe library was not what I expected and reinforced my lack of interest in My Space as a social networking tool. My hair is too grey.
As with all of this sort of thing or any marketing there is still the question of HOW do you get people to go the Facebook page or whatever. If they don't see it or become involved it is not really very useful after all just a fun toy for the people who run it and it does need someone to run it or oversee it as the Social Networking librarian blog comments on. I know a number of people who are Facebook addicts ( they have a lot of time on their hands) and they could even become library addicts if we teased them into it through a medium they are already using.
That is another topic again-- What did these people do with their time before such things came along????
One thing I am getting from this CCllearn programme is the knowledge that I need many many more hours in the day to explore all the things which are or possibly are relevant to my role. I just tried to reserve the book
Castles against ignorance: how to make libraries great educational environments
from our library catalogue to do some more reading. Only copy in NZ is at North shore libraries and I am not that dedicated.
The whole thing has potential though.
and one site in particular stood out -- Hennepin Library -- especially for what we do at the learning centres. They have on their Facebook page, links to a number of movies created for their "quiet on the set" short movie competition. The Dewey Dating system one was quaint - made me smile -- and could be used in a number of different ways-- but the others looked worth exploring. Not sure what the age range was as I haven't checked that out.
Can't do everything at the moment as I am trying to catch up on these tasks.
The link on the wiki to to the My space site for Arapahoe library was not what I expected and reinforced my lack of interest in My Space as a social networking tool. My hair is too grey.
As with all of this sort of thing or any marketing there is still the question of HOW do you get people to go the Facebook page or whatever. If they don't see it or become involved it is not really very useful after all just a fun toy for the people who run it and it does need someone to run it or oversee it as the Social Networking librarian blog comments on. I know a number of people who are Facebook addicts ( they have a lot of time on their hands) and they could even become library addicts if we teased them into it through a medium they are already using.
That is another topic again-- What did these people do with their time before such things came along????
One thing I am getting from this CCllearn programme is the knowledge that I need many many more hours in the day to explore all the things which are or possibly are relevant to my role. I just tried to reserve the book
Castles against ignorance: how to make libraries great educational environments
from our library catalogue to do some more reading. Only copy in NZ is at North shore libraries and I am not that dedicated.
The whole thing has potential though.
Trying to make an effort but if only the swine would fly
The swine has entered our house and although it kids you sometimes into believing it has gone away as soon as you sit down and try to do something which requires a bit of concentration or perseverance it comes back and foils the best attempts.
So a small entry and I am off for another hot lemon drink and a wee lie down. I may be able to trick it later and get more of the CCllearn programme done.
So a small entry and I am off for another hot lemon drink and a wee lie down. I may be able to trick it later and get more of the CCllearn programme done.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I-google
is a useful way to organise a whole lot of favourites into one space and one click and I like that a lot.
widgets and gadgets
I always thought that Konfabulator was a word my daughter made up. I now know better.
I have been having a play over the last few days adding RSS feeds and Podcasts to my Google reader, creating an I-google page and generally exploring things relevant to this stage of the programme.
This morning I have removed a number of things from my RSS subscriptions because the list, while covering a range of really interesting subject areas is too large for anyone with other things in their life to actually read and I can see myself just clicking " mark as read" every two days so I do not become overwhelmed. I have added a couple of extras this morning though as I looked at the digital library widget page.
The Business world article "Why Widgets don't work" on the Wiki web widget reference page
was interesting and also reflects on the value of a lot of these things as did the comparison of Yahoo widgets and gadgets. I am being a cynic but it I think that there are a lot of people for whom creating these things is a hobby and it is very easy to get carried away and think " Yes , I want/ need that" when actually you don't , ( just like every new electrical gadget in the kitchen or office). After a month or two they are just taking up space and go the the back cupboard before heading off to the recycling depot or trademe. That makes me sound like one of those grumpy old women which I don't think I am really --- yet.
I think I may become more minimalist but haven't finished this part of the programme yet!
I really like the way the widgets/gadgets on various library sites or even the Library thing site can refine your use of the site ---- that does make the service much more useable and efficient.
I can see my older customers enjoying these small things if they were focussed on specific areas for them but too many available would be overwhelming. As it is they hear of a new thing, want to find out more and then get confused about how it can be used and get worried about the whole area of new technology and want to give up. . A wee bit like Twitter . Why Twitter and why follow a twitterer.? But that is another part of the programme.
I have been having a play over the last few days adding RSS feeds and Podcasts to my Google reader, creating an I-google page and generally exploring things relevant to this stage of the programme.
This morning I have removed a number of things from my RSS subscriptions because the list, while covering a range of really interesting subject areas is too large for anyone with other things in their life to actually read and I can see myself just clicking " mark as read" every two days so I do not become overwhelmed. I have added a couple of extras this morning though as I looked at the digital library widget page.
The Business world article "Why Widgets don't work" on the Wiki web widget reference page
was interesting and also reflects on the value of a lot of these things as did the comparison of Yahoo widgets and gadgets. I am being a cynic but it I think that there are a lot of people for whom creating these things is a hobby and it is very easy to get carried away and think " Yes , I want/ need that" when actually you don't , ( just like every new electrical gadget in the kitchen or office). After a month or two they are just taking up space and go the the back cupboard before heading off to the recycling depot or trademe. That makes me sound like one of those grumpy old women which I don't think I am really --- yet.
I think I may become more minimalist but haven't finished this part of the programme yet!
I really like the way the widgets/gadgets on various library sites or even the Library thing site can refine your use of the site ---- that does make the service much more useable and efficient.
I can see my older customers enjoying these small things if they were focussed on specific areas for them but too many available would be overwhelming. As it is they hear of a new thing, want to find out more and then get confused about how it can be used and get worried about the whole area of new technology and want to give up. . A wee bit like Twitter . Why Twitter and why follow a twitterer.? But that is another part of the programme.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
conquered flickr badge to blogger challenge
and I am happy and can now go and weedeat on a spring morning.
Playing helps you solve things with a bit of focussed google enquiry and then more playing.
The answer was here.
http://www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/94308/
Next challenge editing the html maybe so that I can just insert links to helpful things.
Playing helps you solve things with a bit of focussed google enquiry and then more playing.
The answer was here.
http://www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/94308/
Next challenge editing the html maybe so that I can just insert links to helpful things.
Friday, August 21, 2009
wharariki beach
one of the favourite beaches but I am still trying to work out to link this set from my flickr account to the side of this blog not into a post. Tomorrows challenge.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Organising my life with RSS
A more organised personal life ----That could be an advantage of these RSS feeds and newsreaders. At the moment we record the news most nights with the aim of watching it later in the evening minus the ads. Good plan -but what happens most often is that 2 or 3 nights later the hard drive of the DVD player is full so we have to delete something to make room for the next news package and very often we have not actually got round to watching the one we delete.
So a few ( and that is an important proviso) carefully selected and focussed places being delivered to me may work. Too many and my brain hard drive will hit overload.
It is well worth a try but I will also have to set up my computer so that the google reader is easily accessed. If I have to go looking for it it may not get used. I suspect that is one of the tasks further on in this programme.
It was an interesting process thinking of and then finding appropriate things to subscribe to. A wee bit diverting but fun.
So a few ( and that is an important proviso) carefully selected and focussed places being delivered to me may work. Too many and my brain hard drive will hit overload.
It is well worth a try but I will also have to set up my computer so that the google reader is easily accessed. If I have to go looking for it it may not get used. I suspect that is one of the tasks further on in this programme.
It was an interesting process thinking of and then finding appropriate things to subscribe to. A wee bit diverting but fun.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
not a pink person
I decided today that I am not a pink person. It started with the wee bit of clothes shopping I tried to do and found I couldn't choose a top. Must not choose black. The pink looked good on the hanger but not on me!! So I came home topless. Then I read the comment Babygrem made re colour choices, checked the colours of this blog and was not happy. So the colour adventure began. It is now a wee bit later , I have changed the colours to a much more subdued blue denim tone and life looks calmer.
So a good day. No money spent on clothes -- I will check a couple of op shops instead and feel much better about what I buy; a bit of practice and brain refreshing on blogging how to's, and it was even a rainy day, so a good day to be doing this kind of thing. The office has had a bit of a tidy up too.
One downside though ...... the dog is very wet and with wet golden retriever comes smelly. As he is old and his joints are sore I cannot have him lying out in the cold so he is inside by the fire and his aroma is permeating the room. He looks comfortable.
I listened to the radio as I organised things -- some good things to pick from http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
The technology discussion with Matt Torkington is interesting on its own but the music in the middle when the phone connection "old fashioned technology" was dropped is also good. The site has links to the actual interviews and also to any other links which are relevant to those interviews. You can listen anytime. Just as you can listen to the Archers or the Reith lectures while you do the dishes :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/listeners/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/archers
Alice --- thank you for reintroducing me to Ambridge !!!
and the Reith link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00729d9
enough for now. Dinner and a merlot call.
So a good day. No money spent on clothes -- I will check a couple of op shops instead and feel much better about what I buy; a bit of practice and brain refreshing on blogging how to's, and it was even a rainy day, so a good day to be doing this kind of thing. The office has had a bit of a tidy up too.
One downside though ...... the dog is very wet and with wet golden retriever comes smelly. As he is old and his joints are sore I cannot have him lying out in the cold so he is inside by the fire and his aroma is permeating the room. He looks comfortable.
I listened to the radio as I organised things -- some good things to pick from http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
The technology discussion with Matt Torkington is interesting on its own but the music in the middle when the phone connection "old fashioned technology" was dropped is also good. The site has links to the actual interviews and also to any other links which are relevant to those interviews. You can listen anytime. Just as you can listen to the Archers or the Reith lectures while you do the dishes :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/listeners/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/archers
Alice --- thank you for reintroducing me to Ambridge !!!
and the Reith link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00729d9
enough for now. Dinner and a merlot call.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The next phase.
Ok this is about 2 years after the first entry and the frequency maybe indicates where this sort of things fits in my life but you never know. Things can change.
I enjoy being outside even doing weedeating and getting a sore back and can only really justify this sort of thing if the weather is a bit foul the grass is too wet, slope too slippery, my bacxk too tired or I am feeling lazy and would like a sit down.
But there is also the fun of keeping in touch with people and I do like that.
So if I have something inspired to say or if it is dark and I have a good glass of wine near me I may just write here. Or maybe even when I find something interesting I want to tell other people about or to keep here like a book for later reference. You just never know.
I enjoy being outside even doing weedeating and getting a sore back and can only really justify this sort of thing if the weather is a bit foul the grass is too wet, slope too slippery, my bacxk too tired or I am feeling lazy and would like a sit down.
But there is also the fun of keeping in touch with people and I do like that.
So if I have something inspired to say or if it is dark and I have a good glass of wine near me I may just write here. Or maybe even when I find something interesting I want to tell other people about or to keep here like a book for later reference. You just never know.
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