Web 2.0 Ready

It was with some trepidation that we suggested the staff of Mandurah Libraries undertake Web 2.0 training. The usual barriers of time, access to technology and relevance were all considered. Was it achievable? Was it a good use of resources? Was it relevant?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

Twenty-five staff began the course and, to date, eighteen have completed it.

Time was, and is, an issue. Most of those who completed the course did so in their own time, at home - a sign of the dedication of Mandurah Libraries staff. The suggested time frame of one hour per week was also seen as a little optimistic, with most people taking at least twice that long to complete each weeks tasks.

Access to technology was ever interesting, with the occassional glitch and inability to access necessary websites.

The most interesting of the three perceived barriers was relevance. There is an overwhelming recognition amongst those who have completed the training that this - user interaction, shared resources and alternative means of communication - is indeed the way of the future. If libraries are to maintain relevance than they need to be in the same space as their users and that space is the Twittersphere, facebook, wikis, You Tube and blogs.

While Mandurah Libraries may not be in that space yet, we can be confident that, because of the Web 2.0 training and exposure to this space, library staff are Web 2.0 ready.

Ooops ... I've been busy ...

So I haven't really had a chance to catch up on everyone's blogs. However I had a few spare minutes on the weekend, and with a choice between catching up on ironing and catching up on blogs, well, there's no surprise what I chose to do ...

The following are new blogs to add to our list. I hope you find them as entertaining and educational as I have ...

Bookworm
Widget Waves
not JUST a library

The continuing blogs are:

Missing Page
Travel Australia
roamingtheworld4lll
Web 2.0 training
Library Life
dragonmoxy
never2late2learn20
Kazzbloghereiam
Libraries, Learning, Arts and Culture Staff Blog

The list of finished blogs keeps growing and growing ...

Lou Lou Loves to Learn
becsiblogs
Today, I
World of Blog
State of Sunsets
Suffolk
Libraries- more than books
weescotslady
L
Shut Up Troy
Reluctant Blogger
wellidclare
Here We Go

If I have missed any, please let me know ...

City of Mandurah Libraries Web 2.0 Blogs

It's a little difficult to comment on other peoples blogs if we don't know where to find them so here is a list of the Participant Blogs from City of Mandurah Libraries ... enjoy!

Current blogs:

weescotslady
Missing Page
L
roamingtheworld4LLL
Travel Australia
Web 2.0 Training
Shut up Troy!
Library Life
Here we go!
wellidclare
Reluctant Blogger
never2late2learn20
dragonmoxy
Kazzbloghereiam

Completed Blogs:

Lou Lou Loves to Learn
Today, I ...
Besciblogs
World of Blog
State of Sunsets
Suffolk
Libraries - more than books

Sweet and Simple

 ... the website, that is, not so much the process ...

This weeks task was to write a sample HTML page from scratch, even though "all sensible people use editing software". Not us! We get to experience the thrill of turning a series of tags into a readable document ...

The aim of the exercise, of course, was to familiarise ourselves with mark-up language. There's a certain logic to mark-up that I find strangely appealing ... it's a little like carbon chemistry or quadratic equations where there are set patterns that need to be followed to achieve the desired result.

And here it is ... my first (and quite possibly last) website ...

Chocolate Brownies

Enjoy!

Hi Ho Hi Ho ... It's off to learn we go ...

There are five in our household and this year each of us are undertaking some form of study. We have two undergrads, two high school students and one post grad. The only one not studying is the cat. He's quite content to help us out by laying on our books, flipping his paw at our pens as we try to take notes and stepping all over the computer keyboards as we try and post messages to Blackboard.

Needless to say, life gets interesting ...

The studying, and subsequent learning is important. Equally important, though, is the modelling of learning. Just by growing up in a family where it is normal for parents to read, to undertake further study and to expect their children to do the same offers advantages over those who aren't exposed to that behavior.

It's often difficult for those who have grown up valuing learning and education to understand those who haven't. And, quite frequently, in public libraries these are the people we see most often.

It's up to us to offer opportunities for them to find that spark, that area of interest, that just may change their view.

Every journey begins with a single step ...

 ... And I'd like to think that the Web 2.0 Basics training is that single step at the beginning of our library service's journey towards a collaborative and interactive relationship with our community.

We created a Staff Blog last year, inspired by a team building project to encourage all staff to reflect on, and present to other council staff, the past, present and future roles of library and information services. On reflection, the timing was not great and the expectation that staff were familiar with, or even interested in, blogs was probably a little high. The completion of Web 2.0 Basics has introduced blogs to staff in a simple, fun and user-friendly manner, and our staff blog has been re-energised.

Flickr has the capacity to increase the profile of our library and information service, and it would be fantastic to utilise the photographic talents of our staff to showcase the services and programs we offer. While I see a future for flickr in our Web 2.0 strategy, it is of lesser importance than other applications. 

LibraryThing for Libraries should be the starting point for increased interactivity with the community, given that it is already part of our catalogue. To fully utilise it we need to train staff in its functions and demonstrate to the community just how amazing this tool is. We need to generate excitement! Perhaps we should set a LibraryThing target for Library Lovers Day? Every team member who demonstrates LibraryThing to three clients receives a ... (suggestions welcome)?

Facebook is the most obvious social networking tool we should be championing for libraries and information services. The aim would be to take the service to the people on the platform and in the space where they are most comfortable.  Once the page is established, with a suitable logo/image/brand, all that is required is one post of interesting information a day, and someone to monitor and respond, where necessary, to comments and posts. One hour per day of staff time should be sufficient to cover facebook monitoring for the library and information service.

Similarly, facebook should be available on the public pcs for the community to access ...

   " With over 500 million users, Facebook is now used by 1 in every 13 people on earth, with over 250 million of them (over 50%) who log in every day. The average user still has about 130 friends, but that should expand in 2011"

That's an awfully large chunk of the community we are not engaging by not allowing facebook access.

Once we are comfortable with facebook, Twitter could be introduced. The immediacy of Twitter implies tweets should be tweeted throughout the day, as opposed to a single facebook post. To maintain brand consistency, the same logo/image/brand as facebook should be utilised. An hour of staff time per day would be a conservative estimate of required resources. 

The enjoyment of a journey is influenced by our fellow travellers, and I have found those who undertook the Web 2.0 Basics journey at the same time as I did to be refreshingly honest, open to new ideas and very entertaining.

A great big thanks to Melissa and Mark, and the City of Swan Libraries for creating the training and offering it to all WA libraries.

Thanks also must go to our IT department who allowed our team access to otherwise inaccessible sites on work computers.

And of course my fabulous family who has also been on this journey with me. Watching the In Plain English videos ... listening to me read through my blog posts (sometimes a number of times!) as I edit them prior to publication ... putting up with my tweeting, blogging and commenting ...

All of which just goes to prove that the journey is more important than the destination.

Orienteering in the Digital Age

Ok, fess up! Who hasn't watched Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, or read Matthew Reilly and James Rollins and thought "I want to be doing that! I want to dig for treasure and solve puzzles and be shot at by crazy soldier types ..."?

Well, maybe not the shooting part but you have to admit there is some intrinsic primal urge in each of us to seek adventure, solve the mystery and win the prize.

Geocaching allows us to do that in the safety of our community, without exposing us to doom and danger, or impacting on our work life. After all, very few of us are independently wealthy like Lara Croft or Jack West Jnr. and  we need to turn up to work to pay the mortgage.

In a single branch of a public library, geocaching may be hard to administer, but across a Library Service with multiple branches geocaching would be a great way to introduce borrowers to the different services and programs on offer at the different locations.

What appeals to me is the capacity for geocaching to link our branches - Mandurah, Falcon eLibrary and Community Centre, and Accent - with the Mandurah Community Museum, INQB8 art exhibitions, heritage sites, public art, Alcoa Art Gallery and the Visitor Centre particularly during one of our fabulous festivals. The cache could be based on the theme of the festival, and help showcase not just the library and information services, but Libraries, Learning, Arts and Culture within the wider community.

I'm also quite impressed with the idea of a geocaching workshop within the library's Learning Program. It may attract new members and add to the skill base of the community.

Or it could just be fun!