Well I just seem to be so busy that I don't feel that I have had time to use any of the tools in depth. I have been using an RSS feed to catch up on things rather than trawling through to see if I've missed anything so that is one tool I am now using.
I have tried to use Twitter but I still can't get to grips with it. I think it's just one of those social media tools that you either get or you don't and I clearly don't.
I have found it fascinating looking at the 23 things so far but I find that I have a quick look then don't continue to use them. Many of these things just aren't compatible with my way of working. I can be at any of a number of different desks with different computers so I can't use tools that have to be installed on a PC. I am definitely enjoyin g writing my blog and I think after I finish 23 things I would like to keep up with the blog to reflect on my post grad diploma and my role in the Library.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Friday, 7 October 2011
Thing 18- Jing & Podcasts
Jing is something we have looked at in the Library before. A couple of members of staff looked at a few different online guides we had and tried to make them more appealing by doing a Jing video. For some reason they never took off. Things change that often that it was decided that the amount of time taken to do one in comarison to how many user guides we had would mean it would take too long to kake them and top keep updating them. For now we are sticking with paper guides. I can however see the merits of Jing and do think it is a very useful feature that could work in some environments.
Podcasts are something that I have never felt the need to use. We prefer a more personal approach to delivering inductions and user education sessions so a podcast wouldn't fit in with how we work. I could see this being brilliant in other areas though, for example for libraries that support distance learners. The principal of our College has done a few podcasts but I find these have been a bit for the sake of doing them rather than fulfilling a need.
Podcasts are something that I have never felt the need to use. We prefer a more personal approach to delivering inductions and user education sessions so a podcast wouldn't fit in with how we work. I could see this being brilliant in other areas though, for example for libraries that support distance learners. The principal of our College has done a few podcasts but I find these have been a bit for the sake of doing them rather than fulfilling a need.
Thing 17 after a bit of a delay
After an incredibly hectic September I am ready to continue with the 23 things. I have been rushed off my feet with inductions, user education groups, getting the LRC ready for the start of year and displays; not to mention the start of the PostGraduate course in ILM and a lovely bout of flu!
Prezi
I have to say I've never heard of Prezi before but anything as an alternative to PowerPoint has to be a good thing. PowerPoint just reminds of interviews where I have had to give presentations and now fills me with dread. I find my pages either look bland and boring or have that much going on that it looks like I have tried to use every feature just to prove I can. Looking at some of these presentations done in Prezi I have to say they look a lot more appealing. They look far more modern and more like a TV advert rather than just a load of text and the odd picture stuck on a page. I love the way all the pictures and thoughts are connected and you aren't scrolling through lots of pages as it's technically all the same page. It is quite a thought provoking way of showing something visually and one programme I would like to try using in the future. We ahve pretty much come to an end of our first year inductions for the year but I will certainly bear this is mind for next years!
Slideshare
I haven't had the need in the past to share slides. Any we use within the library are on a shared drive that we all have access to so the need for a sharing platform isn't there. I do like the idea of a visual CV though and can see how something visual is far more interesting than a load of statistics on a page. I can't see many companies or managers looking for something like this though for quite some time, if it ever does take off. I think a lot of places tend to stick to the tried and trusted methods of paper application forms or forms that are on the internet or the standard paper written CV. It ios something that might take off in the future though as technology becomes more and more at the forefront of everything. Who knows what the future could bring?
Prezi
I have to say I've never heard of Prezi before but anything as an alternative to PowerPoint has to be a good thing. PowerPoint just reminds of interviews where I have had to give presentations and now fills me with dread. I find my pages either look bland and boring or have that much going on that it looks like I have tried to use every feature just to prove I can. Looking at some of these presentations done in Prezi I have to say they look a lot more appealing. They look far more modern and more like a TV advert rather than just a load of text and the odd picture stuck on a page. I love the way all the pictures and thoughts are connected and you aren't scrolling through lots of pages as it's technically all the same page. It is quite a thought provoking way of showing something visually and one programme I would like to try using in the future. We ahve pretty much come to an end of our first year inductions for the year but I will certainly bear this is mind for next years!
Slideshare
I haven't had the need in the past to share slides. Any we use within the library are on a shared drive that we all have access to so the need for a sharing platform isn't there. I do like the idea of a visual CV though and can see how something visual is far more interesting than a load of statistics on a page. I can't see many companies or managers looking for something like this though for quite some time, if it ever does take off. I think a lot of places tend to stick to the tried and trusted methods of paper application forms or forms that are on the internet or the standard paper written CV. It ios something that might take off in the future though as technology becomes more and more at the forefront of everything. Who knows what the future could bring?
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Thing 16 - Getting published, speaking up for the profession
I think advocacy for the profession is very important as more and more organisations are having to cut budgets and libraries seem to be a big part of these cuts. I know that a lot of school libraries are going and seen as not needed so how long will it be before this is filtered up and college libraries start to disappear?
Our college library is split into lots of locations (LRCs, Learning Resource Centres) although we don't always feel as Library staff that these are for the purpose we would choose. Increasingly these seem to be more computer rooms than actual study centres full of different learning resources. We have to speak up to make sure that we have all the resources available to help our students, not just doing something because it seems the easier option or what one department wants rather than the actual student needs. Some days I have sat in LRCs feeling like I am more of a babysitter making sure students behave rather than utilising professional library skills to help students. Increasingly we are there more to support IT skills than help a student to find information on a topic. Advocacy helps promote what we can do so that we are asked for help and do become usful again. If we don't promote ourselves and our service we are taken for granted and not utilised in the ways we can help.
I haven't written anything for any publications to do with Libraries although I have found it particularly useful and enjoyable writing this blog to keep track of my thoughts and share them with others so it might be something I'll pursue in the future. When I worked in customer services at a call centre I was a co-editor of a magazine we had there and I really enjoyed writing articles for it.
Our college library is split into lots of locations (LRCs, Learning Resource Centres) although we don't always feel as Library staff that these are for the purpose we would choose. Increasingly these seem to be more computer rooms than actual study centres full of different learning resources. We have to speak up to make sure that we have all the resources available to help our students, not just doing something because it seems the easier option or what one department wants rather than the actual student needs. Some days I have sat in LRCs feeling like I am more of a babysitter making sure students behave rather than utilising professional library skills to help students. Increasingly we are there more to support IT skills than help a student to find information on a topic. Advocacy helps promote what we can do so that we are asked for help and do become usful again. If we don't promote ourselves and our service we are taken for granted and not utilised in the ways we can help.
I haven't written anything for any publications to do with Libraries although I have found it particularly useful and enjoyable writing this blog to keep track of my thoughts and share them with others so it might be something I'll pursue in the future. When I worked in customer services at a call centre I was a co-editor of a magazine we had there and I really enjoyed writing articles for it.
Thing 15 - Attending, presenting & organising events, conferences and seminars
I haven't attended any actual conferences yet, the closest I have been is to the Library show a few years ago when I heard some very interesting talks on Twitter and the new Library of Birmingham. To be honest I have heard of different conferences but have never really made the time to look into what they are about or think of going to them. This is something I think I would like to address and maybe try and get to at least one a year. As we have such a regimented timetable it is sometimes difficult to get time off to attend things and as I don't drive distance can also be an issue.
Apart from presentations I have given at job interviews I have never really spoken to groups outside of the Library. I do get quite nervous as I am sure many people do, although I have been fine talking to groups at Library inductions.
I don't know what topics I would feel confident talking about. The College where I work has an LRC approach so that might be an interesting idea to be able to discuss what works and what doesn't by dividing a library across several rooms rather than a central main library.
Apart from presentations I have given at job interviews I have never really spoken to groups outside of the Library. I do get quite nervous as I am sure many people do, although I have been fine talking to groups at Library inductions.
I don't know what topics I would feel confident talking about. The College where I work has an LRC approach so that might be an interesting idea to be able to discuss what works and what doesn't by dividing a library across several rooms rather than a central main library.
Thing 14 - catch up again
Well after time off on holiday I am trying to catch up with 'things' again so here we go. Thing 14 is referencing systems. I have decided not to look at Zotero at the moment as I tend to use Internet Explorer rather that Firefox, although I may have a quick look at it when I have more time as we do have quite a few students who use Firefox so it could be useful for them.
14b: Mendeley
I have to say that Mendeley does look a useful tool but without actually having anything to reference right at the moment it is a bit difficult to tell until I have actually used it. I could probably use a tool like this when I start my Post Grad diploma to keep everything in one place to save having to go through notes after I have written an essay to get my bibliographic reference completed. It is definitely one tool I am 'saving' to use in the future.
14c: Citeulike
Citeulike also looks useful and as I have used delicious before it seems a pretty straightforward tool. I also like it from the persepective that I can access it from any computer as I tend to use many different PCs throughout the course of a day.
In terms of their use for our students I don't think it would be entirely appropriate. Our students base is mainly 16-19 years olds completing vocational and A-level courses. We find that they tend to want things that are simpler and easier and pretty much done for them. The only support we usually provide with referencing is how to produce Harvard referencing for bibliographies. We have a helpsheet available and we tend to direct students to the site http://www.neilstoolbox.com/ where they can put in all of the details of the books etc and it puts the information into Harvard style referencing for them. This is about as technical as out students like to get! Although saying that this year we will be having more students taking up foundation degrees due to links we have with local universities so these tools could be something I might have the chance to share with these students.
14b: Mendeley
I have to say that Mendeley does look a useful tool but without actually having anything to reference right at the moment it is a bit difficult to tell until I have actually used it. I could probably use a tool like this when I start my Post Grad diploma to keep everything in one place to save having to go through notes after I have written an essay to get my bibliographic reference completed. It is definitely one tool I am 'saving' to use in the future.
14c: Citeulike
Citeulike also looks useful and as I have used delicious before it seems a pretty straightforward tool. I also like it from the persepective that I can access it from any computer as I tend to use many different PCs throughout the course of a day.
In terms of their use for our students I don't think it would be entirely appropriate. Our students base is mainly 16-19 years olds completing vocational and A-level courses. We find that they tend to want things that are simpler and easier and pretty much done for them. The only support we usually provide with referencing is how to produce Harvard referencing for bibliographies. We have a helpsheet available and we tend to direct students to the site http://www.neilstoolbox.com/ where they can put in all of the details of the books etc and it puts the information into Harvard style referencing for them. This is about as technical as out students like to get! Although saying that this year we will be having more students taking up foundation degrees due to links we have with local universities so these tools could be something I might have the chance to share with these students.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Thing 13
Well I've had a look at Google Docs and it does look quite interesting. From the perspective of the College where I work we have a shared network drive so any documents relating to projects or other work are stored there and can be accessed and edited by the full Library team. So I couldn't see me really needing this kind of thing at College. We also have a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) called Moodle and we use that to store documents, leaflets, induction material etc and we also all have access to that.
It is interesting to see the potential for projects outside of College though and that if I were working on something I could work on it with other people without sending emails back and forth and getting confused as to which version I was ctaully working on. Something I will definitely keep in mind for the future.
Dropbox on the other hand looks a little bit more confusing yet does the same thing. I have decided not to set up an account yet as I am limited for time and I will revisit it if I have time at a later date.
Wiki's I also find look interesting but again working within a College environment I feel that our Moodle does just a good a job in storing documents and information.
It is interesting to see the potential for projects outside of College though and that if I were working on something I could work on it with other people without sending emails back and forth and getting confused as to which version I was ctaully working on. Something I will definitely keep in mind for the future.
Dropbox on the other hand looks a little bit more confusing yet does the same thing. I have decided not to set up an account yet as I am limited for time and I will revisit it if I have time at a later date.
Wiki's I also find look interesting but again working within a College environment I feel that our Moodle does just a good a job in storing documents and information.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)