Week 14 - LetterPop

This could come in quite handy for setting up current awareness newsletters - subject alerts, new books etc.

'Spring has sprung'
http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=94895-02a305

An enjoyable exercise.

Week 13: Ebooks

I listen to Jane Eyre through Project Gutenburg. Would be great for the elderly or those with a visual disability. I also checked out the music scores and found the score for Handel's Messiah. Great for those in small choirs without access to large music libraries. I was a bit concerned about copyright, after reading the 'disclaimer' -

" IMSLP makes no guarantee that the files provided for download on IMSLP are public domain in your country and assumes no legal responsibility or liability of any kind for their copyright status. Please obey the copyright laws of your country and consult the copyright statute itself or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain file is in the public domain in your country or if downloading a copy constitutes fair use. "

Does anyone out there know about the implications re copyright?

Week 12: YouTube

I like 'The Librarian: A Mockumentary' . "Once an untamed war zone filled with murder, gangs .... this Library is now a haven for those who quest for knowledge". Thanks to Larry the Librarian, dressed in security guard gear, it is now a safer place to be. You can guess the rest.

YouTube could be useful for training or just for keeping up with what's going on in the Library world.

Week 11: Podcasts

Have listened to quite a few. There are lots out there.

I added the Library Survival Guide to Google Reader. Interesting. Includes an EndNote tutorial,

Week 10: Rollyo

Here is the link to my Rollyo search on Workforce planning:

Workforce Alert

Will come in very handy for a page I have set up on health workforce issues. It will allow myself and my clients to search a number of sites simultaneously.

Week 9 - Wikis

As Chad, Reference & Instruction Librarian at Ohio University Libraries, says:

"The purpose of this Wiki is to experiment with an alternative form of delivery of library information. Traditionally, recommended library resources are listed in subject guides or pathfinders. I have three subject guides that cover business information resources: one for General Business, one for International Business, and one for Marketing. While these Research Guides contain good information, they are difficult to update .........."

In my line of work (besides rat-catching) this could come in quite handy. As research Librarians, we have several subject guides/pages on our intranet which require constant updating to remain relevant. For a number of reasons, some have become outdated. If we invited clients to suggest and add sites, this could save us a lot of time and, potentially, add more depth to the guides, due to the expertise and inside knowledge they may have in a particular subject field.

I also liked the idea of being able to add reviews to the catalog, although could get a little messy!!

Week 8 - Delicious

Very useful. Enables access to favourites from anywhere. Also, allows access to favourites of other people who may have similar interests.

I found the use of tags to be very simple. Although entering phrases as descriptors was difficult eg. health promotion. Checked in Help and found that a hyphen was necessary eg. health-promotion . Although others seem to have entered in differing ways eg. healthpromotion or health.promotion

I still prefer controlled vocab, but we're not all Librarians, I suppose.