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.

Week 7: iGoogle

I'm publishing this from my iGoogle page, on which I have added a 'Blogger' gadget. Here, try this link:
BorisRatcatcheriGoogle

Week 6 - Google Book Search

Had a good look around here. This could be very useful for finding a chapter from a 'full-view' book. Often clients only need one chapter from a scientific/research text. Also useful for reviews. Plus, when we do not hold a particular text and it is required for personal/study use, we can direct clients to where they can purchase a title or to other Library holdings.

Google maps - Directions from home to work

Found directions from home to my work. Now I have no excuse not to turn up to work - I will never get lost!

Pubs in Brunswick

View Larger Map

Google Maps - My place of work

View Larger Map

This is a test of Google docs for Week 6 exercise. Seems to be working fine. Will publish this doc to my Blog.

Week 6 : Google Docs

I had an explore of Google docs and was impressed. I was able to email the document to myself as an attachment. Able to edit easily etc. This should come in very handy at home. I also published the document I was working on to my Blog. Just checking to see if it worked.

Week 4 - RSS feeds and reeders

Finally got to RSS feeds. I have set up 5 feeds in Google Reader. I subscribed to 4 journals through our Library's Proqest database and to the UK Health's latest reports. This will help in my current awareness work, enabling a one-stop shop for new reports/journal articles.

Week 3: LibraryThing

Week 5 - MySpace

I am part of a singing group in my spare time and I created a MySpace page for the band about a year ago. We used to have a website, but it became very difficult as we did not have ultimate control over the page, having employed someone else to develop the original site (a loose arrangement). Also, we had to pay for the page and periodically it was not available. MySpace is free, we have total control and it's a great way of advertising shows and networking with other musicians. You can provide a small sample of music online, by simply adding MP3 files (due to copyright, only original songs can be uploaded). I'm not a computer wizard and found it very easy to set-up. I think we've only had one dodgy friend request.

As for a personal page, I'm probably not so keen, but that's probably because I'm an old fogey. I like my privacy. The thing I like about the band page is that we don't really provide any personal info - just general band description etc. It can be as personal or NOT, as you like.

Mmmmm, I think I see ....

#3

Here is my attempt at Flickr!:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26843076@N05/

Hope this works

#2 Register blog

Have registered by sending to learning@yprl.vic.gov.au

#1 Mother's Day

Mother's day had dawned, but alas I had forgotten to purchase a present for my mother. Actually, I don't have any money, so I couldn't buy a gift anyway. In order to right this situation, I simply went out and caught a nice, little, baby rat for my mother. I left it in a surprise spot under the kitchen table, where she could easily trod on it when sitting down to breakfast.

Yes, she was surprised and showed much gratitude for my efforts.

Boris
The rat catcher