Our Library Blog

Kindling the flames of knowledge

2008-02-13T15:59:00.000+11:00

In the January/February 2007 issue of Online Currents (recommended journal), an author discussing eBook devices, made some disparaging remarks about Amazon's projected device - the Kindle.

As of February 13, 2008, not only has it been released - they have run out of stocks, so quickly are they selling in the USA.

You can find out about Kindles, and ponder the implications for libraries, by visiting
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA

The Kindle is an example of what the supposed revolution of Web 2.0 will be bringing us more of. I must admit I was becoming frustrated with the slow uptake of eBook devices (and not just because I want to save trees, although that would be nice too), but the apparent popularity of the Kindle took me by surprise. The phenomenon is no doubt building on the vast customer base of Amazon. Other companies will follow suit. The trickle becomes a stream becomes a flood? And what about libraries? Will we be able to create and sell products through Amazon to clients using Kindles? And what about Google and their massive digitalisation project? Project Gutenberg? One hopes we will have some useful convergence rather than an out and out war for market share.

Quo vadis libraries?

George Eraclides

Carrot Clustering Engine

2008-01-11T10:23:00.000+11:00

There's a new search engine which you may like to look at. The results are given in "thematic categories." This means that the results are presented under various headings, e.g. for a search using the term 'library,' the categories are public library, research library etc. It also produces a list of the sources and types of sites from each search. A facility for searching PubMed is also available. Only a small number of results appear - not necessarily a bad or permanent feature. The URL for the search is: http://demo.carrot2.org/demo-stable/main

Cataloguing iTunes

2007-12-17T16:03:00.000+11:00

This discussion arose from emails sent after the last IS meeting. The issue was minuted by Jill, as per the last Blog posting.
Background:
Fran has investigated a corporate subscription to iTunes to provide tracks to music undergraduates, to augment the library's CD collection. Suitable tracks have already been identified by Music staff.
The upshot was that the iTunes store only deals with individuals so students would need their own accounts. However BHI could possibly provide URLs (deep links) to each track in question.
Fran's comment:
The issue is about cataloguing individual iTune tracks that have been identified as subject resources. The location would be an electronic resource and a deep URL would be embedded in the catalogue record like what we do for other electronic resources. Jonathon Dimond has identified 15 tracks already and will continue to identify more. About 110 students will be accessing in the first instance, if they go through the OPAC.
I invite discussion!
Ross's comment:
This would be an easy thing to do and would be a very convenient way for Jonathan's students to access the iTunes tracks that they need.
We would need to create a cataloguing procedure (like the Online Reserve one) to ensure that all the records were of the same format. The 650 field would have information advising the student that in order to access the track they would need to have iTunes installed on their computer and they will also need to create an iTunes account.
(if a student clicks on an iTunes link and they don't have iTunes installed, they will be taken to the iTunes download page automatically)

Also, if you wanted to, we could treat these records as Online Reserve items and pull them on and off as required by Jonathan. They would appear as separate catalogue items but would also appear under Jonathan as an instructor in the reserve desk part of the OPAC. This may be the easiest way of managing these records as the ongoing tracking of Online Reserve records is already setup and running.
Rosie's comment:
This is interesting ‘stuff’ and may have implications for the delivery of resources in other areas.
Other comments???

Information Services meeting minutes, 13 December 2007

2007-12-17T10:43:00.000+11:00

Location: Nelson Quiet Room

Present: Kate (Chair) Apologies: Desia
Rosie (initially) Anne
Rita
Frances
Jeffrey
Ross
Jill (minutes)
_____________________________________________________________________

1.0 Business arising from previous minutes

1.1 G. Drive
All documents should include the library logo, author’s name and date. These should be updated whenever changes are made.

1.2 SKILL
Frances presented her work on Lifelong Information Literacy at the Interns Showcase in the Igloo at Nelson on the 10th of December. Her work, which is still being developed, can be seen online at: www.bhtafe.edu.au/interns

1.3 Library blog
Frances now has administration rights, and all IS staff except Jeffrey are members.
Actions:
Frances to send an email to all IS staff reminding them how to access the blog.
Kate to investigate adding IS meeting minutes to the blog

1.4 Weeding of G drive
The G drive needs reorganisation and weeding. Where the value of documents is not clear, these will be placed in a temporary folder for review prior to deletion.
Actions:
Initial weeding and moving items to the temporary folder: Kate & Jeffrey
Review of temporary folder: All IS staff

2.0 OH&S

2.1 Visibility on the Nelson steps from the library
Fitting edges to the steps from the library would improve visibility & thus safety
Action: Kate

2.2 Automatic doors for the Nelson library
Nelson is the only library without automatic doors. These are requested to improve access.
Action: Kate
3.0 Databases

3.1 Evaluation of usage and value of our current databases
Anne has sent through a proforma for comparing databases
Action: Kate and Desia to review this, and continue to work on evaluating the value of our databases.

Anne and Frances have been reviewing exactly what our Emerald Extra subscription provides. They are concerned that only selected journals or sometimes even selected articles are full text. They are discussing with Joy the possibility of customising the subscription to suit our needs.

3.2 Databases page on library website
The databases page on the library website needs to be reviewed and modified. Decisions on the best approach are to await the arrival of Jim

3.3 Catalogue entries for electronic resources
Frances has been investigating providing catalogue records for specific electronic resources by subject area. She aims to implement changes by the start of the 2008 academic year.
Action: Frances to email Rosie with details of what she is doing.

4.0 Online DVD’s

4.1 Bullseye
Jeffrey mentioned that Kangan Batman Tafe had identified the following issues when they were investigating the Bullseye DVDs:
· Inability to trap usage statistics
· Any titles published throughout the year did not become available until the next subscription period

4.2 VOCAM

Vocam did a brief presentation for IS staff at the start of the meeting; this proved to be assessment focused, and thus more relevant to teaching staff than the library. They did have other options that related more specifically to the training side that still may be of interest, and will email IS staff with details of how to view some of their material on line.
Action: Rosie to pass on information to the relevant teaching staff in the OH&S area

4.3 Other

Anne has completed a report on online DVD’s..
Action: Anne to forward this to all IS staff for review prior to the next meeting

Further discussion about online DVDs was held over until Anne can be present

5.0 Subject Headings

5.1 Serial solutions subject headings
Ross advised that the serial solutions subject heading that appear in the catalogue are fixed and cannot be changed

5.2 Catalogue subject headings
The catalogue uses LCSH, which can lead to difficulties with things such as spelling (color vs. colour). Cataloguing has advised that we need to maintain LCSH to be compatible with Libraries Australia. There is an Australianised version of LCSH used by Monash and CSIRO that may meet our needs better. It may also be possible to customise the system to provide both LSCH and terminology that is more relevant to our users. Information literacy training or guidelines on the library website may also help. Inconsistencies in cataloguing approaches over time have also caused problems. Further investigations are needed to determine the best approach.

6.0 2008 – Standardised Procedures

Held over until next meeting.

7.0 Other business

7.1 Thanks
Fran proposed a vote of thanks to Rosie and Kathy for their leadership and support throughout the year, which was warmly agreed with.
Jill thanked everyone for their support and help while she was here.
Jeffrey thanked Jill for her help over his first few days.

7.2 Electronic records

Records added to the OPAC as part of the move to serial solutions appear first in the results when doing a quick search in the OPAC. This is because the most recent records are shown first. This can make it harder to search, for example for a specific book. Although electronic records can be excluded from results, it may not be immediately obvious to students how to do this. Showing students how to do this in library training sessions may be the best solution.

Mahalo Search Engine

2007-06-21T08:40:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks,
I came across a new search engine (Mahalo - Hawaiian for 'thank you').
This is what they say about themselves:
'Mahalo is the world's first human-powered search engine powered by an
enthusiastic and energetic group of Guides. Our Guides spend their
days searching, filtering out spam, and hand-writing the best search
results possible.'
http://www.mahalo.com/Main_Page

They also have a search link to Google as a default when their own directory search gives a zero or low result - I think some kind of partnership with Google. I tried 'adult learning styles' and got a zero, but links to Google instead.

The look and language is 'youth oriented' and content is strong in areas where young people would tend to look (e.g. Music).
It's in development, and may be worth a look at now and then.

Copyright article from ALIA TAFE email list

2007-02-01T09:55:00.000+11:00

There is a new article by Amanda Credaro entitled "The Global Copyright Shell Game: collecting royalities is hard when you don't know who's selling your content", in the journal "The Editorial Eye" v.30 n.1, January 2007, p.1-5 (ISSN 0193-7383). The article begins "Trusting writers of the world, prepare yourselves for a nasty shock..." and gives an insight into the issues, the oversights in legislation and practice, and the holes in copyright protection and payment around the world.
The author has placed a copy of the article on her website at http://www.warriorlibrarian.com/LIBRARY/shell_game.pdf

Articles on collaborations and Information architecture from Free Pint

2007-01-22T14:19:00.000+11:00

"Convergence Counselling: Integration of IT Departments and Libraries" By Allan Foster
IT departments and LIS departments are increasingly becoming the same thing. Integrating the two services have drawbacks and benefits; Allan Foster examines.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'Several universities also have converged because of the actual or imagined weaknesses in the management of the individual services.'

"2001 to 2006: Five Years of Information Architecture" By Karen Loasby
Looks back at the last five years in information architecture: it still may be an unfamiliar term to some, but it's now a bustling field.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'In 2001, most IA literature considered 'search' and 'browse' to be entirely separate concepts and that to 'browse' was inevitably through a hierarchical structure.'
both via http://www.freepint.com/issues/211206.htm

Plagarism & Research: the defence of Ian McEwan

2006-12-08T10:54:00.000+11:00

An interesting article from the New York Times about the allegation that Ian McEwan plagarised rather than used a historical source for his latest book.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/books/07pync.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin

"Wikipedia: To Use or Not To Use" By Caryn Wesner-Early

2006-12-07T13:51:00.000+11:00

Wikipedia is undoubtedly pervasive, but is it smart to use? Caryn Wesner-Early investigates the problems and promises with the world's most used encyclopedia.
http://www.freepint.com/issues/071206.htm#tips

Some more useful free sites from FreePint

2006-12-07T13:41:00.000+11:00

From Theresa Welch of Aston University and FreePint. I especially like the reverse dictionary...
Freemind <http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page> is mind-mapping software that you can download for free. It's a good alternative to some of the commercial offerings.

The OneLook Reverse Dictionary <http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml> allows you to type a concept into the search engine and receive a list of words related to it. Useful when you know what you mean but can't find the exact word!

* Snippy <http://www.bhelpuri.net/Snippy/default.htm> is a great little screen-capture tool available for free download. It allows you to capture a portion of what you see on the computer screen as an image or text by drawing either freehand or using a rectangular selection tool.

* Google Suggest <http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en> offers another way to search with Google. This uses predictive texting to guess what you're typing and offers suggestions.

* EclipseCrossword <http://www.eclipsecrossword.com/> is a fast and free way to create crosswords. Great for newsletters, websites or virtual learning environments.

Tech-literacy of students - recent study

2006-11-20T08:52:00.000+11:00

Study shows students are tech-savvy – to a degree
[ UniNews Vol. 15, No. 21 13 - 27 November 2006 ]

Blogging is just part of life for many first-year students at the University of Melbourne. A 2006 study of first-year students at Melbourne reveals that around one-third of commencing students maintain a blog and more than one-half read and comment on other people’s blogs.

Almost 2000 first-year students were surveyed in the study, released this week, which looked at their experience with a wide array of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and tools during the previous 12 months.

The First Year Students’ Experiences with Technology: Are They really Digital Natives? study was carried out by Dr Gregor Kennedy, Dr Terry Judd, Ms Anna Churchward and Dr Kathleen Gray of the Biomedical Multimedia Unit, and Dr Kerri-Lee Krause of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education.

Dr Kennedy says the study showed that many first-year students’ are highly tech-savvy and regularly use a wide range of traditional and emerging technologies in their daily lives.

“But we found little support for the stereotypical image of the ‘Digital Native’ – wired and wireless 24/7.

Full report is online at: www.bmu.unimelb.edu.au/research/munatives/index.html

What do we do? ~ What should we do?

2006-11-15T14:33:00.000+11:00

Given that Institutes and Universities are engaging in information literacy programmes; given that TAFE's are now offering degrees and expecting their staff to become more like academic staff (get higher degrees, do research etc...); given that we are getting more and more complicated technologies for information management; given that students are expected to do credible research; given that the teachers and lecturers are supposed to know at least as much as their students in doing research; given that library staff are supposed to know more than anybody else about doing secondary research, managing information technology such as databases and citation tools; given all the above:

Are we going to continue to do the same old same old? Zip-ah-di-doo-dah tours of the library (don't blink or you'll miss it), quick introductions to the online material, pandering to what the teaching staff are comfortable with (and their students)?

Or are we going to get into our superhero (or superheroine - must remember to add that final 'e') jump suits and try to offer more?

What would this 'more' be like?
Do we know?
Shouldn't we know?

Webb's Web

2006-11-13T10:08:00.000+11:00

I have drawn items from Kerry Webb's page in ALIA before but in this issue from August, there are so many interesting items, here it is in its entirety.
http://alia.org.au/publishing/incite/2006/08/print.html?ID=93

What is an Internet Librarian?

2006-11-09T13:13:00.000+11:00

Again from Free Pint...
Jill Fenton attended Internet Librarian International 2006 in London and wondered just what an internet librarian was. She found out, plus received a glimpse into how libraries are evolving to adapt to the digital age, both today and where they're headed tomorrow. http://www.freepint.com/issues/091106.htm#tips

More on Wikis and World opinion

2006-11-09T12:17:00.000+11:00

More on Wikis courtesy of FreePint newsletter, the creation of a UK based community of Information management professionals can be found...

http://web.freepint.com/forum/bar/read.php?i=73583

Also these sites on world opinions on diverse subjects might be useful
* The Pew Global Attitudes Project http://pewglobal.org from the Pew Research Center 'aims to gauge attitudes in every region toward globalisation, trade and an increasingly connected world'.

* World Public Opinion http://www.worldopinion.org is produced by the Program on International Policy Attitudes. Users can explore worldwide public opinion by region or by topic.

Wikiversity

2006-10-23T13:25:00.000+10:00

Thanks to Leonie for this one. Have a look at Wikiversity , it is a community for the creation and use of free learning materials and activities. Its primary goals are to:

Create and host free content, multimedia learning materials, resources, and curricula for all age groups in all languages
Develop collaborative learning projects and communities around these materials.

And an example of how Butler Library is using wikis on their webpage.

Some sites to explore

2006-10-20T08:25:00.000+10:00

I know it is hard to find the time to blog but just in case you have popped in here are some fun sites to explore courtesy of a Free Pint...
* Netlingo http://www.netlingo.com is a comprehensive dictionary of Internet terms, including the top 20 Internet acronyms and technological terms that are now common expressions. There is also an email newsletter of Internet terms.

* Internet World Stats http://www.internetworldstats.com/ contains up-to-date and free Internet user statistics and rankings for over 230 countries and world regions. It includes data on broadband penetration, world population data and global trade information.

Bigger & Better than CoolCat?!

2006-09-19T13:39:00.000+10:00

Public library users in Victoria will be able to search all public libraries across the State by accessing just one website.

The new Library Link can instantly tell them where an item can be found and have it sent to their local library for collection.

Furthermore, the website grants Victorians unprecedented access to the 10 million books, CDs and other items in the State's public library catalogues.

Library Link covers 97 country libraries in the north and west of Victoria, and 42 metropolitan libraries. Libraries in the City of Port Phillip will join the system this week.

The website is http://www.llv.net.au.

Australian Dictionary of Biography online

2006-09-18T11:33:00.000+10:00

Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB)is now available online via the ANU website so do have a look http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/. You can search by surname, occupation or author. The beauty of the online version is that you can also use the Advanced search features to find entries of interest. This allows you to find everyone who was born or died in a specific place, or who shared a certain cultural heritage, religious belief or occupation. It is quite fun to see who you share your birthday with. The ADB entries are fully indexed and can lead you to original manuscript information held in archives and libraries around Australia, and also provides printed reference details. Work is currently underway to try to include a photograph of the individual with every entry.

Internet - not equal global communication

2006-09-11T10:50:00.000+10:00

Interesting report in this week's (Sept 7th) Green Guide "Live Wire Talking Point". The article discusses how the control of Internet domain name system keeps the Internet as we know it together but at the cost of equal communication opportunities for non- English speakers.

Website Navigation - different models evaluated

2006-08-18T15:08:00.000+10:00

This study evaluated six different models for displaying website menus and works through a rationale for selecting one in preference. This site might be useful to help you reflect on website design so you can help those of us who are working on redesigning Staffweb!
Website Navigation Paper

International public perceptions of libraries

2006-08-18T15:03:00.000+10:00

Again from June 2006 Incite: Webb's Web - A few months ago OCLC published a document called Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources, based on a survey in 2005, which received over 3,300 responses from information consumers in Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK and USA. The findings show that many users are still not aware of the rich variety of electronic resources that they can find in libraries.
http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm

UK supersite - to grass roots collective wisdom?

2006-08-17T14:50:00.000+10:00

Courtesy of my favourite ALIA columnist, Kerry Webb is the UK government portal http://www.direct.gov.au. A seemingly good balance between services of all levels of government and the needs of different sectors.
And from the other end of the scale of Internet resources is an article on social bookmarking, a good exposition of this fairly recent phenomenon of shared categorisation of Internet content.
http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2006/mar/22.html

Coaching and Mentoring - report on training

2006-08-14T13:10:00.000+10:00

I had the opportunity to attend a coaching and mentoring seminar at University of Melbourne earlier in the month and thought a report on my experience and a link through to the ppt slides used would be of interest.
http://digbig.com/4mhxx

Electronic Incites

2006-08-08T09:19:00.000+10:00

The August issue of Incite has just arrived in my mailbox. If you don't want to wait until the library's copy reaches your desk, check it out online at:

http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/incite/2006/08/

The feature this month is National Simultaneous Storytime

cheers, Jennifer

So what exactly is the future for libraries?

2006-07-31T14:54:00.000+10:00

Greater access to information waiting to be transmuted to knowledge and perhaps wisdom. Increased complexity in searching - forget the 'user friendly' paradigm or worse, that old chestnut of simple is best (it ain't) - and greater than ever challenges for librarians and their clients.
We were having a discussion at work recently as to how long a librarian who left the profession could stay out and then reenter it without being out of date. We were talking about needing to do serious relearning or risk being terminated on the grounds of being useless. I was an optimist and suggested maybe five years. Others think it is now less than a year for a higher education institution. So keep on running.
This web site article is from the Da Vinci Institute and features some ideas about what the future may hold for libraries. Thanks to Savita at RMIT for the link.
http://www.davinciinstitute.com/page.php?ID=120

Enjoy Oxford Reference Online Premium!

2006-07-27T17:51:00.000+10:00

Do have a look at the extra bits and pieces we have with Oxford Online Premium!
Not only can we now search a greater number of dictionaries & encyclopedias but we can now reorder our results. I'm enjoying the option to list the longer entries first, often what I prefer but listing those with illustrations or the quotations first will be useful.

BTW, also have a look at the timelines and links by subject, maybe we could consider the latter for some of our research guides...

Welcome to ILS staff and try this URL shortening tool!

2006-07-27T12:17:00.000+10:00

Hello and good to "see" you to the ILS staff who I invited to join out blog community.

Now for those of you who would like to use long URLs on occasion, you may find DigBig (free) handy. It somehow shortens the URL so it looks tidy in newsletters and other communications. http://www.digbig.com/

TRIG report

2006-07-24T09:47:00.000+10:00

Kate's report on the TRIG meeting of 23rd June is available at http://staffweb.mail.bhtafe.edu.au/f3/index.cfm?fa=sw.rShow&rid=141156&cid=90509&Site=582

Recipes anyway

2006-07-13T14:26:00.000+10:00

I remember when I was at Elgar it was useful to have a few recipe sites on hand to help the cookery students so here is one I've just come across that seems quite good.
http://www.recipezaar.com/
A diverse range of recipes including ones from our part of the world, NZ & Polynesia.

How good does it get? High quality and open access.

2006-07-13T11:00:00.000+10:00

Thomson Scientific, suppliers of a number of highly valued databases, have a web site featuring a number of resources which are open access, including professional news and links. Worth exploring and then scheduling regular checks for new content.
http://scientific.thomson.com/free/
http://scientific.thomson.com/knowledgelink/

Don't throw out those old statistics with the bathwater!

2006-07-13T10:59:00.000+10:00

Traditional data collected by libraries may still have a use in this volatile, dynamic 21st century, when libraries try to show what beneficial impact they have on their communities. The link below is to a guest forum in 'Informed Librarian' featuring 'Evaluation and Assessment for the Practicing Librarian' by Rosalind Dudden. It includes a list of references and links to resources for the librarian to use. Go Rosalind.
http://www.informedlibrarian.com/guestForum.cfm?FILE=gf0607.html

Emerald good for librarians

2006-07-10T14:46:00.000+10:00

Rita was impressed with the Emerald database, it is put together by an international group of academics, the most interesting thing about it was a resource site for librarians linked from the database, with information about conference location and places to publish your own aritcles.

After all, we are in the business of training a diverse range of prospective small business operators who could all benefit from this database although we do have some concerns that the material is a little theoretical than how to run your business in the real world. Please correspond with your own findings!

Info Literacy Toolkit

2006-07-10T09:38:00.000+10:00

Another from George
http://www.ltu.unsw.edu.au/documents/infoliteracytoolkit_May2006.pdf
From the UNSW - seems very useful indeed - although intended for University, the principles apply widely - even to public libraries (personal opinion)

COIL - Chisholm IL tutorials

2006-07-10T09:29:00.000+10:00

You may have heard about these Information Literacy tutorials that Terri Bell & others at Chisholm have put together. http://library.chisholm.vic.edu.au/coil/site/index.htm
They have seven general interactive tutorials. George reckons there is a specific nursing one but if so, I'm not sure where it is; there is a horticulture one which is very pretty.

Information Literacy practices of TAFE librarians

2006-07-10T09:21:00.000+10:00

Thanks again to George for this report by Jenny Fafieta " Taking the pulse: the Information Literacy Practices of TAFE librarians". As George says 'you probably have come across it - but just in case - no real surprises are there?'
http://www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/meetings/rails/fafeita.ppt

Gen- Y & Top 10 tech trends

2006-07-07T15:16:00.000+10:00

As a Gen-Xer, I knew about some of the stuff in this presentation Richard Giles delivered at VALA via teleconferencing but I understand a bit more now about what some of our students are doing on the PCs for hours. Some of these online communities and ways of using the Internet in a broader way are facinating. Have a look one and all!
http://www.cliquecomm.com/blog/2006/02/09/vala-top-ten-tech-trends-presentation/

Vote for a Librarian

2006-07-07T11:16:00.000+10:00

In an interview with Geraldine Barkworth in Incite April 06, Louis Rosenfeld suggests that the world needs the skills of librarians to be applied more widely in information architecture in all its forms, organising and structuring and labelling content to make it more navigable and searchable. Librarians need to do a better job of welcoming and encourage entrepreneurs in their midst (he argues entrepreneurship is more a gift than a learned skill) to build on the many positives that we have in our skills sets from organising information to customer knowledge.
Hence his theory that librarians are well suited for "public office" because we are trained to value facts and acknowledge our ignorance and make every effort to find the truth.
What he sees as important to the future is that librarianship is a critical skill that has wide application and whenever we feel pessimistic, we should remember we are the "ultimate service professional". Read the full interview for some inspiration!

Copyright myths and misconceptions

2006-07-06T19:38:00.000+10:00

I know we have our very own Lisa (Intellectual Property Guru) but in the April 2006 Incite, Moyra McAllister, (ALIA copyright advisor) answers some of the common copyright misconceptions very succinctly. If you have a staff member who is entering the realm of Curriculum creation or the like, it might be worth photocopying/scanning her page-long article and sending it to them.

2006-06-22T12:53:00.000+10:00

Haven't had a chance to investigate this one Internet research tutorial closely but it looks promising...

Internet Detective, a free online tutorial designed to help students develop the critical thinking required for their Internet research, in the RDN Virtual Training Suite at: http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/
The tutorial offers practical advice on evaluating the quality of websites and highlights the need for care when selecting online information sources to inform university or college work.

Have a look!

Internet Filter issue

2006-06-22T11:09:00.000+10:00

You may have seen something in the general press or in ALIA publications about the federal government proposing Internet filters on Internet computers in public libraries.
Here is the latest from the ALIA InfoLit Forum

Dear Colleagues,
Late yesterday ALIA issued a response to Minister Coonan's announcement of the Protecting Families Online program - more information is linked from the ALIA Home at http://www.alia.org.au/
You may also wish to revisit our 2005 survey on Internet Use in Public Libraries http://alia.org.au/advocacy/internet.access/
Today the Sydney Morning Herald gives the community the opportunity to comment via the web on Internet Filters. You may also wish to add your comments to http://blogs.smh.com.au/newsblog/archives//004955.html
Regards
Sue Hutley
--
Sue Hutley
Executive director
Australian Library and Information Association PO Box 6335 Kingston ACT 2604 Australia ph 02 6215 8215 fx 02 6282 2249 sue.hutley@alia.org.au

Toolboxes aren't scary - free learning objects

2006-06-16T10:44:00.000+10:00

If you're interested in having another look at Toolboxes, or want to know what the interns are up to, the Toolbox Repository is a good place to start. There are various free learning objects from Series 3 -7 toolboxes.

A Toolbox is a collection of resources, and supporting material to support a Training Package, and learning objects address one level of competency. Each learning object will have some information/fact sheets, instructions, exercises and quizes, fact sheets and are often on general & useful topics such as Visual communication/poster design.

Go to http://toolboxes.flexiblelearning.net.au/index.htm and click on Toolbox Repository on the left navigation toolbar.
Enter your keywords to search - it will look in all toolboxes
From the list , click on the item titles to view them
Anything you like, click download to save object

Alternatively, click on the "About section" link under the search box
Then click on any of the toolboxes to browse the available learning objects
Anything you like, click download to save object

Have a go - and be able to make conversation with an intern or a former intern!

Toolboxes Series 9

2006-06-16T09:27:00.000+10:00

At last a Toolbox bonanza for the Engineering area. In the latest crop of five Toolboxes, there is a Fabrication trade (Metal and Engineering Training Package) and Sales, mechanical, technology and vehicle body (Automotive Retail Service and Repair Training Package). Also in the Series 9 is a Community safety (Public Safety Training Package) that is being promoted heavily, and Employment services (Community Health and Services Training Package) which has the potential to be taken up as a teaching area by HACS (?!) and Food Safety auditing (Food Processing Training Package), also a possible future teaching area as we have substantial short course enrolments in Food Handling.

Food for thought - IL

2006-06-05T11:43:00.000+10:00

Here are some articles from the latest IFLA conference via our trusty correspondant George - have a read and be involved in discussion here and at IS meetings!

Abstract:
A basic online tutorial named ELISE (Enabling Library and Information Skills for Everyone) was launched by UNSW Library and piloted in 2005. This paper aims to document the collaborative development of ELISE as a pre-information literacy tutorial, discusses the tutorial and pedagogical dimensions of its delivery to some 10,000 entering students and examines student assessment outcomes. It will also present an analysis of qualitative data from student feedback, which inform improvements to the program and some of the impacts on the overall information literacy program within UNSW. A summary of findings by way of an evaluation of student surveys establishes the positive acceptance and use of the ELISE tutorial and indicates some future directions for this mandatory enrolment requirement.

http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/papers/125-Tantiongco_Evison-en.pdf

Abstract:
Information literacy has become an important element in higher education. The information literacy movement has internationally recognized standards and learning outcomes. The step-by-step process of achieving information literacy is particularly crucial in an era where knowledge could be disseminated through a variety of media. Academic librarians could become even more effective if they are linked to curriculum development where faculty and librarians work together to achieve learning outcomes. This case study describes the steps taken by the authors to integrate information literacy skills in a new curriculum.
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/papers/125-Dakshinamurti_Horne-en.pdf

Copyright News

2006-05-30T12:11:00.000+10:00

From the latest ALIANews bulletin:

Copyright reforms announced
The Attorney General has announced a number of proposed changes to the Copyright Act in response to the recent government inquiry into 'Fair Use and Other Copyright Exceptions' and the 'Digital Agenda Review' conducted by Phillips Fox. The changes appear likely to benefit libraries and other cultural institutions. The most relevant part of the announcement concerns the new 'flexible dealing exception' permitting libraries and archives to copy for non-commercial purposes. The reforms also acknowledge the widespread use of mp3 players, VCRs and DVDs by permitting format shifting and time shifting for personal use. Further analysis waits on the draft Bill.

http://alia.org.au/advocacy/copyright/copyright.reforms.html

Some handy work tips

2006-05-17T12:21:00.000+10:00

In the latest issue of The One Umbrella Report (TOUR) there's a really useful article for those of us in new jobs , and even those who've been here for a while. Check out 'How to survive your new job' at the link below

http://www.oneumbrella.com.au/newsletters/tour/tour_v7n1b.html

Getting the Library out and about

2006-05-17T12:15:00.000+10:00

Courtesy of the latest issue of the Informed Librarian, here's a link to a very interesting article on the practicalities of getting library staff out into an educational institution at large (University of Rhode Island in this case)

The Embedded Librarian
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6317224.html

Library related Budget news

2006-05-17T12:09:00.000+10:00

Collections Australia Network will receive $1 million over four years to enable it to continue to provide an online resource for, and gateway to, Australian archives, libraries, museums and galleries.

If you haven't already, check it out at http://www.collectionsaustralia.net it's a really interesting site

Marketing ideas from May Incite

2006-05-17T10:45:00.000+10:00

For those who haven't seen it yet there a couple of useful articles on marketing libraries in this month's Incite. Read all about it at http://alia.org.au/publishing/incite

Also included is a list of websites reproduced below:

MLS:Marketing Library Services
http://www.infotoday.com/MLS

ALIA's links to international library associations
http://alia.org.au/links/international.html

IFLA Management and Marketing
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s34/index.htm

American Library Association (general and specific)
http://www.ala.org
http://www.ala.ogr/ala/pio/campaign/academicresearch/toolkitfinaltext2.doc

Marketing and outreach for science and technology libraries
http://www.istl.org/06-winter/internet2.html

Research Guide for Marketing and Advertising
http://www.sju.edu/libraries/drexel/biz/bizmark.htm

Emerald newsletter
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/librarians/Marketing_your_library/markshelf_issue04.jsp

Cheers, Jennifer

Another Wiki sample - 'Library success...'

2006-05-05T13:57:00.000+10:00

Kate was showing us how a Wiki could work for us to work on 'stump the librarian' questions; here is another Wiki to inspire us 'Library Success: a Best Practices Wiki'.

"Documenting a Democracy"

2006-05-05T13:50:00.000+10:00

(From Kerry Webb in Incite) The National Archives have gathered the documents (in digital form) that were important to the formation of the country of Australia as we know it today. Quite a pleasant little site for anyone who is interested in a potted history of European settlement. http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/

KM Standards

2006-05-05T11:11:00.000+10:00

We can use Standards Australia to find information directly relevant to us in the library!If you've had a chance to look at the Jan-Feb Incite or if you are a Standards Australia junkie, you may have noticed that AS 5037-2005 is Knowledge Management - a guide. It is a terrific document that explains in a comprehensive but also easily comprehensible way the way KM works and can be implemented.

Free online journals

2006-05-04T13:38:00.000+10:00

Thanks to George and RMIT - free life sciences journals on the Internet
http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=42wt4c74sli3

ALA Standards

2006-04-20T19:50:00.000+10:00

Again from George.

Instruction librarians standards ALA
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/newsacrl/proficiencies.pdf

Book synopses & review

2006-04-20T19:07:00.000+10:00

The British Council has a rather well-structured site set up for Reading Groups/Book Clubs to select books so it is largely fiction but also has biography,drama & science and a section on fiction that can be used for the teaching of management! It may well be useful for us, especially as it also has books for children and teens. http://www.encompassculture.com/

Collection Management and information sources

2006-04-13T17:19:00.000+10:00

Again George is keeping our interests in mind with these two sites. E-Reviews of resources etc...which may assist with discovering or evaluating 'new' resources.
http://www.e-streams.com/

And a site courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine, which has links to a number of sources of information for different kinds of library professionals, and also newsletters in special areas including 'medical'. Unfortunately, not all links are 'current' and may have to chased up via a search engine if they seem of potential use.
http://nnlm.gov/libinfo/mgmt/online.html

Access for all, to everything?

2006-04-10T10:38:00.000+10:00

Did you see or hear about the ALIA prompted news articles on Internet use, and issues with filtering the Internet, in public libraries? ALIA has just completed their 2nd survey of internet use and management.
“Findings from ... 2005 survey showed over 77 000 people access internet services through public libraries each week,” “The survey revealed 2.2 per cent of complaints received by librarians were about internet content, and that covered all content issues, not just inappropriate material.” The Association’s survey also revealed many libraries deal with the special needs and interests of children by providing separate internet terminals and websites for children and young adults that link to resources especially tailored for them. ..“Filtering is not the answer,” said Ms Hutley (ALIA exec director). “The Australian library and information profession believes the current legislation relating to online content is appropriate and workable.” she said.
Survey results can be viewed at http://alia.org.au/advocacy/internet.access/ from 31 March 2006

Britannica bites back!

2006-04-03T15:31:00.000+10:00

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/440582b.html
The definite comparison of Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica was by Nature. Obviously the open and free version of wikipedia is threatening EB!

Thanks George for continuing to contribute to the BLOG!

Wilson Biography databases

2006-03-30T16:06:00.000+11:00

I had my first try of this trial database yesterday, looking for information on Nelson Mandela. The interface was easy to use although I'm by no means a novice searcher. I liked getting a picture of my search target in the list of results. There are certainly a range of biographical sources available to choose from with varying amounts of detail and from different angles. The one I found most interesting was the Nobel Prize Winners entry. There was also a link to other pictures but I haven't experimented with that yet.

FreePint - not a beer but information

2006-03-03T08:18:00.000+11:00

FreePint is a fortnightly email newsletter that originates in the UK, it is is pretty Eurocentric but each issue usually has something worth reading.
This issue (No201) I found the article on podcasting really helpful as I only had a vague understanding of how it all works. The article also explains how MP3 & MP4s are created and other interesting bits.
If you would find this sort of explanation useful or are interested in research on the Internet (another article this month), pop onto http://www.freepint.com/issues/
You might decide it is your sort of thing and subscribe.

Document delivery for all from Public Libraries

2006-02-27T13:39:00.000+11:00

The Australian public can now look up library books online and borrow the book via mail or get pages emailed or photocopies posted to them. The email option would cost $13 for each 50 pages sent and is subject to copyright. It is part of a scheme to make libraries more accessible and the entire collection of 800 libraries is available, including pictures and maps. The search engine is from www.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au via a link on the right hand side of the page.

Our Library Blog

2006-02-27T08:28:00.000+11:00

A little inspiration for an overcast Monday

Library
Here is where people,
One frequently finds,
Lower their voices
And raise their minds.
? Light Armour. McGraw-Hill, 1954.
Richard Armour

Clare O'Dwyer
"In a world where information swells out of control drowning people in a sea of data, comes a fellowship willing to hold back this information tsunami . . . They are the librarians."

The old refrain - reference

2006-02-14T15:06:00.000+11:00

You can visit the Thomson-Gale site for reviews of reference resources, both digital and old fashioned print.
http://reviews.gale.com/
There are some 'free resources' also available on this site.

Mobile Libraries

2006-02-14T08:39:00.000+11:00

We may think that 'digital libraries' are the way of the future - flexibility and 'just in time' reference, but once upon a time (and still today) mobile libraries occupied the space between the fixed branch library and 'flexible delivery' of library services. The following sites are on the ways in which bookmobiles have been used and other 'flexible' modes of providing a library service. The first has some quite striking images.
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s38/news/mobpos.htm
I like the Donkey, but if you prefer you can try the Camel Mobile Services in Kenya. An amazing service concept.
http://www.knls.or.ke/camel.htm
They are desperate for more money.

VALA - inspiration and mundane

2006-02-13T11:56:00.000+11:00

My VALA experience included 3 sessions on Friday. Two inspirational and one not so.
First up session by one of my favourite RMT lecturers now at Monash, Graeme Johanson on ICT policy, and Australian civil society. There has been a lot of high level international discussion at WSIS (World Summits on the Information Society) and then research by Graeme and others on how we can take lofty principles of creating an informed"civil society" and put them into practice in Australia.
His paper challenged librarians to take seriously their responsibility for supporting information equity. Not only by providing information access via publically funded libraries but also contributing to a "civil society" through creating information that is usable and training/encouraging people to be functionally information literate. Having a vision of how international policy can filter down to action at the community level was fascinating.
Mr Barry Nunn of the State Library NSW talked about "connectivity, content and confidence" . He discussed how the SLNSW provided the necessary Internet connections for the councils and public libraries, provided training both for users and train the trainer coaching for staff. A great project just presented in far too much detail and presented in a manner that made you contemplate your shopping list or how many days until your birthday.
Final paper from Andrew Wells of Uni of NSW about the newish ARC funded project to create the Dictionary of Australian Artists Online (DAAO). He is also a very engaging speaker who gave some enjoyable insight into the huge undertaking and detailed journey that this project will take from the lobbying of academic staff and scoping of the project through to its ongoing growth.
It started in 2005 and though the project is funded for 3 years, as with other similar undertakings, it is an ongoing commitment for UNSW and their other partners. They are at the stage of data mining 6000 biographies and we were given a little peek into how this works.

Libraries and public knowledge

2006-02-08T14:51:00.000+11:00

It looks like 2005 was the year for soul searching and research on what people think or know about libraries. A place for print media. This report can be downloaded for free. What people don't know is most important.
http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm

Who wants to be a librarian?

2006-02-08T14:22:00.000+11:00

Do libraries matter? Who cares? What will libraries be like in the near future? This 'white paper' by a library technologist looks at what he calls 'Library 2.0'
http://www.talis.com/downloads/white_papers/DoLibrariesMatter.pdf
Amazingly, this library is supposed to work according to the expectations of library users. What a novel idea. I wonder where I have heard it before? You want it and we've got it.

If we could just get 'Library 1.0' to work properly...

2006-01-11T15:33:00.000+11:00

Ebsco have given the library world a gift out of respect for the work we do: free access to a database on libraries and information management known as LISTA (Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts). You can make it a favourite on your online PC by going to:
http://www.epnet.com/thisTopic.php?topicID=205&marketID=20

Google this and Google that

2006-01-10T15:26:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year and may all your searches be uproariously successful in 2006.
We begin the year with Google. They have created a newsletter for librarians.
Details at:
http://www.google.com/newsletter/librarian/librarian_2005_12/newsletter.html

Information Literacy: A Report

2005-11-08T13:42:00.000+11:00

Using information and communication technologies in adult literacy education: New practices, new challenges.
This is a report from NCVER focusing on teachers and the teaching of InfoLit and is now available for downloading. It should prove interesting reading for librarians involved in support roles or actively teaching information literacy. One interesting point which I concur with: some teachers prefer the term 'communication' to 'literacy' because of the latter's connection to print and the stigma of failure; I know this well from adult teaching, which is why I prefer to use the term 'research skills' or just 'researching'. The term 'literacy' seems to have such negative connotations, many educators of adults avoid it. I don't like the term 'communication' for this research skills role.
http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1608.html

Where are we now in web design?

2005-11-08T11:24:00.000+11:00

Is it art or is it supposed to be functional? Or both (art-deco)? This article comes from the BBC in 2004 and presents the point of view of Jakob Nielsen on what makes good design. I wonder if there is a generational problem with design - what I call usable and thus good design is based on my generation's experience with text whereas younger people can deal with all manner of flashing tricks and complex imagery. Is simple best as Nielsen thinks? There are links to other articles on web design.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4061093.stm

New Way to Search

2005-10-31T11:52:00.000+11:00

Dear Information Librarian - have you got the right mindset? Yahoo thinks it does, with a new (beta mode) way of searching. It's called 'Yahoo! Mindset' and it ranks sites by the degree of commercial information they have or do not have. The intent is to minimize the chances of finding commercial sites with relatively little useful content. Try it and see. Impressive start.
http://mindset.research.yahoo.com/

I am looking forward to the movie spectacular 'Google Versus Yahoo' starring Sylvester Stallone as 'Captain Google' and Arnold Schwarzenegger as 'Major Yahoo' as they fight for world domination of the online information field. I bet a script is in the pipeline.

Biomedical Search Options

2005-10-25T13:58:00.000+10:00

Vivisimo has created a new life sciences or biomedical search facility. It uses their 'velocity' software to search a number of important sources. It includes biochemistry. You can designate specific sources to search. Vivisimo are one of the search engines worth keeping an eye on. Maybe two.
http://biometacluster.com/

Information Literacy

2005-10-18T15:51:00.000+10:00

I came across the following site and wanted to share it with you. It's from USA and comprises resources for teaching information skills in year 12. Some of the material may prove useful to us as we search for good ways to put ourselves out of a job.
http://www.mmischools.com/Categories/CategoryIndex.aspx?CategoryID=83

Making information accessible - Chucking chat for roving reference

2005-10-07T12:08:00.000+10:00

Firstly thanks everyone for helping with the information access project of Leonie's. Just wanted to highlight something Helen found - Another way of providing a reference service discussed in the first of the abstracts for the 7th Annual Virtual Reference Desk Conference "Chucking chat: Going to Where our Students REALLY are" .The Uni of Texas Library found no one was really using chat so they set up a 'reference outreach program' called Roving Reference. I look forward to seeing the whole paper (the conference isn't until November).
http://www.vrd.org/conferences/VRD2005/track_abs.cfm?TrackID=4

CSIRO to help develop web standards

2005-10-07T10:01:00.000+10:00

You wouldn't think CSIRO had much to do with the Web and the enclosed article doesn't make it clear exactly but CSIRO has won a bid to be the Australian office of the World Wide Web Consortium.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1476554.htm

Covert Censorship

2005-10-07T09:45:00.000+10:00

Interesting article in the May (54:2) Aust Library Journal for those of you who might not usually get to see it, about covert censorship. Following on from the example of Mike Moore's Stupid White Men that was published largely due to the advocacy of American librarians, it discussing how 'independent' publications can be inadvertantly censored once they are purchased by a library presuming that we have ordered them at all because they are not heavily promoted. Worth a quick read.

Roll Over Google

2005-10-04T13:40:00.000+10:00

With apologies to Chuck Berry.
It’s time to put your internet searching skills to even better use, by constructing your own ‘database’ for users to search directly. With Rollyo you can create a set of websites on a theme, which then becomes a database that your users can search directly. For instance, I could create a set of top class websites on Jazz Music, give it a title (‘All That Jazz’) and it becomes a ‘database’ that our music students can search directly. It’s a kind of advanced, domain search facility, which search engines provide anyway, but is rarely used by students with poor InfoLit skills. With Rollyo, you take that step for your users and then make the ‘database’ available to them. It uses Yahoo searching and is currently in Beta testing. It goes that extra step of creating a searchable ‘database’. This information comes from the incomparable Gary Price of ‘Resource Shelf”. Try some of the featured ‘databases’ or create one yourself on a topic. This could be a useful service capability for us to have, given the upgrading of Tafe courses.
http://www.rollyo.com/

Digital Information Fluency

2005-10-04T13:37:00.000+10:00

‘Digital Information Fluency (DIF) is the ability to find, evaluate
and use digital information effectively, efficiently and ethically.’
As a library professional – are you up to it? Do the test and see. There are ideas you can use to teach or evaluate DIF, which is rapidly becoming the major chunk of IL. There is a level one test for turning a research topic into search terms – what we try and teach all the time as a starting point. Think before you search.
http://21cif.imsa.edu/

Library collaborations/Consortia

2005-09-30T09:18:00.000+10:00

Hello all!

At Leonie's behest, I am trawling for articles about collaborations between libraries or consortia in Australia or around the world concerned with providing access to information. What we are after are case studies or articles on concrete strategies on projects such as setting up joint staffing of Live Chat etc rather than the experiences of groups of libraries purchasing databases together. So if you come across anything let me or Leonie know.

Thanks
Susannah

Science Web Site

2005-09-21T08:57:00.000+10:00

I came across this site in a library journal. It covers all sciences, including animal sciences, biotechnology, engineering sciences, computing, health and other subject areas we teach at BHI. An interesting feature is the ability to search the site, use an extensive index, and create an interest profile ('Alerts') so that regular emails can be sent to you regarding new links added to the site. Science.gov comes from the USA and claims to 'authoritatively select' web sites. It also claims to search the 'deep web' as well as the internet 'surface'. How deep is the internet? The mind boggles as it blogs.
http://www.science.gov/

The benefits of collaboration in learning

2005-09-13T14:19:00.000+10:00

This article reports on research that shows a link between the promotion of e-journals and enhanced learning outcomes in a college. The concept of a ‘research quotient’ (RQ) for assessing students is particularly interesting. Perhaps we can adapt something like from our own ‘Information Literacy Standards’ and give a mathematically based RQ for our students.
The conclusion of the researchers is that collaboration between the academics and the library leads to beneficial outcomes in the research skills area. Also note that there is a hidden suggestion (which I think is right) that more and more research is now ‘journals based’. Basically, the more you know about getting information, the better you are as a learner. I guess that could be because you are a more motivated individual and want to know how to know.
Our very own Don Livesey tells me that latest evidence in the business sector is that up to 75% of business success is due to information management – to the organisation’s knowledge base – not managers or CEO’s. So how come the payouts are so high?
Colvin, John, and Judith Keene. "Supporting Undergraduate Learning through the Collaborative Promotion of E-Journals by Library and Academic Departments." Information Research 9, no. 2 (2004). http://informationr.net/ir/9-2/paper173.html

MagPortal articles database

2005-09-06T09:12:00.000+10:00

There is an interesting feature on MagPortal (free) articles database: You can select from the subject categories listed in the section ‘Search for Magazine Articles’ and obtain the latest free articles in that category. If checked regularly, it could provide an article or three that your Centre staff may be interested in. You can register and then you can mark useful articles for later retrieval. You can also annotate these articles, which makes SDI even more professional. We have found some quite useful articles for music students using this database.
http://www.magportal.com

Google Expands Book Option Abroad...

2005-09-05T15:26:00.000+10:00

Google Expands Book Option Abroad -- 08/31/2005Google has gone international with its book-only search service on Google Print. read on »

025.431: The Dewey blog

2005-09-02T13:19:00.000+10:00

Here is a blog that Jennifer told me about, it is all about Dewey and it even classifies and archives its post by dewey order.
http://ddc.typepad.com/025431/
It is more for the cataloguing types, however it is a good example of a how librarians are using blogs.

Welcome to Our Library Blog-mark2

2005-08-31T11:37:00.000+10:00

Hi library bloggers,
This Blog is for Library professional postings, especially in the areas of Information Services. Specific matters, procedures, ideas as well as big-picture stuff are welcome. Have a look at what gets posted and you will get the idea. Also have a look at the guidelines on the links section of the dashboard so you know where the parameters lie.

As a first new posting, I would like to bring to your attention a particularly interesting web site I tumbled across while doing a reference query (we are still calling them that, but that's another issue).
http://www.tafe.swin.edu.au/profdev/learnbydesign/pdfs/Facilitator_Tips_Guide.pdf
It comes from Swinburne University, who very kindly have made public via the internet, some notes from a training course for their staff. Those of us who are involved in teaching research skills may find these notes useful:

CRIG forum and Learning Commons

2005-08-05T18:25:00.000+10:00

The CAVAL Reference Group forum I attended today was fascinating. VUT & Homesglen gave a run down on setting up their Learning Commons, with before and after pics. For a definition of what Learning Commons are, and background try:
Enabling The Information Commons
by Fiona Bradley Librarian, SBS Radio Resource Centre Sydney ALIA 2004

The bottom line is they were able to obtain innovation funding ($3.5 mill. at VUT) to refurbish their libraries and fill them with PC's. The Commons provide a student centered environment, with a digital approach. Staff are available at all times to support the students with the digital environment, and usually include information services, ITS, lending services and are also starting to include student support workers.

It has been a way of revitalising the libraries, rather than seeing them become marginallised by the move to digital information. They have more of a training and support role enabling the students to get the best of it.

The physical environment encourages collaborative student work, moving away from the "quiet library". Mobile phones are OK, some are allowing food and drink. I don't think they have applied for a liquor license yet!!!

Ready to post at last...

2005-08-02T14:39:00.000+10:00

Thanks for this blog Cathy, such fun - and interesting web sites. I loved the list from Swinburne, very useful.
I've been looking at other library sites some of which have links to other blogs and have found three that are worth a look:
http://lovetheliberry.blogspot.com/
http://warriorlibrarian.com
http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/libhumor.html
Enjoy,
Helen

Countdown to end of Our blog project

2005-07-31T11:16:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone,
This is now our last week of opportunity for you all to contribute to Our Blog project.

Thank you to all those who have been contributing or even reading it; I hope you have been learning from both what is being posted and from the experience of posting/commenting itself.

On Friday, I will leave the blog open to continue, but will no longer be using further posts/comments as part of the analysis of my professional project. So for your last chance to become famous, blog this week!

Here is a Library blog from Ann Arbor District Library. It is centred right in the middle of their homepage. Interesting.
http://www.aadl.org/

Come and see our Macs!

2005-07-26T15:05:00.000+10:00

My first blog! (it's taken me a couple of weeks to track down the piece of paper where I wrote my login name and password!). As some of you may know the Whitehorse Lab has now gone completely Macintosh and boasts 20 brand new eMacs (being a devoted Macintosh user/disciple I'm in heaven). So, if you're ever up at Whitehorse call in and have a play - not only are the Macs great to look at, they're reliable, stable and easy to use (plus they don't have the PC booking system to contend with).

In the meantime for more information on the eMac (which is Apple's entry level model aimed at the education market) go to:
http://www.apple.com/au/support/emac/

If you have any questions about the eMac feel free to ask.

Ross

Blogging: Conversation of the 21st Century?

2005-07-25T15:38:00.000+10:00

Hello Nelsoners,

Come and join the blog posts and comments here. This blog fills a gap in the industry and it's a nifty little thing besides. My friend Leo is to the right because blogger.com wouldn't let him go in my profile and it's a warning in general -- mostly to myself -- that if I don't keep my hair short that's what I see in the mirror. Am I talking about my mirror again? Come and join in this web log -- it must be good for something. The Web is full of useful things. http://tcruiseko.ytmnd.com/ ... and useless things. Hm, anyway, what do you think of this or other blogs? which other blogs? Will comments ever escalate? And a hello to Michael when he claps eyes on this.

What am I?

2005-07-20T13:17:00.000+10:00

Should we refer to us with the generic title of 'information professional'? A bit like a teacher calling him/her self an 'educator'. It may make a difference if titles like 'librarian' are outdated, but then again is blandess the answer? Other titles are 'information manager', 'information broker'. Interestingly, there are no real synonyms for the term 'librarian'. Maybe we stick to that? And wear less beige?

If you type in the word 'librarian' in google, then click on [definition] it will take you to some interesting articles and a strange painting called 'the librarian'.

The directory of google is relatively poor on the subject of library and information science. Anyone know a top drawer links based site on library matters worldwide?

With real scope?

Hi All

2005-07-14T18:39:00.000+10:00

My comments are with Robyn's recipe page but we have failed to create a link! How do we do this? Can any other Blogees tell us what to do please.

Help!

2005-07-14T18:09:00.000+10:00

Help Help! Joc and I are being held captive by the "Blog Queen" who is forcing us to reveal our secrets. This recipe site http://www.ten.com.au/main_idx.aspx?section=promo&promoID=133
from Bert's television show sounds pretty good to me and if you wish to throw a party, please let us know!!

Review of Inservice training sessions

2005-07-13T16:19:00.000+10:00

I ran two sessions of inservice training during the recent training push; identical sessions in using the Proquest databases. Both sessions went quite well, although the first one (Monday morning) had some initial equipment hiccups. This session was attended by approximately three people (Joy, Kathy McCluskey and Robyn Smith from memory). The second session on Friday afternoon attracted more people (Jennifer, Susannah, Jocelyn Goodwin, Behjat and Padma, I think.) There were no technical problems this time but an element of the database had changed, highlighting the need to review continuously-changing online resources before each session, not just assume that it would be the same five days later.

Both of my sessions were 'hearth' rather than 'hands-on,' I mean by this that we all clustered around a data projector while I pointed out the various features. I know other colleagues booked the wireless laptops so their participants could play with the resource under consideration. I think I would prefer this approach in future, it would make the session more meaningful and memorable for participants. It wasn't possible in my sessions for a variety of reasons out of my control, but I will definitely aim for it next time.

I would be happy to run future sessions in either the same database or others, and also in equipment use. We have a lot of staff who don't regularly use things like the scanner or the CD-burner and I think sessions in those things would be useful. I certainly found that the sessions prompted me to update my own knowledge of the topic, so it was professionally useful for me as well! (Hopefully it was useful for the attendees too.) I wish I could have attended the sessions run by my colleagues but unfortunately schedules didn't allow it.

Suppliers and online catalogues

2005-07-13T10:27:00.000+10:00

Hi all,
I found this useful list on the Swinburne library site that is good for finding books/videos for purchase. It lists publishers in different subject areas and includes a TAFE section and an AV section. I can add to the audiovisual section with some I have used. They are FutureMedia, Videotrain, Vocam, Ronin and Maxwells.

http://www.swin.edu.au/lib/info/publishers_online.htm

Monthly Library Breakfast

2005-07-08T10:09:00.000+10:00

I think it would be a good idea to have a monthly breakfast (say at the end of each month) that ALL library staff can go to. This would be beneficial because:

People can share ideas / opinions that they might not get the chance to do with colleagues otherwise.

Creates a sense of team cohesion and belonging for the Library staff.

Can invite speakers on motivational topics to boost morale (not saying that it is at a low point).

What about a tai chi session in the park before work to revitalise the senses??

Venues are open to suggestion so feel free to add preferences with times, days, venues etc.

Breakfast can go for 1 hr and people can swap around so everyone gets to go for the min 30 mins?

COMMENTS WELCOME !!!!!

Adding a profile in Outlook

2005-07-08T09:28:00.000+10:00

Given that we all use several PCs as we work different shifts at different desks at different libraries, I thought it would be useful to post instructions for getting your email profile up and running on each one. This works with the current version of Outlook, keep in mind that it may alter when a new version comes into play.

Adding a profile in Outlook:

1. Log on as yourself.
2. Click Start menu.
3. Choose Settings.
4. Click Control panel.
5. Double click Mail.
6. Click Email accounts.
7. Click Add a new e-mail account.
8. Click Microsoft Exchange Server.
9. Type Mail2 in first box and your name in second box.
10. Click Check name.
11. Click next, then finish.
12. Close all windows, double click Outlook icon.

If you get an inbox with no past messages:
1. Repeat steps 1-6.
2. Choose View or change existing email accounts.
3. Change ‘Deliver new email to following location’ Menu bar to read ‘Mailbox – your name.’
4. Click Finish.
5. Close window and restart Outlook.

Image file types: do you need JPG or BMP?

2005-07-08T09:24:00.000+10:00

Arthur from Online Services patiently and kindly answered my questions about the difference between image file types. We distilled the technical explanation into this 'primer', which I thought might be handy for advising students using scanners/CD-burners/digital cameras/mobile phone cameras and so on:
TIF: a TIF file is the best quality image you can have. Because of this it will be huge, as in tens or hundreds of MG. It can be used for all applications, but you have to allow for how huge it will be (downloads will be slow.) A TIF file can be compressed into a JPG, but this must be done in one go as each time it is saved the image will lose quality.
JPG/GIF: These are the best images for loading on websites, as well as being of a reasonable size to use/transport for most other functions. Generally speaking these would be the types to steer students towards. Keep in mind their specialisations:
GIF: GIFs are good for simple, clear images where colours aren't blended or shaded very much; such as cartoons or even items like the Melway cover. Anything with crisp, clear, distinct colours or tones.
JPG: JPGs are good for more complex, graded-tone images, such as photos. Anything with any kind of blending or shading of colour/tone.
BMP: These are huge too. Don't use them for websites. They can work well with MS applications however.

Research Guides

2005-07-07T11:07:00.000+10:00

Just wanted to garner some opinion. I have an issue with research guides (pathfinders, subject guides) whatever you want to call them. Recently we have been asked by a handful of teachers to produce research guides for them. No problem there, but they want guides on very specific topics, one would say even assignment questions.
I personally see research guides as a starting point for students in their studies. Research guides should give students a general overview of their subject area, an idea of where to look for items on the shelves, search terms that they can apply when using the catalogue or Internet, and perhaps a few interesting websites that may lead to further information.
I feel that research guides have lost that use. I think they are being used to spoonfeed our students information, making them less independent Library users, and perhaps missing out on knowing the full range of resources available to them.
Is this something we need to concentrate on when liaising with teaching staff?
Do teachers know of StudentWeb or even understand its uses?
Do they know that there are research guides on StudentWeb and more importantly where to find them? Case in point, we have been asked by one teacher on several occasions to reproduce information already available on StudentWeb. Do we need to better promote our Information Skills training sessions to the teachers, highlighting the need to encourage students to do their own research and that we can show them the most effective methods?