Commenting on a Classmate's Blog

This evening I got the chance to comment on Barbara's Blog. I commented on her choice of background and layout options particularly her background theme and the benefits of  choosing from an array of background images provided by Blogger.
I also commented on Duncan's blog about Movember and his plans to grow his matador-like Mo wishing him the best of luck!

Web 2.0 Technologies of Parramatta City Library

Parramatta City Library uses a great variety of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance the quality of their services to their patrons and invite their participation in a range of virtual services. They have looked to connect and network with their patrons by creating a Twitter page of their own. I believe social networking sites are one of the most effective 2.0 web technologies due to their popularity and user scope.

Parramatta City Library also has its own blog, Parra Reads which addresses the Adult Fiction Service area needs, it provides booklists, reviews, author event and book clubs available to join. Its information is quite detailed and its layout is attractive to the eye. It also provides RSS feeds to keep their users up-to-date with newly added content.

For children and teenagers the library has provided an very useful web-based online tutoring service called the Online Classroom (powered by YourTutor). It provides students help in Maths, Science, General English, Research and study skills. Students are able to participate in a live, one-to-one individual learning session with a tutor using the Online Classroom. The Online Classroom, much like MSN messenger, allows the tutor and student to text chat, share web pages, transfer files and use drawing tools. There is much advertising and promotion available on the website and I believe that this service would be highly utilised by teenage patrons and will appeal to patrons with school-level children. This technology also provides children with useful reference information.

I believe Parramatta City Library have utilized effective 2.0 technologies to attract their users and stimulate user participation. They may soon be introducing new Web 2.0 technologies, but this will most certainly rely upon the funding, staff time and effort available to invest in developing new web technologies. The library does not provide Web 2.0 technologies catered to their much younger patrons which is very much due to their young age but they do offer many events for young children such as storytime which I believe will always prove to be an effective method of interacting with their younger patrons (and parents).
They also do not provide 2.0 tech relating to their local studies -this may be in the making but for the time being they provide a webpage on the Local Studies and Family History Library, which provides details about the library and it's events such as workshops, talks and displays throughout the year.

Parramatta City Library : Community Profile

The City of Parramatta is located in Sydney's western suburbs. Its predominantly residential with some institutional, industrial and commercial land use also. The City encompasses a total land area of about 61 square kilometers and is therefore quite a large city. It has a large population of about 151, 297 with about 16% of this population under 18 years of age and 65% between 18-64 years of age.

Over 80% of the population of the City of Parramatta either speak English, or speak English as well as a 2nd language with Arabic, Cantonise and Mandarin being the most popular languages spoken. More than half of the population are Christian, with 18% non-christian.

In education and employment 42% of people in the City of Parramatta have received qualifications. Over 90% of the population is employed with manufacturing, health care and social assistance and retail being the biggest industries. Most are professionals, clerical and administrative workers and technicians.

More than half of the population live in family households, with the remainder living as couples, in groups or alone. 60% of the community have internet connection whilst 30% dont.

It can be summarized that most people  living within the City of Parramatta are employed and above schooling age. Many live with their families and as such should hold strong family as well as Christian values. Information regarding the industries stated above as well their occupations should be provided and should also be available in the 3 popular languages. Information can also be provided online due to the majority of the population having access but it is also important that internet facilities be provided to the community aswell.

This information was gathered from the Parramatta City Council Community Profile website.

To access the Parramatta City Council and Library Websites please access the links provided.

Parramatta City Library 

Parramatta City Library entrance

The Rise of the Ebook (and iPad) Era

Today I read an interesting article which was brought to my attention on Louise's blogging site, louisemmonitoraccesstueseve. I wrote a comment on her post, expressing my interest in the article she had referenced and also presenting my view of hardware technology influencing the rise in ebook sales.

Library Podcasts

Ive found one of fifteen podcasts provided by La Trobe University Library. This podcast is titled Plagiarism and it defines what plagiarism is, the penalties of plaigiarism in a students/academics work and the importance of referencing sources to avoid allegations of plagiarism. It also provides information on accessing the library's style guides and the University's policy on plagiarism.

Please access the podcast below:

La Trobe University Library
Plagiarism Podcast, October 2007

Patron Reviewer Capabilities

Today I took a look an interesting Web 2.0 technology, the user review feature on the online catalogue. This technology allows library users the ability to rate and review items held by their library. This feature has been utilized in the past and today with proven success by various corporations such as Amazon, Angus & Robinson and many cinema and film hiring/selling website's and is an effective method of providing library patrons with a variety of views about items which they are interested in borrowing. It is also quite nifty in bringing readers together to discuss their views and comment not only on the books they review but the views of other patrons -enabling reviews to be almost "forum-like" in style. The benefits of reviewing capabilities is many-fold -I personally love it! How many of us have sat there wondering whether a book or film would be worth a read, consulting book and film review website such as Amazon for answers? Most of us. This capability brings the library community together and enables book and film lovers and ardent readers to share their views in a constructive environment. It may also raise the amount of loans for an item and could even provide more insight than the item summary (if even provided!).
Currently the UNSW Library catalogue (Primo) does not have a review feature but could benefit from it very much so, particularly academic reviews and comments of publications which would be vital for students studying the course. Therefore the feature could promote online learning and academic critiquing. Currently our library catalogue has a linking feature in the catalogue record of an item which links a patron to the item held in amazon -providing the patron with further information about the item.

When considering this new initiative always remember that content control is one thing that must be considered, reviews should always be monitored and a patrons identity must always be kept anonymous online (but in term of content control an author should be known to the staff member responsible for web design and management).

Facebook : The Face of Our Library

Tonight I took a look at the Facebook page, I'll Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Think Libraries Are Important . It helped provide some food for thought about the great uses of Facebook for libraries. A library facebook page is a great method of giving your library a "personality". One significant thing is that it's interactive -enabling library users the ability to interact with the library (staff) by posting on it's wall, asking a question etc. (Keep in mind content must always be monitored) and is a great way of informing patrons of up and coming library events and policies such as amnesty's, policies, refurbishment plans, storytime -the lot! It's picture gallery can further help promote events and reach a wider audience interested in joining the library and finding out more about it in a safe online environment.

Facebook and other online social networking sites help a library reach a wider audience as well as a younger client group who are becoming more and more accessible as the world moves online. People, businesses, educational institutions and even government parties and politicians are jumping on board and realising the potential of Web 2.0 in reaching a wider audience online.

Changing My Blog Arrangement

So today I changed the layout arrangement of my blog. I changed the body layout by altering the body layout of the blog from the middle to the right hand side with the gadgets, links etc. arranged to the left hand side. I also adjusted the width of the blog and the left side bar to maximise the amount of space allowed for the blog text.

Another proud achievement!

New background theme and colours!

So today I worked on changing the design and theme of my blog by being creative and choosing a few colours that I thought complemented each other.
I first chose the background of my image because I was curious to know if they had any library related theme's -to my surprise Blogger does under their Arts category! And considering I fell in love with the stack of books style cake I thought I'd follow suit with the background too.
I also accessed the advanced feature of my blog and tested a few colours finally deciding that white was the way to go for post text and green for the post background (tried to complement the dark colours of the books there). I also made the blog title bold and the links a pretty baby blue (specially chosen from the dynamic colour wheels).

I'm a proud woman today. Hope you appreciate the colour scheme!

Chihuahua's and the Queen of Shhhhhh...

So I found this clip which features a figurine of Nancy Pearl being eaten by a book reading chihuahua -clearly someone has too much time on their hands (good use of 1940's dramatic film score though)

And now for the real Nancy.....

Story Time Session

I found an interesting Story Time Session Rapid City Public Library it features a Rush Hockey Team member reading the children's book, "Zachary and the Championship", a book about a young boy playing championship hockey. He reads to the children along with the Rush Hockey Team mascot sitting next to him, I believe he might be a horse or a donkey for entertainment. Rapid City Public Library (rapidcitylibrary) are the authors of this clip. Unfortunately I am unsure who the hockey player is but the author of the book in Matt Tavares.

The clip can be found here:
Rapid City Rush Hockey presents Library Story Time

Princeton Public Library's 100th Birthday

So I've finally found photo's of the most amazing birthday cakes...-EVER! My favourite, a cake made in the shape of a stack of classic books was the official birthday cake for the 100 year old Princeton Public Library. Atop the 10 stack of books is the Catcher In The Rye one of my all time favourite classics!

The photostream for the library can be found below it is the 100th Birthday Party photos of the NJ Library Events Group:

The Princeton Public Library 100th Birthday Party

Other great pics can be found at The New Jersey State Library's photostream:

New Jersey State Library's Photostream

Broadband Plans : Finland and Downunder

Just read an interesting article on the inclusion of broadband access to communications in Finland. Finlands Ministry of Transport and Communications will be "provid[ing] every permanent residence and business office with access to a reasonably priced and high-quality connection with a downstream rate of at least 1 Mbit/s."

Take a look:
Ministry of Transport and Communications : Press Release (29.6.2010)

Amazing. Hopefully the Labour Goverments new National Broadband Network Plan will prove to be affordable and fast. I'm glad we're jumping on board and looking to the future as it will help drive Australia's productivity, improve education and health service delivery and connect our big cities and regional centres.

For more information access:

New National Broadband Network : Joint media release

Useful Slideshare Presentation on the Dewey Decimal System

So I found an interesting Slide Share presentation which I believe would be useful for our Library Attendants who require refresher training on the Dewey Decimal System. The slide share presentation provides useful information on:

1. DDC & OCLC Ownership.
2. DDC - History & Extent of Use.
3. Classification: What It Is and What It Does.
4. Development of the Dewey Decimal Classification.
5. Framework and Structure.
6. Summaries.
7. Exercises.

Take a look!

Dewey Decimal Classification Presentation