The tedium of RSS feeds

Well, it's been a while - about 7 weeks - since I last did any learning 2.0. It's good to be back!

I looked at the Week 6 exercises today, on RSS feeds. I didn't have a very good time - in fact I think I am only slightly less confused than I was before I started! I managed to subscribe the the Powerhouse Museum Photo of the Day and to a SMH news blog. I may be doing something wrong, but it wasn't clear to me how to find decent sites to get RSS feeds from. Even the Powerhouse site wasn't clear - I subscribed by searching for it on the Bloglines site - nowhere on the Powerhouse site could I find something saying "click here for RSS feeds' or something similar. I searched the web for some time, but couldn't find any other sites I was able to or was interested in getting feeds from.

I will have another go soon - hopefully with more enthusiasm and luck!

On another note - does anyone else find it annoying that there is no spell checker when you are posting? I realise I rely on it quite a lot.

Wikis again

I've had another quick think. I do think wikis could be useful for internal use, eg for procedure manuals, database login details, troubleshooting etc - instead of having folders full of information about procedures it would be good to have all the needed information in one easy to access, and easy to update, place.

See, I've started to change my mind already.

Wikis

I've had a look at all of the Wikis suggested - I must say that so far I haven't been overwhelmed with exitement about how they can be used in library world. Perhaps it's just me feeling a bit jaded. I will have a go at the other suggested explorations and exercises and maybe I will change my mind. I hope so!

I guess I couldn't really see what was so good about using a wiki to tell clients etc about collections and other aspects of the Library. A well designed website seems more efficient in communicating this sort of information. The Montana History Wiki for example just seemed to be a list of guides and links that could just as easily gone straight on to the Library's website rather than clients having to find the Wiki then find the subject guide they want.

Stay tuned to see if I change my mind about how wikis can be used in our library.

Teamwork

Teamwork
Originally uploaded by lunalina

I thought this was quite cute to illustrate the value of 'teamwork". Hopefully we at the State Library give each other a helping hand throughout our working day.

It's quite hard to find photos to illustrate a concept like teamwork or valuing people - it was much easier finding pictures of the State Library.

In order to avoid any copyright issues, I always go into Advanced Search and limit my searches to photos available on creative commons. I'm not sure if this is being sensible and librarian-like, or just plain boring and unnecessary.

"all phones functional!"

"all phones functional!"
Originally uploaded by peterchen

This is what I chose to illustrate the value of "innovation and engagement". I chose this image because the phone was an amazing innovation of it's time. Hopefully, we can be as innovative here at the State Library!

All lit up

State Library Projection
Originally uploaded by Leorex

I chose this image of the State Library because I love the look of the city during the festival when all the buildings are all lit up.

Searching Flickr and finding images is easy enough, but I found the process of setting up a yahoo account and Flickr account a bit fraught! I got there in the end though, and hope this works. I can't believe how many different sign ons and passwords are required, and I'm only up to week 3!

Starting a blog

This is my first ever blog, and I'm quite proud! It was easier than I thought to do, and I can already see some of the uses blogs could be put to in Library world, eg letting people know about exhibitions, communicating information to public libraries etc. No doubt I will think of many more interesting uses for blogs before this course is over.