16. Commenting on my teacher's blog

I've commented on Gary's "Current Awareness Post"

15. Commenting on other blogs

 

14. Inviting people to be authors of my blog

 

I've invited:

Mohammod Hossain

Alex

Amna Abbas

to be authors of my blog, and they all accepted the invitation.

13. Changing the arrangement of my blog

I've changed the Layout of my blog by:

 

* adding a different menu (on the left),  and changing some titles

* adding a picture of books with a caption that says "READ!"

* adding the list of my classmates/co-authors to the blog

* adding News Feed

12. Changing the colour of my blog

I've changed some colours of my blog. What I've done was:

* changed the main font's colour/titles' colour
* blogger logo style/colour
* changed the background colour
* changed the menu colour

11. Recommendations for Mascot Library (2.0 technologies)

As I already mentioned in my previous post, 2.0 technologies are very well used by our Mascot Library, and all 5 library service areas (Local Studies, Teenage/Youth, Adult Fiction, Info/Reference and especially Children's) are provided on their official website and blog.
Web 2.0 is about seeing the Web as a platform for services, and providing innovative software and services on the net.
Mascot Library especially succeeded in educating its members about Mascot Local Studies/History, using 2.0 technologies. The staff members created a whole blog about the history of the Library, the suburb itself and people living in the area (the blog-link was provided in one of previous posts). There are many interesting stories and photographs on the blog, plus a variety of great books provided by their online Catalogue and I would only recommend to the creators to post the articles more often.
Mascot Library website and its blog have a good collection of eResources for Children and Teenage/Youth (2 areas combined) where they provide the whole online collection of books, videos, magazines and other material-types just for teenagers and kids to enjoy. They've also used some podcasts, online eResources and databases, and the option to comment on items.
The Adult Fiction section is not as rich as the Children's, however they've included a tab called "New Adult Fiction" on their website, where people may find new interesting Adult Fiction online resources. It is probably the weakest area in terms of the use of 2.0 technologies, and I would strongly recommend the Library to provide more Web services to cover the area thoroughly.
And the last area, Information/Reference, one of the most important, is extremely well covered by the Mascot Library, using 2.0 technologies. There is a variety of rich databases and search systems provided on its blog and official website (like Zinio and OneClickdigital, etc.), the blog is also connected to other Information/Reference websites where people can find/learn more about the items they're looking for. Online services of the library include a Twitter/E-mail account and RSS Feed, where people can exchange messages and their opinion, and stay well-informed about new library activities and suchlike.
My recommendations for the Library would be to add more accounts like Facebook, Instant Messaging, Wikis, YouTube, Google+ and Flickr. These great sources of connection would improve Mascot Library services significantly. The examples of perfect library services in terms of using 2.0 technologies to its fullest are - the National Library of Australia (http://www.nla.gov.au/), The Library of America (http://www.loa.org/) and The British Library (http://www.bl.uk/).

10. Evaluation of Mascot Library 2.0 technologies

Web 2.0 is design-patterns and business models for the next generation of software. It is all about interactivity and openly sharing content with others. "Libraries were once the guardians of knowledge, and those seeking existing knowledge would engage with [them]. With rise of Google, Amazon, Wikipedia and more, there is an oft-stated fear that many users, will bypass processes and institutions that that they perceive to be slow, unresponsive, unappealing and irrelevant in favour of a more direct approach to services offered by others that just might be 'good enough' for what they need to do" ('Do Libraries Matter? The rise of Library 2.0' by Ken Chad and Paul Miller).
So what services are available in terms of 2.0 technologies in my local Mascot Library?
As the library services are concentrated on younger people interest, it has its own Twitter account, Blog, Online Catalogue, RSS Feed and Email account. The library's official website provides eResources of eMagazines, eAudiobooks, online Databases and Botany Bay Library Wiki. Mascot Library website has a good collection of eResources for Children, including: World Book of Learning search system for Kids and Students, Zinio and OneClickdigital. Online services of the library also contain eBooks, resources on Local Studies and a separate section called "New Release Adult Fiction" where eCatalogue of eBooks and related info is provided.
Summarising the above, 2.0 technologies are very well used by our Mascot Library, and all 5 library service areas (Local Studies, Teenage/Youth, Adult Fiction, Info/Reference and especially Children's) are provided on their official website and blog. Which means that the libary service allows participation, lets its users tailor services to their needs, uses what they know to expand value, opens up your content to comments, tagging, rating and sharing.

9. Community Profile

I live in the City of Botany Bay council area. There are two libraries in the area: "Central Library" and "Mascot Library and George Hanna Memorial Museum" (which is closer to where I live), so today I will be investigating Mascot Library service. 

Macot is highly industrialised and has more than 20 parks. It is a beautiful suburb with a very friendly multicultural community of almost 8.000 usual residents. As about 1/3 of them was born overseas, Mascot Library provides a very large collection of foreign books and books (written by foreign authors) that were translated in English. There are twice more young people who live in the suburb than people aged over 65, so the library service tries to fulfil the knowledge-wise needs of children and younger people.

City of Botany Bay website:
http://www.botanybay.nsw.gov.au/index.php/council-services/services/library-a-museum
"Mascot Library and George Hanna Memorial Museum"
http://swft.cobb.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/cobb
Library Blog
http://botanybaylms.blogspot.com.au/

8. Current Awareness

Personalisation is on the rise: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft etc. showing personalised limited search results marked the beginning of the era of personalisation and ignorance. "This trend is rising and the big companies predict that practically all information will be personalised in the near future". Huge amounts of data can easily turn to artificial intelligence and it is very scary to say the least.

We need to avoid falling into the bubble trap, and people who are responsible for such exclusion should really think of how significantly they damaged the image of true democracy.

7. Podcasts

TITLE: Exhibitions Podcast

Recording details: Paul Brunton talks about Charles Darwin

Library's name: State Library NSW

Summary:  Paul Brunton, Exhibition Curator, talks about Darwin's impressions of Sydney in 1836, and about the first edition of On the origin of species.

Part of the Charles Darwin Down Under, 1836 exhibition.

File size: 9.24 MB | Duration: 00:10:06
Tuesday 7 April 2009
Link: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/podcasts/exhibitions/index.html

6. Social Bookmarking

Online reviews, a form of online word-of-mouth, have recently become one of the most important sources of information for readers.

Book reviews can be very useful in a number of ways during the research process.
They may often give:

• information about the author,
• a summary of the book's contents,
• comparisons to other works in the field,
• and of course evaluative comments.

This proves that all libraries should provide this service. Unfortunately, the library that I use does not have this option available on their catalogue, but I hope they will fix that soon. 

5. Social Networking

It is a good idea for a library to participate on a social networking sites as online-social-hubs' members can gather and feel a sense of community and belonging. It's a perfect environment to find like-minded people and it's a great tool for portals, networking, marketing outreach etc. Library social networking can be used as a vehicle:
* to produce organised, multimedia knowledge bases by learners
* to collaborate with others
* to access needed information
* to build consensus among members of a community
* to help learners articulate and represent what they know, reflecting on what they have learned.

4. YouTube video

Nancy Pearl Reads Aloud New Children's Classic 

3. Photo sharing and Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/groups/library_of_congress/

The Library of Congress is America's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.
The picture shows some of the richest public interiors in the United States, the work of classically trained American sculptors and painters of the "American Renaissance". Its golden shapes are very symbolic, exhibiting the progress of civilization. This photograph reminds me of Paris with its similarly ambitious expression of national pride.
The statue in the middle is absolutely beautiful. Symbolising world's knowledge and wisdom, it inspires people to never stop learning.
http://www.loc.gov/visit/maps/
 

2. Investigating Blogs

Librarian in Black is Sarah Houghton's online blog which has been around since 2003. She is working as the Director for the San Rafael Public Library (California). [The views expressed on this site and in individual posts are not those of the San Rafael Public Library, the City of San Rafael, or any related agency.]

This blog is very easy to read, it has interesting presentations, pictures and publications. She's available to consult as an instructor on a wide variety of topics; and consults regularly with libraries in an informal advisory capacity on numerous technology topics.

It's up to date and I really liked its style. Miss Sarah Houghton's posts are very intelligent and interesting to read. It helps others find information on library web & digital services successfully. I would recommend this web-blog to people who are interested in technological aspects of managing/working in libraries.

1. What is Library 2.0?

Library 2.0 is a change in the way libraries interact with their users. Technological developments on the Web have had a major influence on these changes. The change also places new requirements on librarians’ competencies and skills. It provides new tools to make the library space (both virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative and driven by community needs. It encourages collaborative two-way social interactions between library staff and library customers. L2 requires user participation and feedback in the development and maintenence of library services.

Three Web 2.0 applications commonly used by Libraries are:

* Facebook
* WordPress
* Twitter

HELLO WORLD!