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/