23 Things Plus 5 - Staff Learning

The 23 Things staff learning experience has enabled me to become more aware of the impact that Social Networking and Web-based Technologies have on the learning styles of Generation-Y and how these technologies may be integrated into the classroom with particular reference to Information Literacy Classes to engage these learners. However the proliferation of these social media and web-based technologies has presented the challenge of knowing which ones are most appropriate for social engagement and collaborative learning and how these may be implemented.

The following five tasks are in addition to the 23 Things that have previously been explored:

• Connect with colleagues using LinkedIn


• Use VuFind to search a library catalogue


• Use KartOO Visual Meta Search Engine
  

• Try Voyage RSS Feed Reader


• Read about the Semantic Web
  

Connect with colleagues using LinkedIn

Immediately after joing LinkedIn I was able to re-connect with colleages and classmates living in various parts of the world whom I was unable to locate for many years. LinkedIn connections through institutions and their internal mail feature were invaluable in the search process. I see great potential for using LinkedIn in collaborative projects with colleagues from different institutions.

Use VuFind to search a library catalogue

Using VuFind to search the National Library of Australia's Catalogue was an enjoyable experience. I like the simplicity of the catalogue's interface and the effecient way the search system allows the user to perform a basic search and then to be able to narrow down results by choosing from various facets of the results. This allows the user to find results that he would otherwise never knew existed.

VuFind seems like a good alternative as an OPAC interface for Swinburne. One of the key advantages of using this product is that its flexibility allows the library to combine its traditional catlaogue functionality with some web 2.0 features.

Use KartOO visual meta search engine

At first glance the KartOO interface did not appeal to me. Perhaps the lack of appeal was due to the quirky gene perching above the search box. However, after doing a few searches I could appreciate the benefits of using visual display of search results, though I am comfortable with the linear method. I like the idea of being able to look across a broad selection of cites. This kind of search result is particularly effective for ambiguous queries where the searcher is trying to understand various meaning of the search term. In any case, I don't see myself using KartOO as a preferred search engine.

Try Voyage RSS feed reader

My first experience with Voyager was a bit frustrating as I couldn't figure out how to use it intuitively. However after several trial and error attempts I was able to add/delete and retrieve feeds successfully. Understanding the functionality made the experience worthwhile, in fact even somewhat mystical, particularly with being able to scroll your mouse to move from present to past with messages floating beyond reminding me of Star trek!

Read about the Semantic Web

The idea of a Semantic Web is a marvellous one, but wether this will be a reality is yet to be proven. The thought of being able to encode semantics on a web page to enable machines to understand the meaning of data and then make inferences is a revolutionary one when it comes to the World Wide Web. This means that the web will have new functionality that will go beyond simply displaying data, it will now be able to process and understand it. If this becomes a reality, then there will be no difference between information produced primarily for human consumption and that produced mainly for machines.

According to some proponents of the Semantic Web, at present there seems to be some progress towards making this idea a reality, because two important technologies for developing the Semantic Web are already in place, namely:

• eXtinsible Markup Language (XML): which allows the user to add arbitrary structure to their documents and
  

• Resource Description Framework (RDF): which expresses meaning and has a natural way of describing the vast majority of data processed by machines
  

The most formidable challenge that creators of the Semantic Web now face, is their ability to add to add logic to the Web. I am looking with eager anticipation to see how this will become a reality!

Reference

Berners-Lee, T , Hendler & Lassila, O 2001, ‘The Semantic Web,’ Scientific AmericaVol. 284, no. 5, pp. 34, Viewed 20 August 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=4&sid=63c00564-

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WEEK 13 : CONCLUSION

Feedback - 23 Things Online Learning Program:

The 23 things experience has broaden my perspective of communication and information delivery. This was a very engaging and inspiring experience, one that has given me the courage to embrace new technologies and inspired me to explore and investigate new discoveries without any apprehension. The 23 Things Learning Project has also galvanized the efforts of the staff members to unite and succeed as a group across all campuses. This learning program was a great asset to building team spirit among the library staff.

I envisage using many of these Social Software tools in my present and the future work environment as well as with leisure activities.

WEEK 12: SECOND LIFE AND LIBRARIES!

Read about Second Lief and how Libraries are using it:

Second Life is a Virtual World, built and owned by its users. According to the University Medical Centre Groningan, within this Virtual World, participants:

· Meet each other

· Interact, compete, collaborate, learn from and talk to each other

· Engage in Distant Learning

· Establish Virtual Communication

· Go anywhere and do anything

Second Life has established new frontiers for educators (including librarians) who are looking for ways of dissemination information and making learning a more engaging and interactive experience. However, these new frontiers come with new challenges and problems, and it is exciting to observe as these unfold.

In attempting to understand how Second Life operate and what challenges and problems may be encountered, I signed up and successfully downloaded the software but was unable to gain access. It appeared that access was no longer granted through Swinburne University’s server. I tried several times, but access was denied. I gave up trying, and just resorted to reading about the experiences of those who are current participants or thse who had previously shared in the Second Life experience.

Week 11 : Podcasts!

Find and Listen to a Podcast or two:
From Google I located a number of podcasts for conference papers from the VALA Conference held in Melbourne in 2006. I attended one day of this conference and enjoyed many interesting and informative presentations but would have liked to hear other presentations which were delivered simultaneously with the ones I had chosen. Now I am able to listen to the ones I missed. It is much easier to listen to the podcasts rather than to read the pdf version of these papers. You can check out these podcasts at the following address: http://www.vala.org.au/vala2006/auth2006.htm

Week 10 Wikis and Video Sharing

Put Photo of Your Pet on the Wiki:
This photo was put on the Wiki to represent my beloved Billy, a pet with whom I had a close bond many years ago in Jamaica, before he ended up on the dinner table for some unknown reason to me. Since then I learnt not to develop any close bond with any pets, but I still remember Billy with much fond memories!! Nanny and her baby in this photo are descendants of Billy. This photo was taken on a recent trip to Jamaica!

Watch YouTube Videos People Have Made About Libraries:
YouTube has a number of interesting and informative videos about libraries and among these, I found the following two videos most informative:

• The University of Southern California Library of the Future Awards Ceremony: This video shows the unveiling of the visions of students from USC during their 2007 parents weekend. The team of student presenters used slide presentations to give their creative visions of the form and function of the future of academic libraries. They included the architecture, the technology and how students will use the library to achieve their academic goals.
  

• Voices from Imagination to Transformation Mid- Atlantic Library Conference:

In this video a number of delegates from a Mid-Atlantic Library Conference expressed their views about libraries of the future. Some of the areas covered in their forecasts for future libraries included:

• Emerging trends
  
• Environmental sustainability of library buildings and landscapes
• Transformations caused by social networking
• New approach to content creation and
  
• Convenience of information access

It is reassuring to know that Swinburne University of Technology Library has already had in place or is currently implementing many of the suggestions given by the delegates as their forecasts for future libraries.

Weeks 8 & 9

iGoogle Home Page:
Having a personalized iGoogle Home Page is a good idea. This enables me to get a quick glance at a wide variety of information from Google and across the web at one go. Creating the iGoogle Home Page and organizing its contents was very easy and straightforward:


Play With Delicious:
Delicious is a very effective medium for keeping all your book marks in one place. I found it quite convenient using this social bookmarking website to access my bookmarks from any computer and in adding bookmarks form anywhere. Another advantage I found is the ability to see the links to my friends bookmarks and to be able to share mine with them:



Read about the Library 2.0 Movement:
My investigation of the Library 2.0 movement, has revealed that it represents a paradigm shift in the way library services are viewed today. The Library 2.0 movement seems to foster a seamless user experience by reaching out to the library communities via social networking (blogs, wikis, IM and screencasting etc.). Its about user participation, making their voice hear through blogs , wikis and making the library space (virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative and driven by community needs.

Week 7 Google Tools

Play with Google Maps:

• I have used Google Maps to locate some of the places visited during my recent world trip. I was particularly interested in locating a satellite image of the Sansters International Airport In Montego Bay, and Google Maps was very helpful (image to the right). I found it quite fascinating to use the Satellite locater to find places.
  

Play with Google Docs:

• I have previously used Google Docs to produce a Spreadsheet that was shared among a group for a project.

Play with Google Book Search:

• I found Google Book Search quite fascinating, because it does not limit your search to the bibliographic contents of a book only, but rather it searches the contents of the book to find a match for your search term. Google Book Search also allows you to preview the contents of your search results or at times even the entire text of the book. There are other features available to make the acquisition of a book quite easy.