Something missed!!

I missed adding my RSS feed to my blog! Better late than never.

Simplicity

I'm an idiot. Adding my blog to the Learning 2.0 Favourites page was soo deceptively simple, I tricked myself into think that it was a little more complicated than what it was - I kept looking for a button or something to add my blog's url to the page. It was like typing in a web address in Word, the link just appeared! I got there in the end. I even added something to the favourite books page, so I guess this technology is not totally beyond me...........

I like wikis........................

I keep a series of folders containing booklists of Popular and Recommended Reading for Children and Teenagers. These resources were first established to provide Information Desk staff with a guide to help them find titles suitable for children or teenagers upon request if the Youth Services Librarian was not available. These files are kept on the book shelf at the Information desk and are available to both staff and patrons.

The file is divided into sections, each dealing with a particular issue, popular series or simply titles recommended by Youth Services staff for different age groups. In order to help the Information Desk staff feel confident in assisting parents look for possible items, each section consists of a series of booklists that not only supply the title and author, but also a short synopsis so that parents, children and young adults are able to make informed decisions before borrowing or making a reservation. Each title has been crosschecked with the catalogue to ensure that the item is held by WMRLC. The file is active, in that it is regularly checked in order to have new titles added or old ones removed.

As you may imagine - this is a labour intensive task. Also, sometimes thankless as some staff and parents are not always aware of the folders when looking for suitable books. These two points may change with the possible introduction of wikis.

If wiki software is introduced to the library service’s website, the Popular and Recommended Booklists would be readily available to all staff and families. Links to this information would be provided on the Parents, Children’s and Teenage web pages. The task of maintaining this resource would be easier as, instead of one member of staff adding and editing this information in a hard copy format, each Youth Services Librarian would be able to contribute to an electronic document. In turn, everybody would be able to benefit from this shared knowledge.

Technorati

I can see this as having 2 applications - one as a professional communication network discussing upcoming events, ideas and developments - the other as just out and out fun! Like YouTube it's a great repository of popular culture.

Del.icio.us

I'm not much good at learning new technology unless I play around with it a bit. So I signed up for a free del.icio.us account and I've got to say that I'm really impressed. It highlights a lot of what is wrong with Microsoft because Apple pcs allow you to create files and tags to organise bookmarked sites, although you can only access these lists from your PC. Web based bookmarks are an excellent resource sharing idea, I like the idea that I can create tags to describe and organise bookmarked websites as well as look at what websites are useful to colleagues. I guess the only weakness is that different people will inevitably different terms to describe the same thing.......................

Rollyo

Well, I must say, I had a bit of fun with Rollyo. I'm a bit of a passionate armchair traveller and love my food, especially food from around the world., so I put together a little list of what interests me in this area and the result is in the top left hand corner. Have fun with it.

LibraryThing

This is a little rushed as I'm about to go on Desk in a few moments. This looks to be an interesting tool - it would be good if libraries could take this idea and produce something similar, and little more personal for their borrowers.a

Me as a Potter Doll!

I think I liked the Harry Potter Doll generator best (http://elouai.com/chibi/harrypotter/icons.php) , now I can see what I'd look like as a little dolly.

Flickr

Well, I've finally done it! I've got a photo for flickr! It's not much, just a shot of the laneways around Little Flinders Street. I've got to say uploading this image on both flickr and blooger were much easier than I thought - the software is pretty intuitive. The biggest stress I had was finding an image.

RSS news feeds - like falling off a log

Wow, two blogs in one day! I am turning a new leaf! Well, I've signed up for the news feeds, which like I've said is like falling off a log. Hopefully, I should get some useful info for professional uses as well as be better able to keep up with current events.

I'm just not a bloggy sort of person

Apologies, I've never been a diary person and it seems that I'm just as bad when it comes to posting blogs, I just can't seem to get round to it. One of my colleagues has suggested that I post something I've been working on for the Information Services Librarians - an annotated bookist of suggested picturebooks on different topics for parents and children. So here we go with the first part.


Babies


Does a kangaroo have a mother too?
Eric Carle
Do animals have mothers too? Of course they do — just like me and you! Meet the little joey whose Kangaroo mother carries him in her pouch, and the cygnet who rides on the back of the mother swan, just two members of Eric Carle’s animal family. Animal babies with their caring and affectionate mothers come to life in Carle’s vibrant collage. The playful question and answer text invites children and adults to read aloud together. Repetition of key phrases helps preschoolers take the first step towards reading readiness. The gamelike format makes it easy to discover more about the world of nature and to learn the common names of some familiar — and not–so–familiar — animals. At the back of the book there is a special page listing the correct, but sometimes surprising names of animal babies, their parents and groups. Ages

Little Wallaby’s big adventure
By Michele Coxon


Daisy and the Beastie
By Jane Simmons
Daisy takes baby brother Pip on a Beastie hunt during which they meet all the animals on the farm.*

McDuff and the Baby
By Rosemary Wells
When Fred and Lucy bring home a baby, McDuff is worried! Ever since McDuff moved in, it's been just the three of them. Is there really room for one more in their family? This title presents the story of McDuff and his family for the very young children.

Little Bat
By Tania Cox
Little Bat is reassured by other rainforest animals and, although very nervous, finds that she can fly.

The world is full of babies
By Mick Manning
This book looks at different types of babies - including polar bear cubs, baby bats, piglets, and humans - and how they grow and develop.

Just a little something to help parents explain the arrival of new babies to the family.

Cheers and hopefully soon I have a photo for Flickr.