"Slamming the boards"

Basically "Slamming the boards" is reference work online - so of course there could be a role for my library in this area. It would probably be a good way to interact with young adult users, in particular. Again, it comes down to the staff resources available to provide the service. There are a number of ideas that could be implemented from the Learning 2.0 program, it is just a matter of prioritising them.

del.icio.us

del.icio.us could easily be used for bookmarking research sites. It has the addvantage of being able to be maintained by all the library staff, co-operatively. The tool is very easy-to-use too, so all the staff would pick it up quickly. As it said in the Learning program, who better to "categorise" web sites than library staff!

Videos

This weeks topic seems very relevant to use in libraries! I think the Mosman Library's videos of Author Evenings are great. At my library we have author talks also - this is something we could easily adopt. Local History and in particluar, Oral Histories, are another area that should be explored. The only limitation seems to be finding enough time to implement some of the ideas from this week's topic.

Wikis

The Book Lovers Wiki at the Princeton Public Library is neat. I like that it gives the customers reviews of titles the library holds and that the customer just links directly from the title to the library catalogue to see if it is available etc. From a customer perspective, it certainly is a value-added service. It makes the library web page more like amazon.com!

RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds demystified at last! I just didn't find the time before to find out, so this program has been useful in focusing my attention. I can see how they might be applied to public libraries - to get information out there to the end- user. In particular for things like regular newsletter content...

The sites I selected for RSS feeds include PC Magazine - new product reviews (because I usually browse these in hardcopy); ABC News - Just in (for breaking news); LibraryBytes; PowerHouse Museuem - photo of the day; and Bloglines -News.

What I like personally about RSS and newsreaders is that they can save me time in keeping up-to-date with areas of interest.

Cat reads newspaper

Cats love to read which makes them ideal companions for library staff!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saltyseamist/245157755/