CCLlearn 2.0

The University of Canterbury uses RSS leads to Library News and Journals and to some library databases such as Science Direct or Scopus. The University Library is present on Facebook. They also run 'AskLive' which is a live online chat facility.

Television New Zealand uses RSS links to group articles according to subject - news, entertainment, sport, business, etc. It has a facility to share articles seen on the TVNZ site to friends on Facebook, Bebo and Twitter. The site has newsreaders and podcasts for news and entertainment programmes such as Shortland Street.

World Vision New Zealand has a newsreader link to Utube. St Johns Ambulance New Zealand is a more straightforward site with links to relevant information sites. The City Mission has presence on Facebook.

GLAMS (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums)

Museums NZ

Diffusion: has a Widget available that they would like people to embed in their websites/blogs to reach a wider audience. This widget displays a new random image from the Museums image catalogue each time the site is opened. There is also a museum blog open for comment from viewers, links to news items in newspapers and links to associated blogs.

Concentration: The site encourages viewers to search the collections, objects, events and provides a museums directory to collate information about museums around New Zealand.

Digital NZ

Diffusion: It is possible to follow Digital NZ on Twitter, communicate with Windows Live, there is an RSS link to recent articles and a blog.

Concentration: Digital NZ is a hub for Government online services organised by the National Library of New Zealand. The site collates information about NZ culture and heritage, broadcasting, education and government sectors, local community services and individuals.

KRIS

Diffusion: The site has RSS links to recent articles.

Concentration: Kiwi Research Information Service brings together open access research documents from New Zealand Universities, Polytechs, and other research institutions.

NZLive

Diffusion: The site has an RSS facility to link to in order to get most recent events, it has an event finder on Twitter and presence on Facebook. It has a community you can join to share your comments and meet other people. There is also the opportunity to list your event.

Concentration: NZ Events collates information about Events in New Zealand ranging from concerts, festivals, performing arts, sports and outdoor activities.

Matapihi

Diffusion: Not much. There are videos and 'interactives' which are articles from Museums but the site is very static and seems dated. The use of links to Facebook or Twitter would keep the site fresh with new information or comments. RSS feeds would help people keep up with new information as the site is updated.

Concentration: Matapihi describes itself as a selection of events in history from museums, libraries, archives and galleries around New Zealand.

Social Networking

This topic is infinitely more interesting than Podcasts! I joined Facebook and found my nephew, Josh, and two of my friends. I feel a bit shy about following Josh although I'm sure he wouldn't mind. After all, he has 1100 friends!

I had a look at Old Friends but I don't really want to make contact with anyone from the past I'm not already keeping in touch with. Curiosity may get the better of me however, one day. I've hardly got enough time to keep up with friends in person let alone follow some vaguely familiar people online.

Had a look a the business sites. Linkedin seems like a valuable tool for finding information in specific fields of business. Checked out Online Groups. Once again a handy tool for companies with employees in various locations, local or around the world to keep staff members in touch and communicating. Signed up to Ning - wonder what the forum will be about? Having trouble logging on to LAMS so will fill in task list next time I'm at work.

I'm starting to feel like the fella in the photo so I think I'll call it a day. It's been quite involved and I attended the CCC Fire Extinguisher course yesterday so I haven't had much of a rest. Am on my way to my father's to pick up a piece of carpet and it doesn't look like the weather has cleared much. My little glimpse of the outside shows me a bare tree waving frantically in the wind. May even snow tonight.

RSS, Podcasts and Newsreaders

I am working quickly through this section. I'm not a big news reader and hot off the press stuff doesn't appeal too much. The library RSS lead is a good one and I've subscribed to that. I understand it's necessary for libraries to keep up with the latest news - it's a great business tool and must make television and radio newsgathering easier for those involved in that industry.

I'd like to follow this blog http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/. Will read on and find out how to add it. Have done that. Add to dashboard.

Had a look at Technorati at the top 100 blogs. A lot of it is political or celebrity focussed and I'm just not interested. Syndicat8 seems well set out, but it's not very appealing to me.

Added a note to the Wiki about adding gadgets to your blog. Got a little confused about my login but all is resolved now.

Widgets and Gadgets - 'Goget' some

I looked at Digital New Zealand widget gallery. Apart from being a very ugly site (didn't like the colours at all) it was interesting and it's good to see so many widgets with New Zealand information on them.

I have been into Library Thing and set up my account. I've been wanting to have a look at Library Thing for some time as it would be a great way of keeping a record of the books I read. It's a great site. Not flash but easy to navigate through. I added a nice group of new books I've read but I can't seem to download the Widget. I would really love to add this to my blog. I am going to check with Jenny when she comes back from her break. At the moment I'm feeling quite frustrated!

As far as Widgets suitable for Library sites are concerned, a widget to search another library's catalogue could prove extremely useful. If added to a library Wiki, widgets would enable librarians to have links to frequently used sites all on one page. This would save librarians time having to search for sites on outside sources. Widgets with information about genealogy could also be useful or other favourite research sites.

Jenny has just come back from tea break and helped me download widgets for Library Thing and the weather forecast. I needed to open HTML/Javascript link, give the Widget a title, add the code to the body and, lo and behold!, I now have wonderful Widgets up and running! I'm so excited. The weather is there whenever I need it.

I've also experimented with Netvibes. I like it. It looks neat and tidy and contains more information. I've set myself up on Facebook. It's all a bit overwhelming and I'm waiting for my confirmation to happen. Netvibes seems like a good site to keep all my online activities in one basket. A little concerned how far down the birthdate list I had to go to find the year I started High School! Will have a chat to Jemima about my Facebook. She'll have plenty of tips about using it effectively I'm sure. It would be very nice to have a new computer at this stage. I think the old Global PC will gasp and keel over with all this new activity.

Music in May (hem)

Back at Central today for the next instalment of LAMs. Feeling tired due to a late night but I am enjoying learning about all this new technology. The bus ride in today was not so bad. I had the same elderly bus driver who managed the trip with ease and it was, all in all, a pleasant experience.

Last night I went with husband Jeremy, mother-in-law Lyn, and nine year old Lydie to see my eldest daughter, Jemima, perform at the McCombs Performing Arts Centre. Cashmere High have a yearly concert called aptly "Music in May". Jemima plays the tin whistle for the Irish Band and plays the clarinet for the Concestra. (For those who have never heard the word 'Concestra' before, don't panic. I hadn't either. Jemima assures me it's a invented word, made by blending 'Concert Band' and 'Orchestra' together.)

It was a cool, dark evening and I was tired. The organisation involved in getting children from school to two different swimming pools and then one to gym and geting dinner cooked and the washing in and the beds made and fire lit and the dog fed had almost got the best of me. But I worked miracles. At 6:20pm I thought I had it all sussed. We had eaten, changed into concert going gear, and I was pulling down the damper on the logburner when Jemima let up a wail. I ran to her room half expecting to see her being abducted by aliens, to find something even worse had happened. Jemima was holding up pieces of her tin whistle. The plastic mouthpiece had snapped in half.

"What the ..?" I said, in an understanding tone.

"It's broken," she wailed.

"No kidding," I said. "Quick, get your old one."

"I haven't seen it for years," she said, and started rummaging in overflowing desk drawers.

I looked around her room. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, books spilling out of the bookcase, two sports bags oozing their contents like animals shot at point blank range ... it didn't take a genius to realise finding a tin whistle in a juvenille junkstack in under two hours was a lost cause.

"You'll just have to tell your teacher it's broken," I started.

Jemima's jaw quivered, "But I'll be the only one .." (Such a thought is a teenager's worst nightmare.)

Then, voila! Jeremy arrived like Superman to the scene of a planet threatening event with a roll of cellotape and proceeded to tape the whistle back together. I tell you, he can fix anything!

We were off and got her to the PAC with a minute to spare.

The concert was great. The Orchestra was incredibly good and the inspiration the conductor, Grant Bartley, imparts on his pupils was a joy to watch. The kids responded to his every gesture with the baton. The Stage Band, the Choirs and the piece by the Senior Music Students were excellent. It was wonderful to see kids enjoying music. The Concestra was not up to the standard of the Orchestra because the kids in it are either new to Cashmere or learning as part of the music programme, but they performed 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with courage and vigour and the experience will encourage them to move forward with their music. I couldn't identify Jemima's tin whistle sounding odd in the Irish Band and she appeared to be playing up a storm so it must have held together just fine.

So, inspite of the busy day and the moments of pre-concert panic, it was a brilliant night and I'm glad I went. A gold coin donation is a small price to pay for quality entertainment and, if I'm tired today, it was worth every hazy moment. One further positive note - a tin whistle only costs $16.50 for a brand new one. Thank goodness it wasn't the clarinet that was damaged!

Autumn @ the library

It's raining today. Not the measly drizzle we've been having till now, but good solid rain. There is snow on the Canterbury ski fields and the leaves are tumbling off the trees. It is time to get the camera out and take photos of my favourite time of year.

The leaves on the trees outside the library are beautiful. The colours sing against the grey sky and the plants that have been overshadowed by their showy summer neighbours are taking centre stage again. I love plants with red stems, the limbs of trees peeking out from underneath petticoats of leaves, puddle mirrors reflecting the lights of cars and houses. I would like to use my blog to show images of autumn and publish some poems. Anything topical on the day.

Intro to Blogging

Today I am taking part in the Christchurch City Libraries Learn programme. I've been looking forward to this. I want to know more about blogging especially and this is such a good opportunity to learn.

I was superorganised this morning. Woke at 5.45am, stared into darkness until 6:30. What luxury! Listening to the sounds of the morning and the hollowness around the objects in the room. At 7:00am I started my Morning Pages a la Julia Cameron - three pages of thoughts every morning. I've been doing this for more than a month now and I am finding it brilliant. It does take a while though. At least half an hour a day but it does sort out my head and help me organise myself. Settling down the 'gremlin of the mind'.

After that I had a shower, did my hair, woke the girls, made them breakfast, sorted out their lunches, packed their bags, fed the dog, patted the cat, hung out the washing, put another load of teatowels on, and headed up the hill with Lydie in tow to the bus stop. The 8:34am bus was on time but the ride into town was terrifying. The poor bus driver. He was an elderly man and kept muttering under his breath about running late.

That is a ridiculous time to get to town - 30 minutes down Christchurch's busiest road at rush hour. The route needs at least another 5 minutes tacked on for variables. I felt quite scared at one stage when the driver beetled down the bus lane at 70kmph. Heaven knows what would have happened if someone had stepped off the curb. If the bus left the Sign of the Takahe at 8:24 rather than 8:34, things would run much more smoothly especially until the bus lanes are in place properly. I'm going to email the Council and tell them of my concerns. Also, the old 8:17am service was always full to bursting with passengers. This 8:34am bus was only a quarter full and I'm sure it's because people can't guarantee getting to work on time. The driver got our bus to Ballantynes on time 9:55am, but he was stressed and people on the bus were too!

Still, I made it on time. Got into the lift with other people in my course. It's a nice small group and I think I'm going to enjoy blogging.