RSS and bloglines

I've set up my bloglines account [week 4] - it took me a while to figure out how to get into the edit function to create folders (is this obsession with organisation a professional virtue or just me??) and I really like the link that allows you to email a posting - I can see some applications for that in part of my day-to-day work monitoring trends.

There are so many blogs that are interesting - at least with a bloglines account I can herd them into some kind of managable order. It reminds me of a line in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency / by Douglas Adams "we have dishwashers to wash the dishes that we can't be bothered to wash ourselves, we have video recorders to watch the television programs we can't be bothered to watch ourselves, and the Electric Monk is a labor-saving device which just believes all the things the world expects you to believe when you can't be bothered to" .... is bloglines going to read all the blog postings I don't have time to read?

I checked our new website and so far we don't have any rss feeds ... seems like there is some potential there - at least for key events like the sl*u35 club and other events and exhibitions.

Eaves dropping

I've just tried searching for our organisation in Technorati. It might not be the most appropriate way to find out what our clients are saying about our services but it's certainly useful to monitor it. I tried a variety of combinations and in the end using quotation marks to make it search for the "State Library of NSW" or "State Library of New South Wales" was the most effective.

I also searched for my name ..... yikes .... a friend has been blogging about her birthday and she has mentioned me! I think I will just have to hide in plain sight in this very 'public' 2.0 world we live in!

Video Bar - Library 2.0

I've added a video bar to my blog with the keywords Library 2.0 and Web 2.0. I'm a little nervous about what will "drop in" from Youtube but I think it's worth the risk to see what's out there and what people are saying about Library 2.0.

I think it would be great if we could use short video clips like this to provide information for some of our clients - perhaps using databases effectively, how to sign up for a readers card or the Making Connections program.

Lifelong learning

In week one we were challenged to be lifelong learners. I've always been interested in learning new things and some of the organisations I have worked for have really encouraged continuous learning in their employees. It certainly helps to keep on top of one's game professionally.

I remember when there was a lot of hype about being "learning organisations" largely inspired by Peter Senge's book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.
I guess with this training program we are putting into practice one of his principles by creating a common set of tools / methodologies and theories.

I'm quite excited about the possibilities - I know that within our organisation we have a lot of knowledge and skills in our staff. I'm impressed that it's so easy to use some of these Web 2.0 tools that with a little bit of support everyone can translate some of what they know into the online environment.

I'm very interested in the idea that Web 2.0 means collaborating with our customers and finding ways for them to contribute to the knowledge resources we create. We will have to try quite a few things I imagine before we find exactly the right mix of traditional and new services - but won't it be fun trying them out!

I think it's also a challenge for us to go into the places our clients look for information - if Wikipedia is so popular for example, wouldn't it be great if it included references to some of the unique items and information we have here?

Library of Congress blog

I am intrigued by the Library of Congress blog. It has such a personal chatty style which contrasts with what you might expect from a government agency. It's interesting to note that it does have a disclaimer: "This blog does not represent official Library of Congress communications. "

I also like the links off to their services including the catalogue, digital collections and "ask a librarian" this really integrates the blog with their website and promotes their resources. I note that the author, who is the Library’s Director of Communications has a background in journalism and speech writing.

This is the type of blog that I would put in an rss feed so I could keep up with what's happening at their library. It would be great to have something like this for our organisation.

Graphically speaking

I've been experimenting with the look and feel of my blog - I wanted to see if it could cope with an animated gif. Looks like it can't although when you click on the hula dancer you link through to a page where she does dance!

Test pilots

Wow ... at last we are ready to test the Learning 2.0 program for the staff. It's great to have so many enthusiastic test pilots on board already.

We're ready to blast off!