Geocaching and Wrap up

I had problems doing this part because I don't have a GPS or a fancy mobile phone and I don't intend to get either.  Let me say that I don't like the assumption that my friends have them, because not everyone spends their money on keeping up with the latest trend.  Also, I don't like the assumption that I even have friends.  I am an old, bitter and twisted woman (much like Ma Fratelli in The Goonies) who enjoys treasure hunts.  Maybe I don't want to understand what this device is all about because I don't want to let go of my paper map.  I want to walk 10 steps to the left near the rock that's shaped like a giant cradle..., not to be directed to some co-ordinate.  What's happened to the romance of the paper map?  The map that's burnt at the edges and has been folded so many times that when it falls to the ground it compacts like a piece of origami.  Sometimes it has been stuck down the front of someone's blouse, or hidden in a secret compartment in a carved walking stick.  And it's sticky and smells of perfume and wood and sweaty hands.

I've come to the end of this course and you must agree I've been pretty good up till now.  I've joined this and that and commented till my fingers have frozen in a permanent claw.  However, I cannot get rid of the sickening taste in my mouth.  The more I interact with computers the more I loathe them.   Last week at the gym a trainer told me that I had a flat arse because I'd forgotten how to communicate with it.  Look, here I am learning about wikis, blogs, widgets (by the way, pat my cat on its head and it meows), tweets, podcasts, and meanwhile I've forgotten how to interact with my arse. 

Thank you to Swan Libraries for organising this course.  It's introduced me to a lot of things I didn't know.  But now that I know about them I'm choosing to forget.  This course was a wake up call for me.  It convinced me that I don't want all the new gadgets that are available online, because there will always be more and more gadgets and hey, when will I ever be satisfied?  It's like children and their new toys.  How long do they play with them before they discover there are brighter, shinier toys out there.  I don't want lots of friends on Facebook or need to communicate with the world in short and meaningless Tweets.  I don't want to be part of this techno consumerism and I'm opting out.   Being satisfied with who you are (flat arsed crone) and what you already have is more important to me.

PS:  My recommendation for a future course is Writing for the Web. 

Podcasting

Congratulations to Lawley and Michael from the City of Cockburn Libraries for their first podcast, "Stepping Stones to the Past", a talk on genealogy.  At first I tried to listen to it but couldn't download it.  Maybe there should be some information on the page telling how you download an MP3 file.  Not everyone has RealPlayer or similar or is even familiar with the term podcasting.  Radio National has a good page on Podcasting Help.

The talk was very interesting and I was surprised by the good sound quality.  The only shortfall was when Mike was talking about the birth certificates, death entries and census forms. Seeing the forms would have added another dimension to the talk.  Many oral histories have the same problem when the interviewee is describing a photo on the recording.  Maybe a screencast would have been more effective in this situation?
Anyway a fantastic first effort.   

Online Videos

Now you're talking my language.  This is something that I can relate to.  Here is one of my favourite singers, Leonard Cohen and a great clip.  I play this on the days it is very hot outside.  It relaxes me and the snow and ice make me feel cool.




I really appreciate all the effort that people put into their online videos, especially the self help ones.  It's great to watch someone cooking or laying a laminate floor.  This spirit of sharing information is commendable. I've never been one to follow written instructions very well and I have probably missed a lot of work in this course because I glossed over the words.  These practical how to do videos are very useful and a key to how the library can possibly use youtube.  15 minutes is long enough to show novices how to set up their own email account.  It could also be used to give instructions on Facebook, wikis and blogs.

I also like the idea of digital storytelling and sharing the stories through youtube.  Short oral histories and human libraries can be documented this way to nuture a more inclusive community.

Twitter

I'm not a great fan of Twitter.  It's such a twee and lightweight name, like the product.  My first complaint is about the limit on the words.  That cramps my flow of consciousness style.  As you can see from my blogs I'm a waffler.  That particular style has been crafted over many years and its hard for me to be succinct.
The second is that I just can't see how my life could be enhanced by Twitter.  I don't want to have a condensed version of what people are doing/thinking. 
I suppose I can see the use in libraries in sending quick messages about library news and interesting sites.  But if you're already using Facebook, why would you need Twitter as well?  I'm beginning to think that you can become overwhelmed by all these devices.  Libraries have to be careful of information overload.  I don't want to navigate a complex library website and I don't have the time to waste on this feathery fluff. (Twitter name LubaKa)

Facebook

(Aside) I really like the way this site stores your blog as you type.  My computer went haywire after I installed Delicious and keeps on cutting me off all the time.

I often use Facebook to see how other people live their lives.  Yes, I'm a voyeur.  Not in a sinister way.  More like James Stewart in Hitchcock's Rear Window, although I don't have my leg in a cast as an excuse.  I am loathed to make comments, but that surely is the trademark of a voyeur.  The silent watcher who nods in a knowing way, and strokes their beard.  I wish I had a beard.  I'm not sure why people share all their personal details on Facebook.  I suppose I've been doing that in this blog, so maybe it's time for me to take off my overcoat and reveal myself in Facebook too.

Has anyone seen the film Catfish?  It's about the perils of Facebook.  Not sure whether its a real documentary though.  Whether it's real or not, it asks important questions about the security and genuineness of Facebook.   

At the City of Cockburn we use Facebook as a marketing tool to promote our events and distribute library information.  We have slowly been building up our membership but it seems like our Facebook is a one way street.  There isn't much interaction going on at all.  Recently we began a poetry competition on Facebook called Roses are red, violets are blue.  People have to join as our Facebook friends and complete the rhyme to win a $100 gift voucher.  To date we've only received 10 entries.  It's hard work.

LibraryThing

This is a great tool and it was easy to use.  I wonder if there's a similar thing for movies? 

I'm not a great reader of fiction.  When I start reading I have to do it in one sitting otherwise I carry the characters around in my mind and agonise over their fates in between readings.  I never developed good reading habits because there weren't any books in my house when I was growing up.  Neither of my parents read English and there weren't any books available in Russian.  The only book that I remember was the bible that my parents received when they were naturalised.  We mustn't have had much paper either because my brother drew guns and tanks in the fly pages of the bible.

I grew up watching movies every Saturday at the Rosemount Cinema in North Perth and listening to serials on the radio.  I was given my  first book, "Little Women", as a birthday present from a family friend at the age of 10 and I read it over and over again.   There wasn't a library at my school at Swan View Primary.  There was a small library in Midland Junction though.  I went once but didn't feel welcome.  The Renown Cinema at Midland  Junction however was a very social place where you would be called up on stage if it was your birthday and everyone would sing "Happy Birthday" to the accompaniment of the organ.  You would also pound your feet on the wooden floors and make a lot of noise when there was an exciting part in the movie.  No wonder I prefer movies to books.

As usual I digress.  LibraryThing is a good way of sharing your favourite books with others,seeing their reviews and writing some of your own.  We use LibraryThing at Cockburn Libraries in the catalogue, with the aim that the reviews will assist our readers to select their next book.  Maybe LibraryThing should be promoted to parents who can read the reviews to their pre-school children and help them choose their next read as well.  It's a pity, however, that not many of the reviews of children's books are written by children.

Delicious

I'm a totally disorganised librarian.  My desktop is full of files, the same as my desk.  It reminds me of a silent film with WC Fields.  His desk was about a metre high in papers.  However, he was able to dive in and retrieve the one he wanted.  Not that I can do that.  I spend quite a bit of time looking for files.  Yes, I have heard of folders, but there is something innate deep within me that resists order.  The desktop reflects my mind that jumps from one thing to another like a monkey.  Yes, that's it.  I have a monkey mind.  Delicious seems like the perfect answer for me.  It does the organising for me. 

This would be great tool for my job as Adult Services Librarian.  I have to organise events such as talks and workshops.  Often I find a lead on the net for a speaker but it's lost on my desk when I print it out or in the myriad of favourites on my computer at home.  Delicious would be able to store the link to a website or blog, and allow me to retrieve it at a later date, even at my computer at work.  The only problem I foresee is that bookmarks are only as good as the tags.  Nevertheless I'm determined to transfer all my favourites to Delicious, after I play with the cat, try a game of Sudoku, finish knitting those socks........

The link to my bookmarks is http://www.delicious.com/lkambourakis