Libraries are fun!

I recently took the plunge and finally got broadband connected at home, which means for the last couple of months I've been able to check out the amazing range of videos on websites like youtube and google videos.

I found a library related video to include in my blog. It's a clip by an Australian electronic musician called Artificial (Real name Nicole Skeltys. Nicole was one half of legendary electro-femme duo b(if)tek). This track is from her second Artificial album called "Libraries are Fun". The album was actually launched with a live performance in a public library somewhere in Melbourne (not sure which one though).

I like the idea of libraries using online video. At the library where I work we conduct a lot of activities and events (author talks, cultural celebrations, law talks, HSC lectures, etc), it would be great to record some of these and make them available on the library's website via youtube or something similar in the same way that Mosman Library has done with their author talks.

Other good uses for video could be clips giving demos on how to conduct advanced catalogue searches and also library information presented in different languages. I think there are definitely some good things that we could do with online video at my library. Unfortunately, at the moment our IT department considers youtube to be the root of all evil and so I think we'd have a few hurdles to get over before we could start doing something like this, but I like to remain hopeful.

Ok, here's a completely non-library related clip of one of my all time favourite bands, "Mark Stewart & the Maffia" performing live in some dingy club.

I admit it... I'm a big wikipedia fan

I know about all the arguments against it saying that it's unreliable because anyone can contribute info to it, but I think it's good practise to be somewhat cautious with any information you read anyway, whether it's "official" or otherwise.

One of the linked articles (can't remember which one) argued that wikipedia's popularity was largely due to the fact that it was quick, easy and convenient to use... and I tend to agree. If I want to find out what's going on in the latest episode of Torchwood just screened in the UK, I go to wikipedia. If I want to get some more background info on why Joss Whedon's "Firefly" was axed by FOX, I go to wikipedia. If I want to get the lowdown on how to boil an egg, I go to wikipedia. I'm not claiming that wikipedia is the "be all and end all" of recorded human knowledge, but it's a good place to start looking.

I had a look at some of the wikis in the discover task:

Book Lovers Wiki
I think this is a great idea, but I was a bit disappointed with it. The handful of books which I looked at only had single reviews attached to them and they were generally pretty brief. I think it would have been much better if they had multiple reviews providing different opinions of the book - a bit of an online discussion group.

Wookieepedia
Considering Star Wars is one of the greatest film series ever, I thought I'd have a look at this. I know that Star Wars fans can be a bit "particular" so I'm pretty confident that all the facts in this wiki have been meticulously researched and debated! I discovered a new character I'd never heard of, Jaina Solo - Han and Leia's Jedi Knight daughter... amazing stuff.

Library Success Stories
This looks like a great wiki. I had a bit of a look at the marketing section and there seems to be some useful links here. This is a great example of knowledge sharing. I hadn't looked at this wiki before now... but I'll be back!

So how could my library use wikis? I really like the idea of a wiki procedures manual along the lines of the one used by Antioch Uni. At the moment our procedures are all "out there" somewhere, but I think this would be a great way organise and centralise them, and make them more accessible. I also think a book discussion group wiki could be a good way to get some two-way interactivity going with our library patrons. Linking these reviews or discussions to the actual items on the library catalog would be a great feature.

Finally, some other interesting wikis I've come across:

Doctor Who Wiki
This is the place to go for all Dr Who related info. As with Star Wars fans, DW fans tend to be very "particular" as well so this site is pretty comprehensive.

James Bond Wiki
Who was the bond girl in "Goldfinger"? What was the first Bond car? Who sang the theme song to "You Only Live Twice"? It's all here!

Webtender Wiki
More cocktail recipes here than you could point a muddler at. Make mine a martini... easy on the vermouth!

Dub Wiki
Dedicated to the glorious sounds of dub music, although obviously still in an early developmental stage. King Tubby is a legend!

Addendum...
I did the "explore" exercise last night and contibuted to the NSW Learning 2.0 wiki. I watched the PB Wiki video tour first as suggested and then thought I'd give it a go. It was pretty easy to do and quite fun. I like these wiki things!

Feed me Seymour... Feed Me!!!

Ok, RSS feeds... I quite like them! At the previous library where I worked I had a lot to do with setting up the library's website and we had quite a few RSS feeds in the "ready reference" section. There were a few different news links - Aust news, Euro news, Asia news, etc., plus I think we had sports news and a couple of others. My favourite was a "quirky news" feed which had offbeat news items from around the world and was usually a good laugh. We kept stats of the number of hits to these RSS feeds and I seem to remember that they used to get a reasonably healthy number of clicks each month. If used in the right way, I think RSS feeds can definitely add value to a library website and hopefully encourage return visitors.

I've had a Bloglines account for a while now. I was inspired to get one after the Helen Blowers seminar held at the State Library last year. I probably don't look at it as often as I should, but I aim to make a concerted effort to check it more often from now on.

My Bloglines currently has the following feeds:

Bloglines News
Comes as a default feed and gives updates on what's happening with Bloglines. I haven't really looked at this much to be honest.

Powerhouse Museum: Photo of the Day
I added this the other day as per our "Discover" task. The first image it sent was "Mandala" which I quite liked, but none of the others since have really grabbed me.

Learning 2.1
This is pretty cool. I've found links to a few good websites here that I'd never heard of before.

TechCrunch
Again, there are links here to some really interesting looking websites.

Wired: Top Stories
You can get some interesting news stories here. Keeps you up to date with developments in the online world.

ABC News: Just In
I like to try and keep up to date with what's going on in the real world too.

The Shifted Librarian
This was one of the first librarian blogs I came across. Again I've found some interesting websites and news articles here.

Unshelved
I like to catch my daily dose of life at the Mallville Public Library.

City of Canterbury: Library Events
Keep up to date with what's happening at one of the busiest library services in Sydney.

BBC Dr Who News
Best place to get all the official news of what's happening with the world's greatest TV show.

Outpost Gallifrey: Dr Who News
Best place for all the unofficial news including gossip and rumours about the new season, plus updates on Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures.

I've also added a couple of feeds to my blog.
They're just up there to the right...

Cyclic Defrost
"Australia’s only specialist electronic music magazine. We cover independent electronic music, avant-rock, experimental sound art and leftfield hip hop. We have no interest in fashion spreads, alcohol or clothing advertising, nor do we accept advertising in the guise of editorial." - so no Delta Goodrem here folks!

BBC Dr Who News
You can get never have too much Dr Who in your life.

It was one of those perfect Sydney Summer evenings by the harbour....

We were sitting on the steps of the Opera House clutching onto our lukewarm cans of VB, surrounded by thousands of other people all buzzing with excitement, and waiting for her to come on stage. There seemed to be a genuine "good vibe" amongst all of the 5,000 or so people who were there. Even when two of us were waiting in the hour long beer queue I didn't notice anyone frowning or getting aggro (as you would normally expect in an hour long beer queue) - it seemed like everyone was just happy to be there.

By the time we made it back to the rest of our group who had successfully managed to hang onto our spots, it had transformed from day to night and a full moon was blazing overhead. Then moments later everyone screamed as Bjork and her band paraded out onto the stage, their faces coloured with tribal patterns, like part of some mystical pageant, and the sound of "Earth Intruders" boomed out into the Opera House forecourt.

The music was amazing! Bjork's vocals were a bit lost in the mix to start with but then the person on the mixing desk dragged them out clearly to front where they should be - she really does have a voice like no other. The other musicians were also impressive, particularly the all female brass section and the guy who created some amazing electronic effects using a "reacTable".

As I sat there with my friends, taking in these amazing sounds, watching the ferries drift along into the quay, with the Sydney skyline in the background, I honestly couldn't think of anywhere else I would have rather been at that particular moment. I'm a self confessed music junkie and I would have lost count of the number of gigs I've seen over the years, but there are always a few special ones which will always stand out... and Bjork at the Sydney Opera House is now definitely one of them.

I searched flickr for some photos of the Bjork concert. Despite Bjork's request that no photos be taken, there are quite a few on there, although most are pretty shaky and taken from a long distance.

I tried to find a photo that captured the feel of the evening, but nothing really did. Then I came across this photo. Sure, it's fuzzy looking and you probably wouldn't be able to tell that it was Bjork if you didn't know that already, but it seemed, to me anyway, to capture the mood better than any of the others. Bjork looks like some strange mystical being hovering in the blackness, her wings outstretched, as she screams out her hypnotic chant. Maybe it was partly due to the beer... but I think this is a fitting way to remember the night!

(PS. After about 15 hours stuffing around trying to link to the image by setting up a flickr account, yahoo account, reading numerous FAQ's, etc, etc. I ended up just doing a good old fashioned cut and paste.)