Family reunions

There comes a time when people need to gather to celebrate being family, and to ask questions of older members while they are still able to remember family facts and stories. People don't stay in the one town all their lives anymore, and it is easy to lose touch with all your cousins and aunties and uncles.

Family reunions are a perfect chance to catch up with all those relations you haven't seen for years.

Once again, social networking and the internet are there to help.
 
In order to to invite your relations, why not send out a group email to multiple recipients? Any email addresses you don't know can be added by those relations who have kept in touch. Ask everyone to hit "reply all" on emails as the suggestions and plans roll in, as using that same group emailling can save a lot of phone calls.

If you are lucky, someone in the clan will have already developed an interest in family history, and may have a family tree that they can bring along. Before the day, if you are able to email the family tree to all your guests (using a spreadsheet or Word document or pdf file)  you can ask them to check the family tree and make any corrections before the day. That way any new babies or new partners will not feel left out.

Be sure to use name tags if you are thinking that you will hardly recognize some guests, due to the fact it has been years since you saw them last.

Have a time where clan members can talk about their memories of grandparents and fun times  they shared as children. Perhaps you can ask each guest to bring a photocopied baby photo and shuffle these up and hand  them a different photo to go find the person whose photo it is - a handy icebreaker that will get shy relatives mixing and asking questions.

Afterwards, why not set up a blog where any photos taken on the day can be posted for all to see and comment on?

 Picasaweb is one photo host that allows multiple people to add their photos to the one album. Just have one person set up the album so that any others from your set of email addresses can contribute.

Anna Casey ~ Art is....~

Musings on the nature of art and what it is to me

Anna Casey ~ Art is....~

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Teaching about blogs

In my job, I have opportunities to hand on the skills I learn, and this is one of the best parts about being a librarian. Not only can I find people books they might like to read and specific information they are asking for, either in books or on the internet, but I can show them how  to use the internet for self-expression and communication with others.

Because I will soon be teaching a group about blogging, I decided to set up my own training materials as a Powerpoint slideshow with links to the sites I want to use to demonstrate.


Having published this slideshow at slideshare.com, it can now be viewed by a lot more people than are coming to my class.
 
Then I decided to post it here as well for you to see....

Blogs and blogging

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Blogs and blogging

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Looking@ 2.0

If Facebook fills you with fear, Twitter sounds like twaddle and Flickr seems as though it is spelt incorrectly, this is the course for you. Jump online, register here, have a go and learn a bit about web 2.0.
Looking @2.0 is a free, online course presented by the State Library of Queensland, supported by OPAL funding.

Queensland Public libraries are joining forces with the State Library of Queensland to offer an online introduction to many popular forms of social networking. Participants can learn in their own homes at their computers, at a time and pace that suits them. Or they can go to the public library to attend sessions and ask the librarians questions about the course. There are great prizes to be won such as digital cameras and iPod shuffles.

Many people are interested in learning more about skype, or starting a blog, or sharing photos on the internet.

I've even found a site where you can make your own animated cartoon style movies with all sets and characters already supplied - you just add your own script and imagination.
It is called xtranormal.com. as with many other sites, there are some free characters and settings and you can pay a fee to access more characters and advanced features. However the free option gives enough features for you to have lots of fun. 
For example there's a great comment on the life of a dentist for those who don't mind a bit of tension and swearing ;-)

The great thing about a lot of these sites is that they provide all the computer expertise, and there is no software to buy for the results you can quickly achieve.
You can learn anything like how to knit or how to make pasta carbonara from short videos on sites like commoncraft. Or upload your own videos to youtube and see if they are popular with those who visit and view them.
Heaps of fun and very addictive, that's for sure. You'll gain some internet friends with common interests as well.

Happy Easter everyone

Problems librarians may face with blogs and Web 2.0

Web 2.0 holds many possibilities for libraries to put information and publicity online.
This possibility relies on their manager/employer to put in place the ability to do so.
Some employers may think maintaining a blog or webpresence is too time consuming and not worth the trouble. They may think core business is all they have time for, given the few already busy staff they have.
This is not true.

Many libraries already produce library newsletters, fliers and media releases in order to promote their monthly activities. Cutting and pasting that already written content into a blog will really take very little extra time and yet have the potential to reach a much wider client audience, even reaching people who have not come into the library recently. These customers can subscribe to the blog and get regular updates on free workshops, reviews of new books, author visits,  booktalks and children's activities that they can attend, boosting numbers and so making them more successful. This is turn justifies the funds spent in organising these events in the hope someone will attend.

Short speeches, films and photos can be posted that promote collections and local history information that the library holds. A local cemetry tour could become a slideshow that can be downloaded to an Iphone and used as a virtual guided tour by someone walking through the cemetry. Someone overseas researching family history can find a keyword indicating that there is a photo of their ancestor's grave included in that tour, and be able to make a virtual visit to the grave.

Libraries are all about reaching a wider audience with knowledge.
Trove has made a start with putting old newspapers online, and the response has been very enthusiastic.
The ability for readers to correct the text they see on screen or put a comment with more information under a photo is very interactive and builds on the knowledge presented without costing the site extra money.

What is the use of having valuable old records and photos locked away where few can access them?
Digitisation projects get these same items out on the web and being accessed, as well as providing a copy that cannot be ruined by fingers. A poster for a display takes time to produce and is taken down after a short time, but a poster and photos scanned and uploaded to the internet makes a display available worldwide for a long long time.

Other blocks to using Web 2.0 functions include library web filters that stop even the librarian accessing them; the inability to place widgets eg. for delicious on the top browser bar; and not having backroom or offdesk time to perform these tasks. Managers may see publicity as the job of a personal assistant and not see the need to produce a more attractive professional-looking product that librarians with layout or Indesign skills could supply. If other Council departments produce branded well-marketed fliers, then simple old style library fliers may start to look second rate. Public library computers need to have access to programs such as Adobe and Flash for customers to access interactive functions such as movies or online forms on sites. These require an IT department that is able to keep these updated and working. The library may need to buy a digital camera or scanner or send staff to training, but in the long run there is not a lot of extra money or time involved in getting an exciting web presence. The greatest obstacle is the permission to do so.